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In the middle of the action, New York Yankees legend Mariano Rivera suffered an Achilles injury during the club's 77th Old-Timers' Day game on Saturday, abruptly ending his participation in the event, which was held for the first time since 2019.
Roger Clemens revealed the news during a live WFAN broadcast, saying he believed Rivera had been taken to a hospital for further evaluation. Initially, it was considered a hamstring issue, but concerns later grew that it was more serious.
“We all thought it was a hamstring, but I think it's a little worse than that,” Clemens said during the broadcast.
Roger Clemens said that Mariano Rivera is at the hospital because he thinks he popped his achilles during the Old-Timers’ Game pic.twitter.com/VzCNWSgdK5
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) August 9, 2025
The injury occurred in the bottom half of an inning while Rivera was playing center field. Moments earlier, he had singled off Andy Pettitte and run to first base without showing any discomfort. However, Rivera stepped forward during Willie Randolph's at-bat before collapsing. Trainers attended to him before he left Yankee Stadium, and a team spokesperson later confirmed the nature of the injury.
The events celebrated the Yankees' 2000 World Series championship team, Rivera, Clemens, Pettitte, and former Yankees manager Joe Torre. They happened before the Yankees' 5-4 victory over the Houston Astros. Rivera, 55, spent all 19 seasons in the Major Leagues with the Yankees. He earned 652 saves, has a 2.21 lifetime ERA, and is the only player to be unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Before the injury, Rivera had mentioned that he planned to speak with current Yankees closer Devin Williams before leaving the stadium. He intended to offer advice about handling the mental side of closing games, particularly the importance of moving on quickly from a bad outing.
“Forget about it,” Rivera said. “You can't do nothing about it. What's done is done. Move on and be confident. You have to be confident in yourself. If you're not confident in yourself, why are you playing the sport?” he added, according to the New York Post.
