Mariano Rivera Highlights

• Suzyn Waldman has seen every outing of Rivera's since 1995 regular and post season: New York, NY (WFAN) -- "When Paul O'Neill was winding down his career, he said to me once, "How come every time I go 0-4, I'm "37 year old Paul O'Neill?"

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.

• From the kid who was almost traded to Detroit for David Wells after arm surgery (thank you Stick Michael...another "save" by Stick!) to the first ballot Hall of Famer he's become,

• and the first class person he has always been, I've been there.

So, what happened over this weekend, both puzzled and angered me...results not withstanding.

• First, the two managers. Joe Maddon gets a gold star for sending up Evan Longoria to pinch hit on Saturday, even though he told reporters before the game that Longoria couldn't run because of a hamstring injury.

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.

• Now to Mariano. I believe, and this was a "first guess", not a second guess, that Mariano Rivera should have been given the opportunity to pitch to Longoria if that's what he wanted to do.

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.

• But Girardi was telling Mariano that he didn't believe he could get Longoria out...and didn't take into consideration that Longoria,
  
• if he hit the ball on the ground, couldn't run and
  
• wouldn't get to first base easily.

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.

• Joe Torre used to say that we've all been spoiled by Mariano, and have we ever! So, every time Mo now gives up some hard hits

• we are treated to headlines blaring: "The beginning of the end!"

Maybe he's not always automatic anymore, but name me a closer you'd rather have coming out of that bullpen.

• Sunday? Mariano had put Saturday behind him, and said after Save #13, "You have to be able to forget the last game. For yourself, for the team. If I don't control myself and don't put it in back of me, when Longoria comes up, I remember yesterday, and that's not good."

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,

• Evan said, "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. If I was the manager, I'd send him out there every day. He's dropped a couple of miles off his fastball, but he still puts it where he wants it...I don't really see his ability to get guys out in the ninth inning decreasing that much at all."

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."...

• ..."Weekend at Mariano's" by Suzyn Waldman, 6/8/09, WFAN.com

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