My hat is off to Mariano Rivera, the great closer, who just became the first player ever to be elected unanimously to the Hall of Fame on his first ballot. Rivera will always be best known here in Boston for his sportsmanlike tip of the hat to the Fenway crowd in the 2005 season opener, after his blown save in Game 4 of the 2004 American League pennant race had started the Red Sox on their path to glory that year. But both outside and inside Boston he will also be remembered as maybe the greatest closer ever to play the game. In nearly a hundred post-season games, his earned run average was 0.70 and he had more than forty saves. We put aside the best rivalry in baseball today to honor Mariano Rivera, one of the all-time greats.