Mariano Rivera Highlights

"For Mariano Rivera, this February is different. There is no spring training, no regular season in his future and no uniform to put on. 

He is retired now, and with the Yankees’ spring training in full swing and his home country of Panama set to host a Yanks-Marlins exhibition series next month, Rivera can be forgiven for feeling the small pang of nostalgia during the first February of life as a retiree.

PHOTOS: SMILE! YANKEES TAKE SPRING PORTRAITS

“I ain’t going to lie to you. I do miss baseball, but I miss my family, too. I’m fine,” Rivera, 44, said on a conference call Wednesday....Baseball’s all-time saves leader will play the part of host when the Legend Series is played at Rod Carew Stadium March 15-16 in Panama City, and while Rivera said there is “no chance” he will suit up in pinstripes and throw his trademark cutter for the event, he admitted to “feeling a little bit down” that Yankees never made it to Panama while he was active. For now, he will help preside over the three-day event, and Rivera said he hoped “we can do a good job” as hosts so that MLB might consider staging regular-season games in Panama."...image above, Rivera at Nets game last  month (Jan. 2014), NYDN, Sipkin