All I hoped for tonight was that I'd get home in time to see the end of the game, hear Enter Sandman played one last time, see Mo's last hurrah and whatnot. I figured I'd get a little verklempt - I got all choked up on Sunday at Mariano Rivera Day, and that wasn't even a hard-and-fast goodbye. There'd be a nice postgame moment and he'd doff his cap and wave to the crowd and nod and that would be the bittersweet hometown end to an incredible career.
But I did NOT expect Andy and Old Man Jeter to go out and fetch him off the mound. And I did not expect Mo to flat-out start weeping in Andy's arms as the crowd roared. And I did not expect that I'd be an emotional basket case anytime they replayed that moment, or when Mo sat staring at the field and finally went out to the mound to collect some dirt or when Joe Girardi broke down in his press conference or when Mo THANKED THE NEW YORK MEDIA in his conference (what?!?!). Good lord.
But I was in good company. My Yankee buds (text message responses highlighted in white) were also all sort of wrecked by this evening.
I'm putting together a bigger honorary Mo post that will not do his career or my feelings about it any justice, but I will try anyway.
For now, I have to go hunt down some tissues.
