Mariano Rivera Highlights

Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo on WFAN today instructed a caller to the station in New York. (Russo himself is a Giants fan). He occasionally does schtick, but Russo is a baseball fan, doesn't rely on ESPN for current or future income, and has been awake in New York since at least 1995. A caller tried to make a comparison about the Red Sox bullpen, and Russo explained the difference.

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Rivera on 7/27/07, photo by Keith Allison, Flickr

"The closer hadn’t been happy with either his slider or curveball, so he took the advice of bullpen coach Gary Tuck and pitching coach John Farrell and went to the cutter.

• Tuck’s experience with the pitch was invaluable considering the time he spent coaching New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, widely considered to have the best cut-fastball in the history of the game."

From Boston Herald article 7/5/07 by Rob Bradford.

• "Remember, Rivera did not become a pitcher until he was 20 and didn’t learn the cutter until 1997. That’s when the fisherman’s son became the world’s most dominant closer."

Kevin Kernan, NY Post, 3/23/07, from his blog from Legends Field. I hadn't realized that...in 1996, Rivera went 107 innings wherein he gave up only 1 homerun. He was the real World Series MVP in 1996 as well, but didn't win the award which went to Wetteland.