Mariano Rivera is one of the faces of New York sports, which makes it weird to think that he spent some time playing in the Albany area before getting his break in the Major Leagues. However, he did just that as a member of the Albany-Colonie Yankees in the number 32 moment of our countdown.

Rivera spent less than a season in the Albany-Colonie Yankees uniform with the Yankees double-A affiliate, posting a 3-0 record in nine starts with a 2.27 ERA. Later that season, Rivera was promoted to Columbus to join the Yankees trip-A affiliate, the Columbus Clippers.

These stories are common in Major League Baseball, given that just about every player that makes it to the major leagues spends some time in the minors. But Rivera, along with Derek Jeter, was far and away the best product to ever come through the Albany-Colonie Yankees, which makes his time here not only special to the club, but to the Albany area fans that were able to come out and see him before he was a star.

The Albany-Colonie Yankees were previously the Albany A's, a member of the Oakland Athletics farm system, and eventually moved to Norwich to become the Norwich Navigators in the Yankees minor league system.

More From 104.5 THE TEAM