I was appalled at some of the backlash the Red Sox received when they decided to honor Mariano Rivera prior to his last game at Fenway Park on Sept. 15. I understand the whole “hating the Yankees” thing, but can we all just be a little less pretentious for once? Not wanting to honor Rivera has to be one of the biggest bandwagon moves in the history of this city.
The man is one of the greatest players who has ever lived. It doesn’t matter what jersey he wore. He was a surefire Hall-of-Famer on the field and a kind and generous man off it.
He had meetings with fans to discuss his career in every road ballpark he visited this year. How many guys would take the time to do that? He is the all-time leader in saves (652) in the regular season and when it came to the post-season, let’s just say that he was more automatic than a production line at Ford. He is quite simply the relief pitcher that all relief pitchers will be compared to from now on.
So why would there be a backlash to Rivera being honored at Fenway? Because he plays for the big bad Yankees, right?
I think the same people who walk around thinking they’re hot stuff because they have a “Yankees Suck” shirt are the same idiots calling in to talk radio, unsuccessfully trying to make a coherent point about how the Red Sox should just let Rivera retire with no fanfare. 
Boston fans might think that not wanting to honor Rivera is just being loyal to the Red Sox, but all it is is showing how little they know this game, and how pretentious they are capable of being. In baseball, honoring the game’s great players is more important than in any other sport. The Red Sox got it right with the celebration by giving Rivera the “42” from the scoreboard and the pitching rubber from the bullpen.
The vast majority of Sox fans recognized that this man is an icon and needs to be honored. Those who don’t are riding the bandwagon.
I congratulate Rivera on a fantastic career and wish him a great retirement. We all know that the Yankees suck — there’s no need to go out and buy a t-shirt. After all, I don’t walk around with a shirt that says “Lindsey Lohan’s gone downhill,” do I?