
The New York Yankees are set to honor longtime closer Mariano Rivera in a ceremony before Sunday's home game against the San Francisco Giants.
Rivera is retiring after the season, calling an end to a career spanning 19 seasons, all of which were spent with the Yankees. Over that time, he set an all-time record with 652 career saves and cemented his place among baseball's greats.
One of the celebrations may be louder than the others: Metallica is rumored to be in attendance and will play briefly for Rivera. It's easy to guess what song they might play: Rivera has been coming into the game accompanied by the sounds of "Enter Sandman" since 1999. The Yankees already have a stage set up in the outfield.
Some of the stars of the Yankees during Rivera's era will be in attendance to honor their closer. Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada and Joe Torre are expected to be among them.
Each Yankees player will receive a gift from Rivera himself. At their seats they will find a box with an autographed No. 42 Yankees jersey, which Rivera has worn his entire career. Rivera is the last player to wear 42 as he was grandfathered in following the universal retirement of the number in honor of Jackie Robinson.
Other, smaller tributes to Rivera's legacy will be around the stadium, including his number painted on the grass.
42 painted on the field for Mariano Rivera pic.twitter.com/Pez74cNVEM
— Jesse Spector (@jessespector) September 22, 2013
Rivera won't be the only Yankee saying goodbye to New York. Andy Pettitte is starting Sunday's game in what will be his final appearance in Yankee Stadium barring a postseason berth for the team.
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