Saturday, March 28, 2009

 

'The greatest pitchers I ever saw'

*
"
It shouldn't be Rivera's fault that he makes it look so easy.that every single team in baseball would trade half their farm systems for Rivera at any point in his career.
  • by 45 points."...
from andaplayertobenamedlater.blogspot.com, 'The Greatest Pitchers I ever saw.' 3/27/09

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

 

Rivera vs Blue Jays, spring training at The Boss

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Above 3/19/09, ap
March 9, 2009 in Tampa. from lhblogs
  • Top, 3/19/09, Rivera throws in 5th inning vs Blue Jays in spring training game at The Boss, ap. (Another picture I posted here has disappeared for the time being. It was described as follows: Yankees coach Mick Kelleher, left, congratulates reliever Mariano Rivera after Rivera pitched in the 7th inning of the Yankees 7-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox in their spring training game at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Tuesday, March 24, 2009. ap photo. I placed 2 other nice pictures above in its place). ed.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

 

Alone at the top

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photo from NYYFans, posted under, 'A sight for sore eyes', spring training game v the Pirates, 3/17/09, spring debut

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

 

Welcome back, Mo

*


  • Top, Rivera pauses on the mound before his first pitch of 2009, a spring training game v the Pirates at Steinbrenner Field, March 17th. 11 pitches. 3 up, 3 down with 2 strikeouts. What a sight. ap photos

(AP): "“He looked amazing,” Sabathia said. “To have him at the back end of the bullpen,
  • Mo is something different.”"
from article, "Mariano Rivera Perfect in First Spring Appearance."







Saturday, March 14, 2009

 

'The Count: the Predictable, Unhittable Mariano Rivera,' Wall St. Journal Daily Fix

*
Wall St. Journal Daily fix, 3/12/09: "Mariano Rivera, who turns 40 this year, had perhaps the best season of his Hall of Fame career last season. The New York Yankees closer posted career-low marks in earned run average relative to the league average, walks per inning and walks plus hits per inning. And he did it all with one of the most predictable repertoires in baseball. ...
speaks volumes,” Graham Goldbeck writes (in Beyond the Box Score). The secret appears to be Rivera’s excellent placement and the variety of movement on the ball, depending on how much spin he applies.

Because Rivera is so consistent with his pitch selection, he was a logical candidate for an analysis by Dan Turkenkopf, also on Beyond the Box Score, about the location of his pitches depending on the game situation. Turkenkopf uses a concept called leverage index, which measures how critical a given at-bat is to the game’s outcome (the index is higher in the late innings of a close game, lower in the early innings with a lopsided score).

That could say more about his confidence in the movement of his cutter than it does about pitchers’ typical approach in low-leverage situations." by Carl Bialik


Wednesday, March 11, 2009

 

Greatness considered

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"Sports compel us to watch because of the Great Unwritten Script. We watch for drama. We watch to see whether Papi Ortiz does it again. And through that drama, we determine greatness.

How do we know Mariano Rivera is great?

3/11/09, TheDay.com, Hartford,

Monday, March 09, 2009

 

Tennis closer Andy Roddick compared to Mo...

(3/9/09): "With his final swing of the racquet, Andy Roddick sent the ball soaring into the BJCC Arena stratosphere, or at least the upper reaches of the upper deck.

The 26-year-old has become the most dominant closer in U.S. Davis Cup history, running his record to 11-0 in Davis Cup-clinching matches


Sunday, March 08, 2009

 

Mariano carries Panamanian flag in WBC ceremony

Rivera carries Panamanian flag at inaugural ceremonies in Puerto Rico for the World Baseball Classic. With him is young Carmelo Melendez. Photo from El Nuevo Dia.

Saturday, March 07, 2009

 

Mariano to carry flag of Panama in WBC game

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(NY Times): SAN JUAN, P.R. — "Mariano Rivera walked off a plane here Friday, strolled toward the baggage claim area and seemed edgy. Rivera, the normally stoic closer, was trying to plot the rest of a rare day apart from the Yankees.

I need to work out, man,” he said. “I need to find a place to work out.”

“Do you know what time Panama is working out?” Rivera asked a reporter.

When Rivera was told that Panama’s workout had ended 30 minutes earlier, he cringed. It was too late for Rivera to join his Panamanian teammates — his teammates in spirit, at least. Rivera will wear Panama’s uniform for Saturday’s game against Puerto Rico, something he implored the Yankees to allow....
Rivera is revered in Panama, a place where he grew up using a cardboard box as his first glove
The skinny son of a fisherman named Capt. Mariano, he was signed for $3,500 and has developed

At Panama’s opener on Saturday, Rivera will be the flag bearer for the team and then act as a cheerleader. Héctor López, Panama’s manager and a former Yankee, would love to have Rivera as his closer. Instead, López noted how Rivera’s presence would help his players. Imagine Tom Hanks hanging out on the set of an independent film to encourage the actors. That is basically what Rivera is doing.

“He’s making a great example to the young kids on that team to show them that playing baseball is not about the individual,” Williams said. “It’s about the team. In this case, it’s about your country.”

Those kids will remember it for the rest of their lives,” Williams said."..."Rivera Supports Panama with Presence but not a Glove," 3/6/09, Jack Curry
"The weakest of the Latin American entries, Panama was winless in the last WBC
as Astros left fielder Carlos Lee remains the only big bat on the team and is coming off a season ended early by a broken finger. A Panamanian team without Mariano Rivera is like a Taiwanese team without Chien-Ming Wang,
which makes it all the more unfortunate that relievers Manuel Corpas and Manny Acosta are two of the just three other active major leaguers on the roster (weak-hitting Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz is the third)."

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