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Mariano Rivera’s legendary career was celebrated on Sunday when he was enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Rivera’s stats on the field were impeccable, and thus he became the first player ever to be unanimously inducted into the Hall of Fame. He was immortalized in Cooperstown alongside Mike Mussina, who also spent time with the Yankees.
There was some controversy on Sunday when The Daily Beast published an article that dealt more with issues off the field. The article provided a detailed look at Rivera’s right-wing political views.
Mike Francesa addressed the article on his show on Monday. Francesa didn’t think it was fair to let politics impact opinions about one of the greatest pitchers of all time.
“You shouldn’t judge a person based on whether he is a liberal or a conservative,” said Francesa. “That doesn’t make them a bad person, because he’s a liberal or a conservative. I mean come on, you’re defaming him based on what his beliefs are. How about his actions, write about those, speak about those ... even if you don't agree with his politics, you should be able to, as a person, say he's still exemplary and he's still great, even though now you don't like his politics. That shouldn't come into it. That has nothing to do with it."
“Instead of looking at Mariano the baseball player, and appreciating that he has been a great performer and a classy individual every step of his life, on the baseball field and off. Instead of him being an exemplary role model and a tremendous pitcher, which no one can dispute, you’re now going to knock him and now defame him because you don’t agree with his politics. So who is wrong?"