On Sept. 26, 2013, the world said goodbye to a legend. They also said goodbye to a man that we might never see again. Mariano Rivera retired from the game of baseball, leaving many baseball fans in tears.

Let’s go back to Sept. 26, it’s the eighth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays are beating the New York Yankees 4-0, the crowd then hears “Enter Sandman,” by Metallica and go crazy. Tears start to come up as Rivera warms up, thousands of bulbs flashing with every fan knowing this is the last time they will ever see him in pinstripes. He recorded one out in the eighth inning and two in the ninth before Yankees manager, Joe Girardi, sent out long time teammates and friends of Rivera, Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte to take him out of the game.

As the two make their way out, the crowd gets louder and louder until you can’t hear anything going on. Chants for Mo going on throughout the crowd, as he hugs Pettitte and cries on his shoulder. “Thank you Mo, thank you Mo,” chants are now echoing throughout Yankee stadium and there’s not a dry eye in the house.

As Rivera made his way back to the dug out, he stopped on the 42 (his number painted on the field) and looked at the crowd, taking in the applause as he takes off his cap, and waves to the crowd, giving them one last goodbye. He then hugged his coach’s and teammates and made his way to the bench as the game went on. After the last out of the game was made, and the Rays cleared the field, Rivera, swarmed by media, just sat there, as if he didn’t want to ever leave that spot.

Then, he looks up, walks right past the media and strait to the place where he spent 19 years of his life, the pitchers mound. He gets there and looks down, and starts digging, as if he was going to throw a pitch. The crowd goes nuts once again. Then, as a kid would in a sand box, he leans over and starts digging sand. He picks up a pile of sand and holds it, looking as if he was stranded and just found land, then turns around and walks right back to the dugout and down the Yankee stadium tunnel for the last time, leaving behind only memories for fans to take with them.

Rivera, a five time World Series champion, started his career in 1995 as a part of the “core four,” which includes his catcher for more then half of his saves, Jorge Posada, who is already retired, Pettitte who is retiring after this season and Jeter, the Yankees captain. Rivera is the all-time saves leader, with 652 saves, and the all-time postseason saves leader, with 42 saves. He is considered one of the greatest players in baseball history.