Mariano Rivera: Hemingway Hero

Authors

James M. Tackach, Roger Williams UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2020

Comments

Published in: The Hemingway Review, vol. 39, no. 2, Spring 2020.

Abstract

The traditional Hemingway hero often takes the form of an athlete: Joe DiMaggio in The Old Man and the Sea; Jack Brennan, the boxer in “Fifty Grand”; Manuel Garcia, the bullfighter in “The Undefeated.” No contemporary athlete better personifies the Hemingway hero than Mariano Rivera, the New York Yankee relief pitcher who, in 2019, became the first baseball player unanimously elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. During his nineteen-year career (1995–2013), Rivera demonstrated many qualities of the traditional Hemingway hero: simplicity in style, grace under pressure, stoic acceptance of defeat.

Recommended Citation

Tackach, J. (2020). Mariano Rivera: Hemingway hero. The Hemingway Review, 39(2), 78-85. doi:10.1353/hem.2020.0003.