42 for 42

Mariano Rivera can even make some of the worst moments in sports look good. That's what he did in 2002, when he breezed through the National League All-Star team in the ninth inning of the All-Star Game, the game that would go down in infamy as the game that ended in a tie.

Before becoming the greatest closer of all time and "The Hammer Of God," Mariano Rivera was a starter looking to lock teams down at the beginning of games. The number 30 moment of our countdown comes from 1995, when he saw his first success as a Major League starter, getting his first win against the Oakland Athletics.

Mariano Rivera has used his legendary cut fastball to break a lot of bats during his career, most of which are presumably discarded like other useless pieces of wood. The Minnesota Twins, however, decided to turn some of those broken bats into a gift for Rivera during this season's farewell tour, making him a rocking chair out of them. The "Chair Of Broken Dreams" is the number 31 moment

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.

Mariano Rivera was in the middle of his first season as a full time closer in 1997 and he was doing well enough to warrant an appearance in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Cleveland. It was his first All-Star Game appearance, his first All-Star Game save, and it is the number 33 moment of our countdown.

Mariano Rivera is one of the faces of the New York Yankees, and has been since the 1990s. But that may have never been the case if he hadn't been undrafted in the 1992 Major League Baseball expansion draft, the number 34 moment of our countdown.

There aren't many hitters that have come through Major League Baseball in Mariano Rivera's career that can be considered truly fearsome. Barry Bonds, however, was one of them. Despite his alleged dealings with performance enhancing drugs over the course of his career, Bonds was still one of the best hitters of all time, and the game's home run king. Whether you like him or not, his matchup with Ma

In life, whether you are the CEO of a big corporation, a famous actor, or a star athlete, you have to get your start somewhere. That is the focus of moment number 37 of our 42 For 42 countdown, when Mariano Rivera got his start in baseball by signing his first contract all the way back in 1990.

Mariano Rivera is arguably one of the greatest baseball players of all time. But with his career coming to an end soon, he's going to need to find ways to occupy his time when it's done. The Harlem Globetrotters extended an olive branch to Rivera, offering to help him fill the void on the basketball court by drafting him earlier this year in the number 38 moment of our countdown.

Mariano Rivera is synonymous with Metallica's Enter Sandman after a Major League career consisting of well over a decade of entering baseball games with the song serving as the soundtrack. As a result, the Cleveland Indians decided to give Rivera a gold copy of the album as their gift to him during his farewell tour this season.

Mariano Rivera is obviously influential on a baseball field, but it can be argued that he is just as influential off of it. Rivera, a native of Panama, was finishing a series with the New York Yankees in Texas against the Rangers. That same night, the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, a North American international soccer tournament, were being held in Cowboys Stadium. His native Panama were ta

Mariano Rivera is certainly the greatest closer in baseball history, but many people don't remember that he also saw four plate appearances in his storied 19 year career. And despite having a batting average of .000, Mo still managed to drive in one run in his career in the number 41 moment of his career.