MLB

Bud Selig ‘borrowing’ Mariano Rivera’s farewell tour idea

There can be only one Mariano Rivera. But can there be another Mariano Rivera farewell tour? Commissioner Bud Selig thinks so.

Selig was impressed with how the Yankees closer spent his final season getting to know people behind the scenes at the different major league ballparks.

“I like that,” Selig told ESPN.com. “I like talking to people. And … that’s what I want to do: [Speak to] season-ticket holders, people who work at ballparks. I just like to walk around and talk to people. I love that. I did that when I ran the Brewers. And I enjoyed it. I miss that.”

Selig is entering his 23rd and final season running Major League Baseball. He told the website he hopes to visit all 30 major league ballparks and that his retirement plans are “100 percent.” The idea for the tour came about from watching Rivera’s graceful exit from the sport and after several teams inquired about honoring him.

Rivera got a rocking chair as a gift from the Twins.AP

“Many people ask me, ‘Is there anything you miss [about owning a team]?’” Selig said. “And that’s it. I really miss all that. I knew every vendor. And you knew what they were thinking, too, because they’ll tell you, especially if your team is losing.”

Rivera spent time talking to longtime employees or fans of each club the Yankees visited, and he received parting gifts from the teams – even the rival Red Sox and crosstown Mets.

Will Selig get the same love from the fans that the universally respected Rivera did?

“I’ve done this now for a long time, 22 years,” said Selig, 79. “It will be 23 by that time. Other than [former commissioner Kenesaw Mountain] Landis, nobody has ever done this job longer. I’m going to be 80 years old next July 30. And I really do want to teach … and  I want to write a book, and I want to do it while, God willing, my health is good and my mind is still reasonably active, although many would disagree with that.”