Later this month, Mariano Rivera will be elected to the Hall of Fame. The only drama from his side will be whether or not he is a unanimous choice.

So begins the yearlong celebration of the Greatest Closer of All-Time. To help kick things off, we chatted with two of his longtime bullpen-mates, Jeff Nelson and Mike Stanton, on a new edition of the "30 With Murti" podcast.

Nelson recalls watching Mariano develop into Joe Torre's super bullpen weapon in 1996 before moving into the closer's role the following year. Stanton came to the Yankees in 1997 and recalls some of Rivera's early struggles as a closer before he settled in and started down the road to Cooperstown.