Even opponents hope Rivera can make it all the way back

Roberto Alomar, the greatest second baseman of his generation and perhaps any other, still remembers the feeling in the dugout when Mariano Rivera would trot in from the bullpen.

"Mentally, guys thought it was over," Alomar said. "Seeing Mariano meant, 99 percent of the time, the game was over."

On Thursday, Alomar, like many around baseball, feared that the mighty Rivera, after 18 years, might be finished himself. Instead, they were relieved the next day when Rivera announced he will return after ACL surgery.

What does one Hall of Famer, like Alomar, recognize in a soon-to-be inductee to Cooperstown? Despite a rare degree of success against Rivera -- he batted .385 (5-for-13) with three doubles -- Alomar remains astonished by the closer's dominance.

"First of all, he's very confident," Alomar said by telephone from his home in Toronto, where he works for the Blue Jays. "He's a great student of the game, and I think the older he got, the better he got. He started throwing cutters backdoor, started throwing cutters inside.

"And his approach: 'If you're going to beat me, you're going to beat me with my best pitch.' That's what made him so different than all the others. To me, it's amazing how he did it, with only one pitch."

In 1997, Alomar's brother Sandy Jr. was responsible for one of Rivera's few failures. It was Game 4 of the American League Division Series at what formerly was known as Jacobs Field, and it was Rivera's first October as a full-time closer. He suffered a blown save that night when Alomar took him deep for a tying home run. The Yankees lost that game and then lost Game 5.

Sandy Alomar now is a bench coach for the Indians, and like his brother, he fared well against Rivera with six hits in 12 career at-bats. That Game 4 homer forever links the two players in a historical context, and Alomar felt for the hurting Rivera after seeing him crumple to the turf at Kauffman Stadium.

"It's a shame to see that happen to an icon," Alomar said. "Mariano set the standard for closers and so many people admire him. He's just so good for baseball. For him to close this long, at this level, is just ridiculous. Hopefully he can come back."

Few have doubts that Rivera indeed will return to the mound. He's been on the disabled list only four times in nearly two decades, and not since 2003. But even at age 42, his level of physical conditioning and athletic ability should work to his advantage during a rehab process that is expected to take up to five months.

Former Mets reliever J.J. Putz, who now closes for the Diamondbacks, sees no reason why Rivera can't be dominant again. Putz, 35, has battled back and elbow issues during the course of his career, so it was a no-brainer when he was asked if leg problems are preferable to arm trouble.

"Without question, yeah," Putz said. "I would say the fact that it's a knee injury is going to be a lot easier because the ACL now is pretty much an afterthought as far as surgery goes. It's just a matter of how quickly he can get his legs under him, which hearing about the way he does his work, it probably won't be very long."

Putz cited examples such as Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker, who was back doing agility drills at practice only four months after reconstructive ACL surgery. Welker was considered a medical marvel for his quick comeback, so for Rivera, a timetable like that would have to be the best-case scenario.

"He's been one of the biggest attractions in this game," Putz said of Rivera, "and the fact that he came out and said he's not going out like that really made me smile. Nobody wants to remember a guy like Mo getting carted off on a John Deere tractor.

"In my opinion, he's not just the best reliever of all time, I think he's the best pitcher -- period -- of all time. Just the dominance he's had for almost two decades, on the stage that he's done it on, all the postseason records he holds, it's mind-boggling."

Even up in New England, an area upon which Rivera has inflicted more pain than anyone not named Eli Manning, the Red Sox expressed admiration for a fallen foe. Rivera has 54 saves against Boston, third-most of any club, and yet the Red Sox gladly would prefer to resume those ninth-inning showdowns sooner rather than later.

"He's the kind of player, you want to see him end his career competing, like everybody is used to, and finish it like that," David Ortiz told reporters Friday in Boston. "That's the way it's supposed to be."

Bobby Valentine, now wearing a Red Sox uniform, recalled the 2000 World Series, in which his Mets lost to the Yankees in five games. Rivera saved two of them.

"The plan was to not get him in the game, not beat him once he got in," Valentine said. "We didn't follow the plan. Or we didn't execute the plan.

"It goes without saying, the kind of pitcher he was, I don't think I'll ever see it in my lifetime again. He's special. Hopefully he can come back -- even though he's with the bad guys."

Regardless of team affiliation or decade, everyone can agree there will never be anyone quite like Mariano Rivera again. For that reason, they don't want to say goodbye just yet.

Neither does Rivera. Cooperstown can wait.

"It makes sense," said Dennis Eckersley, a Hall of Fame closer himself. "He didn't want to go out like this."