Mariano Rivera's 'Enter Sandman' and the top 10 closer entrance songs of all-time
Mariano Rivera announced he'll retire following the 2013 season on Saturday, putting an end to a dominant, Hall of Fame-worthy career.
But what has made the Yankees great so successful during his 18 Major League seasons? The cutter? Of course. His alligator blood during postseason play? Definitely. But hey, don't forget about "Enter Sandman."
Rivera has said he focuses on only the task at hand when he trots in from the bullpen to Metallica's metal anthem, but an intimidating entrance track is integral to any fireman's on-field identity. Let's take a look at some of the most memorable:
10.) Joe Nathan, Steel Dragon's "Stand up and Shout" - The Rangers closer uses this song from Mark Wahlberg's 2001 flick, Rockstar:
9.) John Smoltz, ABBA's "Dancing Queen" - Because if you're tough enough to walk out to this song in front of thousands of people, you're tough enough to close baseball games for the Atlanta Braves:
8.) Al Hrabosky, Franz Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" - The "Mad Hungarian" came out to this spooky 19th century orchestra piece, which seemed to fit his wild personality:
7.) Dennis Eckersley and Goose Gossage, George Thorogood's "Bad to the Bone" - Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba bad. Eck used the tune on the A's and Goose entered to Thorogood's hit while he was with the Padres:
6.) Brian Wilson, House of Pain's "Jump Around" - You probably expected something even more outlandish from the former Giants closer, but this House of Pain hit definitely got the crowd into it:
5.) Mitch Williams, The Troggs' "Wild Thing" - Williams' mound antics and inconsistent control led to natural comparisons with fictional closer Rick Vaughn:
4.) Eric Gagne, Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" - The blaring guitar riff, drums pounding, a screaming Axl Rose -- no wonder Gagne converted an MLB-record 84 consecutive save chances for the Dodgers from 2002-04:
3.) Jonathan Papelbon, Dropkick Murphys' "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" - Besides an excellent pitching staff and Manny being Manny, there wasn't anything that epitomized Boston's 2007 World Series run more:
2.) Trevor Hoffman, AC/DC's "Hells Bells" - He's coming ... The church bells spelled doom for many teams throughout Hoffman's spectacular 18-year career:
1.) Mariano Rivera, Metallica's "Enter Sandman" - You guessed it. Although Billy Wagner also used the '90s rock hit, nobody had more success with it than Mo, and it's doubtful anyone ever will: