TAMPA — Saving 603 games for the Yankees to become the greatest closer of all-time is one thing. There is a much higher calling for Mariano Rivera.
All signs point to the great Rivera retiring after the 2012 season. When he retires, in many ways, Rivera will be just beginning his life’s work and will do so through his church, the Refuge of Hope. There are much bigger games to save.
He revealed to The Post yesterday he will announce his decision before midseason.
“I have to fight for my salvation,’’ Rivera said. “I have to work for that. That is what makes a real closer. That is the game I would love to close. That is what drives me.
“These are only games, now we are talking about lives. There is nothing better than that. That’s closing the deal.
“There is definitely a higher calling. I’m not a man to talk about fame or what I have accomplished, none of that stuff. To me that is good, but it is not important.
“If I can get hold of a teenager and tell him, ‘You know what, Jesus loves you, He cares about you and your family,’ that is the message. That’s what I want to do.’’
Rivera, 42, appears to be preparing himself mentally to move on and is savoring each baseball day. He wants to make sure his final decision is the correct one, and that’s why he has yet to announce it.
“I think maybe it will be before the All-Star break,’’ Rivera said of when he will make that announcement.
That day could come earlier. It depends when Rivera is certain he has made the right decision.
“I just want to be sure,’’ he said. “I want to make sure whatever I decide, it will be the right decision.’’
And once he makes it, there won’t be any turning back.
“I don’t want to tell you, ‘OK, I’m going to retire,’ and then I don’t do it,’’ he said. “To me, that’s not right.’’
He said he knows what he wants to do, but he just wants to be certain.
“Whatever decision I make, I continue or I don’t continue, that is a decision I want to stick with,’’ he said of his thought process. “As you get older, you have your priorities and you just go and do it.’’
Rivera exemplifies class. In many ways he is the Lou Gehrig of the modern-day Yankees. Because he cares so much about the Yankees, his teammates, the game and the fans, Rivera said he wants to make sure he can properly say good-bye to the fans when the time comes.
“It would be nice that you tell the fans, so every stadium you go to, the fans will be there to show their appreciation and you appreciate the fans,’’ he said.
“I appreciate all the fans; I appreciate their support and what they mean to the game.
“That’s the way it should be done, with respect, to give them the opportunity to see you and say goodbye. I think that’s the way to do it.
“I don’t want to take for granted everything the fans have given me. I don’t want to take for granted what God has given me.’’
Rivera wants to offer hope to so many people, children, teenagers and adults, in all walks of life.
“You know you can do something for others because God has blessed you,” he said. “Christ has blessed me in so many different ways. We were born for a purpose.
“The Lord did not put me here just to make money, get rich and save baseball games. There is a bigger purpose and that is to spread the word of God.’’
Rivera will spread the word and continue to save games for the Yankees.
“It’s going to be an interesting year,’’ he promised.
The great Rivera will savor the season, and whenever this baseball chapter of his life is officially closed, his real life’s work will begin.