[applause] [cheering and applause] thank you very much everybody. The sandman. My wife asked me why are you the sandman just tell me and our first lady and i said you put the batter to sleep. Right . The sandman. A lot of people dont know that but the yankee fans know that. We watched you for a long time and thank you all for coming. The first lady and i are delighted to welcome you to the white house today we present our nations highest honor, the president ial medal of freedom to american baseball legend and may be the greatest pitcher of all time, big argument is he the greatest pitcher or greatest reliever . There is a question he may be the greatest pitcher in the history of baseball. Mariano rivera. When you hear the stats you will understand why i say that. Mariano, i want to congratulate you on the six ordinary achievement. On behalf of this whole country, thank you very much. Great job. [applause] we are delighted to be joined by our Vice President , mike pence, and his wonderful wife, karen. And you very much, karen. [applause] along with many of the members of our distinguished and hardworking and very successful cabinet, thank you all for being here. Thank you, cabinet. [applause] we are also grateful to be joined by marcianos wife, clara. Thank you, clara. [applause] his three sons and their daughterinlaw. Thank you all for being here. Its so great. His longtime manager, one of the great players and a great, great manager. Where is he . [applause] great player, too. Chief operating officer of the new york yankees. Thank you. [applause] good luck. Go get it. We could use them in the bullpen, maybe. That would be good. That would guarantee it. Good luck. Great season you had. To me this season. Arianna was born the son of a fishing vote captain on the coast of panama and learn to play baseball on the mud flats of the pacific with a cardboard glove and a bat fashioned from a tree branch and were made out of rock from a string and tape. There was not a lot of money for playing baseball. He excelled at the sport at the age of 18 started playing in the countries top adult league. In a critical game with his team losing badly the coach called him over and asked mariano to do something that he never really done before it could you pitch, mariano . Mo insisted he cannot. But when he took the mound an amazing thing happened. The crowd witnessed an incredible performance. His opponent did not get a single run for the rest of the game and a legend was starting. His team won an epic comeback victory. A big team deal at that time. After that, his team connected a scout and said that he had a tryout in panama city with the worlds most famous baseball dynasty the new york yankees. With barely enough money for the bus ride home marciano set out on a journey that would define his life and inspire countless millions around the globe and at his first try out in worn out shoes and a borrowed glove marciano through nine fastballs and the only pitch he knew how to throw and after a few more tryouts the yankees offered him a contract to play in their farm team in the gulf coast yankees. Do you remember that . Were they a good team . Not bad, right . He got on an airplane came back to america in a few months later in august 1990 mariano through his first nohitter in that year he had an average era of. 17. That does not mean one that means like one 17th of one. Thats not how do you lose a game . You scored no runs, right. Boy, oh boy. In 52 innings yet. 17 which is unheard of over 22 games. Soon after marciano married clara which was an even more important thing for him to do. Truly and he said it many times you are the love of his life, you know that and you feel that. I hope he tells you that. [laughter] they will soon celebrate their 28 anniversary. Congratulations. [applause] after five years playing in the minors in 1955 arellano made it to the big leagues. In his Second Season with the yankees mariano delivered 130 strikeouts in less than 108 innings. While facing 425 batters, he allowed only one home run. With an era of 2. 09 the yankees made him a closer for the 1997 season and that is when it really started happening. That year he accidentally threw a pitch he had never done before and then tried it several more times, again and again. He kept working. At the last second is that fall that was an incredible thing came and he had developed that pitch which people are throwing that pitch today . Ive never noticed they dont have your success, i can tell you, right . They may be throwing it but it does not work quite the same way. Many players will come to consider it the greatest pitch ever in baseball. It would break many records and many bats. In a 1999 game against Atlanta Braves his cutter snapped a big strong guy, ryan, i know him well as a player and hes a big powerful die and he broke his back three times in one Plate Appearance and that has to be a record. In 2001, marciano pierce pitch destroyed 44 bats in less than 81 innings and i used to say and tell people i never saw a guy breaks from a bad and its called a heavy heavy pitch and i asked mariano why and he did not know but just was the way it was. Just the way it happens. It was from god. From god. When he retired to Minnesota Twins presented him with what would become one of the most prized possessions, a chair made out of their shattered bats. [laughter] [applause] in 1998 and 1999 and 2000 world series championships mariano closed out the consecutive world series victories and delivered 14 strikeouts and seven saves. He gave up only two runs 259 batters and you have to remember youre playing against the best team so this is not like playing lowlevel but this are the best teams. He had a very unusual trait. He did better against the best teams and needed incredibly in the playoffs. Game after game when his entrance music, enter sandman, filled the arena fans went wild knowing that the game was all but over. His dominance on the mound has memorized fans, teammates and, unfortunately for them, and mesmerized the competitors. In game seven of the 2003 American League championship mariano entered at the top of the ninth with the score tied fivefive. He held off the Boston Red Sox for three straight innings without giving up a single run, helping secure the series for the yankees. He was named the series mvp, not surprising. [applause] one of the most memorable moments of marianos career was the final game of the old Yankee Stadium, last game in Yankee Stadium where he took his place in history as the final man to pitch in that trying to american baseball. I spent many a day in that stadium and it was special. With mo on the mound for the ninth inning, not a single hitter from the Baltimore Orioles made it to first base. He secured yet one more inky victory and that day the old stadium became the house that ruth built and the house that rivera closed out. [applause] over the course of 19 seasons you have to hear this to believe it. I did not even notice. I knew he was the best but this is crazy. Mariano broke the Major League Baseball record for most games finished and saves made. He has the best era, earned run average, in the past 100 years, twopoint to one in the regular season and even more astounding. 70, less than one run in the postseason. When again, you play the best teams. These are the hot teens and these are the teams that are just beating up everybody and you had less than one run. Its amazing. He made more than two times as many states as the next best picture and post season. A true clutch pitcher he was always the best against the most talented haters amazingly, 527 batters he faced in postseason games hit only two home runs and scored only 13 runs against him. I thank you guys want him quickly. Get him in uniform. Sign him up. Mariano helped lead the yankees to five world series victories with being named the mvp in 1999 and this year he became the first person unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of fame. Unanimously not one missed vote. [applause] out of curiosity, babe ruth was not unanimously elected. The babe did not make it to connect what was his problem . He did pretty good to the babe was not unanimous connect he had other difficulties. [laughter] thats pretty good, mariano. First unanimously, we love the babe. What a swing the babe had. The old corkscrew swing. No one could figure him out either. Throughout marianos incredible career he remained a humble man, guided by a deep Christian Faith that inspires everyone around him. As he says, he has always remembered that the lord does not care about wealth or fame with a number of things someone has but we are all children of god and the lord cares about the good news and love in our hearts. Thats all been that is different than the babe, i would say. I dont know if the baby ever said that. Pretty sure he did not. Maybe in his luster he said it. Nearly two decades ago mariano found it founded the Mariano Rivera foundation which prevented scholarships for countless students and is currently building a learning Community Center in new rochelle, new york i can tell you from being in new york what youve done in new rochelle is incredible. Incredible. After retiring from baseball, mariano and his wife built an Evangelical Church and today clara is its pastor. I will have to come listen to you sometime it i could use it. Thats good. [laughter] mariano was naturalized as a u. S. Citizen in 2015 and, of course, serves as cochair of the president s council on Sports Fitness and nutrition. Mariano rivera has made extraordinary contributions to american sports, culture and society. He is the most dominant relief pitcher in the history of baseball and more than that he has lived the American Dream and shines as an example of american greatness for all to see. I would now like to ask the military aid to come forward and prevent present Mariano Rivera with the medal of freedom and before we do the actual presentation id like to have mariano say a few words. I know most of those words will be addressed to his family because i know how he feels about his family. Nobody loves their family more than mariano. Please. [applause] wow. Amazing. President s, thank you. Thank god for a wonderful day and to be here. Stir president s, thank you for all those words and remarks. To the first lady, thank you. Karen, thank you. Thank you for all been here present but my wife, my kids and my family, friends, without you guys supporting and the prayers that we got from mr. Joe tori we benefited from a lot of those prayers. [applause] for me its an honor and privilege to receive this award. This medal of freedom which all i did was try to be the best and do the best for america. One thing i have to remark just one remark. When i came here in 1990 i came to tampa and these spoke no english. I did not speak now but forgot about it now in 1990. [laughter] in the team there were a lot of players that spoke spanish so i got a little comfortable and did not try a little bit to learn the language. My second year in baseball i was in North Carolina where most of the people did not speak any spanish, especially my teammates there even i was a little younger so the guy that spoke spanish on the team would hang out with the older guys and i was left out because i was hanging out with a friend of mine, tim cooper, and another guy. Those two i asked because i was frustrated. Times i would go to fed crying, not because of him but because i was frustrated because i cannot speak the language and could not speak english. Therefore i call those two tenets of mine is that i dont want care how much you laugh or how much you make fun of me but please, ive given you permission to laugh and do that but teach me. Teach me the right way. To my surprise they never elected me and they teach me. By the end of the year i was able to communicate with my manager and with my teammates and i was the happiest man in baseball. From that i would say i career took off and i was able to rely that i can do something for others. I knew the language and i can relate with someone that is goes through the same process i have been but at the same time teach them that learning english is the first thing we should do. And i did. For that, being american im so proud and honored that coming from a small town, beautiful town and beautiful country called panama to live with my family here and to understand the language and everything we go through i am proud to be an american. For that thank you very much. [applause] during his 19 seasons in Major League Baseball mariano established himself as the greatest relief pitcher of all time. Signed by the new york yankees in 1990 mr. Rivera went on to become a 13 time allstar and fivetime world series champion. Hes the first player in history of the sport to be elected unanimously to the national Baseball Hall of fame. Off the field through the Mariano Rivera foundation has helped children in need with an education empowering them to achieve a better future. The United States probably honors Mariano Rivera for being a legend of the game of baseball and for his commitment to strengthening americas community. [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] the white house medal of freedom and their money for hall of fame baseball player Mariano Rivera wrapping up here. U. S. Senate is about to dabble in and coming in at the top of the hour. We spoke to a reporter about this weeks agenda in the senate and in the house. Caitlin emmas appropriations and budget reporter with politico the week ahead in congress is focused largely on physical 2020 spending so lets start with the house and a tweet of your same house leaders are readying a continuing resolution likely to november 21 that would prevent President Trump from holding up aid to ukraine, please president s trump relief payments to farmers and reject the white house request for portability on border fencing. Why
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