Mariano Rivera Admits Having 'No Desire' Near Season's End
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- For Mariano Rivera, the time was right to walk away from Major League Baseball.
The retired New York Yankees closer admitted during a late-season lunch with Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz that he was completely drained -- and had "no desire" to play any longer.
His comments were captured on video for the upcoming documentary "Being: Mariano Rivera," a 90-minute behind-the-scenes feature on the future first-ballot Hall of Famer's final season with the Yankees.
In one revealing scene, Rivera breaks bread with Ortiz and others in Boston and reveals he "can't wait" for season's end, just weeks away.
"You know what? I can't wait for the moment when this is over," Rivera said in Spanish to Ortiz, according to Newsday. "I'm ready for it already, brother. I'm ready for it. Mentally and physically, I'm ready for it. There's no desire anymore.
"We keep doing this for what? Is it for boastfulness, or for the love of the game, or because we don't want to do anything else?"
"Being: Mariano Rivera" will premiere Sunday on network television.
According to a press release, the program also includes a sequence during a late-season series in Baltimore, where the 43-year-old acknowledges being "tired" and "burned out" by his farewell tour.
"I'm not a robot," Rivera said.
The show's producers said they were granted "unprecedented and exclusive access to many of Rivera's most private moments since before spring training."
Other noteworthy moments in the show include a fishing trip in Florida with Andy Pettitte; Rivera's Old Timer's Day chat with Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford; and, of course, his now-famous farewell to Yankee Stadium.
Rivera, baseball's all-times leader with 652 saves, made his last appearance on Sept. 26, 2013 in the Bronx, opting to skip the season's final series in Houston.
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