E:60 reporter Tom Rinaldi accompanies Rivera to the small fishing village in Panama where he grew up and gets the future Hall of Famer to open up about his final season, the injury that almost ended his career and his place in baseball history. (12:22)

Mariano Rivera never won a Cy Young Award and was never named the league's MVP.

He never won more than eight games in a season, and that peak happened 17 years ago. Only once in his career did he throw more than 100 innings in a season, and his abortive try at being a starting pitcher ended in abject failure.

Stats? Rings? Intangibles? Name a Hall of Fame credential and Mariano Rivera has it. AP Photo/Kathy Willens

Still, if ever a player has been deserving of being the first unanimous selection to the Hall of Fame, Mariano Rivera is that player.

It will never happen, of course. There will always be one or two voters who will leave him off the ballot for a variety of arcane reasons, maybe even just to bask in the attention that is always afforded someone who does something outlandishly wrong.

But if you can find a player who more perfectly fits the criteria for induction to Cooperstown than Mariano Rivera, I'm listening.

Rule No. 5 of the BWAA's criteria for election reads as follows: "Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played."

Record? Check.

Playing ability? Check.

Integrity, sportsmanship, character? Check, check and check.

Contributions to the New York Yankees, the only organization he has ever played for and one he served for more than half his life?

Checkmate.

At this point, there's no need to rehash the raw numbers that attest to Rivera's greatness, except to remind you that, to accumulate the career stats on his résumé, a pitcher must reach a level of performance most would be thrilled to put up once -- then sustain that performance for nearly two decades.