The Mariano Rivera Retirement Tour is alive and well. 

Nearly a month after the reliever's final appearance with the New York Yankees, Rivera was honored by commissioner Bud Selig on Thursday night in Boston. He is the 13th recipient of the Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award and the first since Ken Griffey, Jr. was honored in 2011.

Rivera, who saved a record 652 games, was the final player to wear No. 42, which was retired by Major League Baseball in honor of Jackie Robinson in 1997.

"This is a night that I have looked forward to for a long time," Selig said. "Tonight I'm proud to present the Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award to Mariano Rivera.

"I'll get right to the heart of the matter, clearly and unequivocally, he's the greatest relief pitcher of all time and he did it in a way that was remarkable."

In 1,115 regular-season appearances, all with the Yankees, Rivera posted a 2.21 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. He averaged 4.1 K/BB over his 19 seasons and broke countless bats and just as many hearts with a pitch hitters knew was coming.

In 96 playoff appearances, Rivera had a 0.70 ERA and 0.76 WHIP. Saves? 42, of course.

"I've been blessed. I've been blessed," Rivera said. "And it's an honor and a privilege to receive this award with such dignity and class because that's the way I respect the game. I still will continue loving the game the way I did when I played the game. For me and my family, this award means a lot."

The native of Panama was gracious as always and pointed out that he was lucky to play for nearly two decades and have one commissioner.

"[This award] will be in a special place. Not in my corner, but in a special place, in a special place," Rivera said. "It means that I had a chance to play for one commissioner, you know."

His playing career has been over for four weeks, but Rivera admitted that his retirement won't truly kick in until the spring arrives. In doing so, the right-hander had some fun with Selig.

"I'm good, but I continue to say that I'm not retired yet. I'm in the offseason," he said with his trademark smile. "Since [I had a retirement tour] in the whole American League and all the time with my family traveling with me, I'm going to give it another shot in the National League."

Rivera was joking with those in attendance, but is well aware that baseball will tempt him in a few months.

"You aren't talking about retirement anymore, you're talking about temptation," he explained. "So I'm going to go as far as I can go to where people don't play baseball."

A known family man and devout in his faith, Rivera plans to enjoy his wife and three sons as he transitions away from pitcher and before he jumps back into a possible role with the game that made him famous.

"I've been away from them for so many years, I have to give them time," he said. "I'm the chauffeur right now for taking them to school and bring them back from school. Also, I have my wife that is the pastor of the church that I congregate with. So I have to give a lot of time on that. I'm not sure I'll have time left. I'm okay with that. I'm busier now than I was playing baseball. I'm okay. I'm happy. We enjoy our time."