Posted on 07/25/2019 5:08:25 AM PDT by Mr. Mojo
Mariano Rivera is arguably the greatest closer of all time, a recent Hall of Fame inductee, and an all-around family man.
Despite his Hall of Fame career, Rivera was the target of the Daily Beast’s latest hit piece, in which they attacked his conservative beliefs. According to the Daily Beast, if you are a Republican and a pro-Israel Christian, you must be a far-right extremist.
“He has traveled to Israel on multiple occasions, possibly beginning in 2013,” the author of the piece, Robert Silverman wrote.
On Wednesday morning, the Yankees legend appeared on Fox & Friends, where he defended both his religious and political beliefs.
Rivera said his faith is “No. 1” in his life and he doubled down on his support for President Trump and the state of Israel.
“Mr. President Trump, to me, he was a friend of mine before he became president,” Rivera shared with Fox & Friends. “So, because he’s president I will turn my back on him? No. I respect him. I respect what he does and I believe he’s doing the best for the United States of America.”
In the Daily Beast story, Silverman argued that even though he has never endorsed President Trump, “the Hall of Famer’s actions make it clear his sympathies lie with the Trump administration, which has backed all manner of far-right policies when it comes to Israel.”
Silverman further pointed out that Rivera has clearly aligned himself with the presidency due to the following: his nomination for the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, visiting the White House with a group of school children from New Jersey and taking part in the delegation that was sent to the Special Olympics.
Silverman went on to call Rivera’s support for Israel as “far-right” ideology, arguing that his support for Israel, his travels to the Holy Land, and the Israel Defense Forces place him in that category.
“When it comes to Israel, as a Christian, if my Savior Jesus Christ, He’s a Jew, so how am I going to turn my back and say, ‘Oh, I won’t support Israel,'” Rivera told the hosts on Fox & Friends.
While on the show, host Brian Kilmeade also asked Rivera how he became the first MLB player to be unanimously voted into the hall of fame.
“That’s a good question. When we go to heaven to ask the Lord, ‘What happened?'” Rivera explained, “because I was just happy to be in the big leagues…Little did I know the Lord has a lot of things for me in my path.”
Rivera explained the early steps in his career that led to him becoming the closer for the New York Yankees in 1997, and how he actually struggled at first.
Fox and Friend’s co-host Ainsley Earhardt commended Rivera for his faith and asked how he came to know God.
“Well you know, adversaries,” Rivera said. “At age 24, my wife got sick, my boy sick too. She got chickenpox, while he was in her womb, for six months.”
“He was supposed to be born with this vertebra being open,” Rivera pointed to the back of his neck, “so his head would have been growing and growing to the point where he would die.”
He went on to share that his wife went to a Christian conference with a friend, where they prayed over her, and their son was healed.
In January, Rivera became the first player to appear on all 425 ballots in a Baseball Hall of Fame vote.
Rivera, who is a record-holding closing pitcher, has credited all his successes both on and off the field to God.
“It is because God, Christ, took those abilities and took it to a different level,” he said in an interview with CBN.
Stand-up guy and a GREAT closer.
Another story...
When we were working down at Ground Zero. Mo, Jeter and Posada would come down on their nights off with food and just hang out and BS. They talked baseball and life. They never put on airs, just acted like regular dudes and signed every autograph. They did this multiple times.
Leftists are so extreme & radical they demean normal, mainstream pro-Americans who support Israel.
CLASS!
***Silverman. Every. Single.
Sounds like this colored man needs to go to the gas chambers.
“Mo in the Ninth!” The late great pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre‘s boat’s name.
A classy guy that Mo ( and Mel Stottlemyre, too)
Mario came from humble beginnings. He loves Christ and he loves his family. Great role model!
This is your media.... weaponized.
They attack the moderates and paint them as radicals, for two reasons;
First of all, they think the moderates are the soft targets, and frequently they are right, although not in this case. No true radical is going to stand down or cow to criticism, but you and foray and spear at your enemy’s soft targets and all you have left are the hard guard... and they do see people of differing politics as enemies, even if we don’t.
Secondly, it’s a message to others. You’re going to get painted as a radical, and because the real radicals and fringe on the left are allowed to harass and intimidate people in public and in private, they feel they have power when they call you out in their hit pieces. It’s not just shame that they think they wield, it’s fear.
These people are who they say the right are. It’s not ironic. It is intentional. If you are the real extremists, the best way to protect yourself from being identified as such is to paint your enemies as such.
GBU Mariano
Way to stand up to the unDemocrat totalitarians
Good man! Thank you, Mariano!
The greatest player in baseball history is Babe Ruth based on his on-the-field performance (as both a hitter and a pitcher) and for what he did for the game leading it out of the depths of the Black Sox Scandal. However, I believe that Rivera is the greatest player ever at his position. In terms of the gap between #1 (in the case, Rivera) and #2 is greater for relief pitchers than for any other position.
Heard him say on the Dan Patrick show yesterday that he was very happy when he was made a closer. As a starter, he said, by the 5th I'd be gassed....nothing left.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.