Monday, June 29, 2009

 

Rivera 500 saves, June 28, 2009 at Mets. Also Mo's first career RBI





top photo us presswire, Rivera enters at Mets for save 500, 6/28/09. photos 2, 4, 5 by getty, 3 by ap

Thursday, June 25, 2009

 

Mo in the 8th, tying runs on base

Mariano Rivera, 8th inning, Yankees v Atlanta Braves, June 24, 2009. ap photo. On ESPN's telecast,

Monday, June 08, 2009

 

Third day in a row for Mo



Yanks v Rays, 6/8/09, top photo wenzelberg from NY Post, 2nd and 3rd photo by ap, bottom by getty



above photo pokress, newsday

 

Mariano's Weekend- Suzyn Waldman, WFAN


Full disclosure here...there is no one I have ever liked or respected more in the 23 years I've covered or broadcast the Yankees than 39 year old Mariano Rivera.
So, what happened over this weekend, both puzzled and angered me...results not withstanding.
Maddon was making Girardi react to HIM. With first base open, what would Girardi do? Walk Longoria to face the .220 hitting BJ Upton? Well, BJ Upton might be hitting .220, but NOT in the last few weeks. As I said on the air, he's batting over .400 in a stretch that dates back a couple of weeks.
It obviously angered Mo to be told by the manager that he should walk him. Mariano believes he can get anyone out, that's part of what makes him great. If you just look at "match ups"...maybe that's the way to go.
The argument that "he's the manager"? Yes, he is...but Mariano is not a "closer machine"...he was clearly hurt by the decision, did it anyway, and the hot hitting Upton made him pay.
Maybe he's not always automatic anymore, but name me a closer you'd rather have coming out of that bullpen.
Mariano has always said that what makes a good closer is the ability to handle adversity. He watches young talents come up to the big leagues, and what he teaches them is how to handle failure. Everyone can handle success, he believes...it's how you handle the bad times that makes you tough enough to succeed. After Mo got Longoria to ground out to second to end Sunday's game,
Stats and match ups? They have their place...mostly to prove that they don't matter. They ultimately don't matter because as Joe Torre once said, "You can't forget that this game has a heartbeat." If WE forget that, we might as well just sit and play our games on a computer, and talk to each other on Facebook or Twitter, and not bother with real sports."...
P.S. Suzyn doesn't mention the report by Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports that Rivera was violently ill and vomiting a few hours before the Saturday game. ("Yanks' Rivera Never Lost his Mojo")
Getty photo from Yahoo article, 6/7/09

 

Evan Longoria says Mariano Rivera still the best closer in baseball-NY Daily News

"Following the Yankees' 4-3 win at the Stadium Sunday - which ended on Evan Longoria's slow roller to second, capping a perfect ninth and Rivera's 13th save -

"Among the closers in the game, if I had to choose one guy, I would still want him running out there in the ninth inning," Longoria said. "If I was the manager, I would send him out there every day.

Rivera essentially received a vote of no-confidence from Joe Girardi in Saturday's 9-7 loss in the Bronx. Instead of pitching to Longoria in the ninth, he was directed to intentionally walk the leading American League vote-getter in All-Star balloting.

While Rivera, 39, hasn't always seemed like his old self this season, Longoria believes it's not a sign of things to come - at least not anytime soon.

"He rarely makes mistakes. The times that he has, we've been able to capitalize on them," Longoria said. "He's still a big presence coming out of the pen. Maybe he's not as good as he was six years ago or when he was at his peak, but you have to be on the top of your game facing him. ... His ball is moving so much that even at 92-94 mph, it's still tough to handle."


Sunday, June 07, 2009

 

The much anticipated Grim Reaper is foiled yet again by Rivera





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Saturday, June 06, 2009

 

Where is one BBWAA member with guts enough to stop this farcical group?

Mike Vaccaro, NY Post, 11/9/05

"He was bound and gagged and put under an interrogation lamp

overwhelmingly to make Bartolo Colon one of the most underwhelming Cy Young Award winners ever.

"And don’t think for one second that the fact that
in certain quarters.
via Leather Penguin, "Bastards"

Thursday, June 04, 2009

 

Marchman: Mariano Rivera is the best reliever in baseball history.

which would make him the ninth-highest paid starter in the game." ...

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