Matt Shalbrack/Winonan

Sept. 22 was an emotional day for Major League Baseball. It was the last regular season home start for New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte and was also the day the Yankees retired closer Mariano Rivera’s No. 42. Both Pettitte and Rivera have been staples of the Yankees for the last 15+ years. Pettitte just announced his retirement and Rivera announced his at the beginning of the season. Pettitte is 41 years old and has pitched in 18 seasons while Rivera is 43 years old and has spent the last 19 seasons pitching for the Yankees.

Rivera and Pettitte are both first ballot Hall-of-Famers and have had illustrious careers in the MLB. Rivera is the all-time leader in Saves with 652 and Pettitte has a 255-152 career record. Both have been clutch in the postseason for the Yankees with Pettitte having a 19-11 record and Rivera closing out 42 games.

42, now that’s an interesting number. It was the number that Jackie Robinson wore and was retired by all of the MLB teams.

After the 2013 season, Rivera is the last person to ever wear the No. 42 in MLB. Rivera is known in all of baseball for his nasty cutter, a pitch that he developed to be one of his primary pitches. With that one pitch, he broke so many batters’ bats on a regular basis that you could replant a forest with all of the wood from the bats. Rivera was also known for his entrance song, “Enter Sandman” by Metallica.

Pettitte on the other hand has pitched well throughout his career and even retired once. One thing that could keep him out of Cooperstown is his acknowledgement that he used a human growth hormone (HGH) to overcome an elbow injury in 2002.

Besides that, Pettitte has never had a losing season in his career. He holds the record for the most wins in postseason history with 19 and he is the only pitcher since 1930 to win at least 12 games in his first nine seasons as a pitcher. Not only does Pettitte hold the most wins record in the postseason, but he also holds the record for most starts (44) and most innings pitched (276.2).

Pettitte has won five World Series championships, all with the New York Yankees. Pettitte left his start Sunday against the San Francisco Giants to a standing ovation from the crowd and a heartfelt hug from Yankee’s shortstop Derek Jeter.

For me, both of these events have some meaning for me, and I can tie them into my favorite movie, For Love of the Game. First, I grew up watching these guys play. I always hated the Yankees, but these players were different. Guys like Rivera, Pettitte and Jeter are all class guys that every kid should emulate. Second, it’s always tough for me to watch guys like this retire. I know that they’ve both been excellent for the game, but there’s still always a part of me that wants to watch them pitch or play for just another year, which ties me into my last topic: “For Love of the Game.”

“For Love of the Game” is a movie starting Kevin Costner as Billy Chapel, a starting pitcher for the Detroit Tigers who are looking to get younger and want to trade Chapel. It tells the story of not only the things that Chapel has gone through in his playing career, but it tells the story of Chapel’s race against time as he pitches at Yankee Stadium in his last career start. Turns out, Chapel pitches the game of his life, a perfect game, and decides to retire and go out on a high note. I’ve done enough spoiling of the film, but it’s my all-time favorite movie, and I highly recommend it for anyone.

I know there’s no crying in baseball, but whenever I watch “For Love of the Game,” I cry. I teared up at the goodbye and ovation that Andy Pettitte got today and I know when Mariano Rivera takes the mound for the last time in 2013, I’ll tear up there as well.

But that’s what sports is all about; it’s all about not just cheering for your favorite team, but cheering for those players who make the game better, who play the game the way it should be played.

I love being a fan of baseball for all of those reasons and more, and I’m glad that I got to watch the most dominant closer of all-time pitch and that I got to see the best postseason pitcher of all-time do what he does best, pitch.

Contact Matt at [email protected]