12/14/2007 10:55 PM ET
By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com
NEW YORK -- The accomplishments of the Yankees' last World Series dynasty
were not tarnished by the release of the Mitchell Report, Mariano Rivera said
on Friday.
Speaking publicly for the first time since agreeing to a three-year, $45
million contract to remain in New York, the future Hall of Fame closer agreed
that the Report had been a "difficult" one for baseball, including its
fingering of 20 current or former Yankees.
But its release could prove to be a turning point, Rivera said, especially if
Commissioner Bud Selig is able to implement the recommendations provided and
continue to strengthen baseball's stance against performance-enhancing
substances.
"Now is the chance to clean it up," Rivera said. "I heard the Commissioner
say that he is going to do whatever it takes to do things right. If you're
going to try to do things right, just clean it up for good. Start it now."
Rivera was a member of four Yankees World Series championship teams from 1996
through 2000, considered by many to be among the top dynasties in the sport's
recent history. Even though the names of several teammates from those clubs
surfaced in Thursday's release of the report, Rivera said that the Yankees'
October achievements should not be suspect.
"I don't think so," Rivera said. "It was a lot of players involved in that.
It's hard for baseball."
Rivera, 38, became the longest-tenured player on the club in 2007, moving
into Bernie Williams' corner locker at Yankee Stadium. That provided him with
a front-row seat for much of the timeline described in the Mitchell Report,
including this year with teammates Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Ron
Villone -- all mentioned in the report.
Rivera said he did not know if the accused players used performance-enhancing
drugs.
"I don't know if they did it or not, and that's not my business, either,"
Rivera said. "I'm just a teammate and I go out about my business to go play
baseball. That's it.
"It's hard and it's difficult. I have a lot of people that I respect a lot.
For me, it will be absurd if I say something. I cannot point fingers, I
cannot say [anything] to anybody. We are old and we made decisions. Whatever
happens, it was, I guess, for the best of them. I don't know."
Speaking at the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club in the Bronx, where he and
teammate Bobby Abreu donned Santa hats and distributed toys to more than 400
area students, Rivera said he was pleased to be finishing his career with the
Yankees.
He expressed excitement for playing under new manager Joe Girardi and
supported his former batterymate as he prepares to replace Joe Torre after a
largely successful 12-year run.
"It's going to be different," Rivera said. "Girardi wants to do the job. I
know he's capable of doing the job. He's a great person. The job that he did
with the Marlins was outstanding for that one year, he was absolutely great.
I can't wait for Spring Training to come and see what's going to happen. I
think it's going to be a great season."
The Yankees have not officially announced Rivera's new contract, but the team
is expected to do so in the very near future. They finalized weeks-old
agreements with both Pettitte and third baseman Alex Rodriguez this week, and
soon Rivera will join them.
"It's great," Rivera said. "That's what I wanted. To me, it was important to
finish with the Yankees, because that's the only team that I have played
with. I wanted to wrap it up with the Yankees, and we were able to do it. The
Yankees and I got to the agreement, and thank God it's done."
This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its
clubs.
http://mlb.mlb.com/content/printer_friendly/mlb/y2007/m12/d14/c2326965.jsp
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