President Donald Trump congratulates Mariano Rivera on his unanimous Hall of Fame induction
New York Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera had a lot of support for the Baseball Hall of Fame. So much, in fact, that Rivera became the first ever unanimous inductee into the Hall.
That accomplishment got Rivera plenty of props on social media. It wasn’t just former teammates like Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter, either. President Donald Trump also offered up his congrats to Rivera.
Congratulations to Mariano Rivera on unanimously being elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame! Not only a great player but a great person. I am thankful for Mariano’s support of the Opioid Drug Abuse Commission and @FitnessGov. #EnterSandman #HOF2019💯 pic.twitter.com/reU1gKWHSQ
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 23, 2019
As Trump noted in his tweet, Rivera was part of a listening panel at the White House in 2017 regarding opioids and drug abuse.
During that meeting, Trump talked about watching Yankees games and always being comfortable when Rivera was in the game. Trump said Rivera threw “the heaviest pitch any time” in reference to Rivera’s cutter. Trump also asked Rivera about the reliever’s propensity to break bats.
Based on Trump’s past tweets, Rivera appears to be one of the few Yankees players Trump has always enjoyed.
That’s not the case with Alex Rodriguez, who Trump had harsh words for at the end of A-Rod’s career. Rodriguez may already be planning to stay off social media when he’s eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2022. This likely seals Rodriguez’s decision.
More Hall of Fame coverage from Yahoo Sports:
• Hall of Fame adds four: Rivera, Halladay, Martinez and Mussina
• Rivera becomes first-ever unanimous Hall selection
• Bonds, Clemens, Schilling make progress toward Cooperstown
• Jeter headlines star-studded 2020 ballot
• The phone rang for Halladay, one of the greats
