PANAMA CITY, Panama — They came to get a glimpse of the Great Rivera on Saturday night at Rod Carew Stadium. When the festive evening was complete, the Panamanians and Major League Baseball’s all-time saves leader exited with memories seared so deep in their hearts they never will escape.
With a wild scene that included vuvuzelas filling the comfortable night air, Mariano Rivera strode to the mound where he threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Marlins-Yankees game to his replacement, David Robertson, as the crowd roared.
“It’s amazing to see the people,” Rivera said. “For that there is no price.’’
The vuvuzelas began chirping more than three hours prior to the main event.
Horns made popular in the World Cup in South Africa shrieked non-stop during batting practice for the Yankees and Marlins. Music blared from the sound as the 27,000 seat venue filled. Despite the Yankees bringing Derek Jeter, Rivera clearly was the man the people wanted to see.
It made no difference Rivera, who retired after last season, was no longer in pinstripes. He could have been dressed in a burlap sack and he would have been loved by his countrymen, who sang along to the Himno Nacional de Panama.
Rivera surfaced from beyond the right-center field wall to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,’’ and by the time he reached the mound, the place was bedlam.
Talking into a microphone while dressed in his familiar No. 42 Yankees jersey and slacks, Rivera spoke to his adoring public before throwing the pitch to Robertson.
And it was more than Robertson being randomly chosen to be on the receiving end.
“That’s what I was thinking, passing the torch,’’ Rivera said of Robertson, who has been saddled with the job of following perhaps the best pitcher in baseball history. “My wish and my prayers is that Robertson can do the job. Hopefully he will have some help.’’
“I guess that’s what it is,’’ Robertson said of Rivera saying him catching the first pitch was indeed the torched being passed. “We’ve been talking about it all spring and I haven’t pitched in a real game yet. So far that’s the way it’s lining up and it will be interesting. He has confidence in me and I have confidence in myself. It’s good to know he believes I can do it. It’s nice to know that someone with 600 saves that I have the capability to do it.’’
Rivera’s long-time dream of having the Yankees in his country came true, and as he was in the days leading to the first spring training game involving big leaguers in Panama since 1947, Rivera was the ringleader.
Earlier Saturday, the celebration of Rivera continued with hosannas being sung by MLB, the Players Association, Yankees president Randy Levine and Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton.
And while Jeter paid his respects to his long-time friend and ex-teammate, the Yankees captain couldn’t resist taking a friendly shot at Rivera’s age.
After hearing Dan Halem, MLB’s senior VP, tell a Trump Ocean Club press conference the last time Panama hosted an exhibition game was 1947 — when the Yankees played the Dodgers and the year before, when the Yankees played a team of Panama All Stars — Jeter couldn’t resist.
“I can’t think of a better person to be honored than Mariano,’’ Jeter said. “This is the first time since ’46? When Mo was a young child.’’
Jeter will be 40 in June, but as long as Rivera is in the room with him, the shortstop won’t be the oldest. Rivera, still as fit and trim as he was during a Hall of Fame career, is 44.
“He has been my brother and will be to the day I die,’’ Rivera said of Jeter, who of course, is retiring after the upcoming season. “I can’t thank him enough.’’
Since arriving in Panama Wednesday, Rivera has reveled in playing the host role for his former club. He greeted the club at the airport, led a tour of the Panama Canal and with Robertson and Jeter, visited Patronato del Hospital del Nino and distributed toys to the children there.
Around the team hotel, Rivera has been a constant morning fixture in the restaurant, saying hello to customers and bouncing from table to table.
“I want my people from Panama to enjoy baseball at the best level,’’ Rivera said. “There is nothing better than Major League Baseball.’’
While the Yankees are associated with China’s baseball programs and the signing of Masahiro Tanaka produced speculation the Yankees could be playing in China and Japan, Levine said there haven’t been discussions on those subjects.
“I’ve been completely blown away. It’s a magnificent city and country,’’ Levine said of Rivera’s homeland. “At the end of the day, it’s great. You will never see those two types of players again. They are two of the greatest Yankees of all time.’’