Yanks' Rivera says he will pitch in 2013

Associated Press/Fox Sports—May 4, 2012

For 15 years, Mariano Rivera has decided when the game ends.

Even with a freakish injury that has likely ended his season, he is promising to close out his remarkable career on his own terms and vows to return no later than next spring.

While shagging flies in batting practice before the game Thursday evening in Kansas City, the 42-year-old pitcher caught his foot on the edge of the warning track and his right knee buckled. He was lifted onto a cart and driven off the field that he so dominated.

Likely sidelined for the rest of a season by a torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus damage, Rivera needed less than 24 hours to make his decision.

"I'm coming back," he said. "Write it down in big letters. I'm not going out like this."

Rivera holds an outside hope of returning late this season but it doesn't appear likely.

New York Mets medical director Dr. David Altchek of Hospital for Special Surgery said torn ACLs are "really, really uncommon" in baseball, especially among older players who don't generate explosive bursts when they run. Recovery time generally takes about six months.

Alchek operated on the pitcher's shoulder in 2008 and after speaking with Rivera on Friday said he was cautiously optimistic about chances for a full return.

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