Mariano Rivera Highlights

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1/7/12, "During a pitching clinic for about 120 youth baseball players at the Frozen Ropes training facility in Pine Brook, he (Rivera) didn't seem to have an issue getting his message across.

Standing behind pitchers trying to replicate his smooth motion, Rivera offered encouragement and pointers to the players, many of whom came to the event donning the closer's No. 42 jersey. He later addressed several groups of players.

Rivera still can't raise his voice fully, though he said it is “getting better and better.”

Based on last season's performance alone, Rivera offered little indication of a slowdown, once again asserting himself as one of the game's elite closers. He saved 44 games for the Yankees while posting a 1.91 ERA in 61 1/3 innings."...

[Ed. note: It's extremely misleading when discussing a pitcher's endurance to leave out his post season work. In the case of Rivera's 2011 it was only 1.1IP but these add up as his post season total is 141IP. By habitually leaving post season out you cheat him of about 2 years' worth of pitching. Not to mention being inaccurate on the important topic of durability. Most baseball writers wouldn't like to be cheated out of their work.]

(continuing, Star-Ledger): "At an age that normally brings about significant decline, Rivera upped his strikeout total from the previous season, while also cutting down on his already slim walk rate. As a result, the closer turned in his best strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.50) since 2008.

Rivera has said he might know by spring training whether he intends to keep pitching when his contract expires after this year. But he declined to offer a preview of which direction he's leaning.

Said Rivera: “We'll see.”

1/7/12, "Yankees closer Mariano Rivera making progress after throat surgery," Marc Carig, NJ Star-Ledger. photo above by Mr. Carig

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Above Rivera with young pitcher at Frozen Ropes, 1/7/12, photo by Dominick Paoli, via Montclair Times, 1/11/12, "Sideline Chatter: Rivera, Tebow and Herbin are unique figures for secular age," Montclair Times

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1/10/12, "Mariano Rivera Preps Pitchers in Pine Brook," Montville Patch, Jake Remaly

"For 10-year-old Montville ballplayer Michael Monetti, meeting Yankees closing pitcher Mariano Rivera on Saturday was "absolutely amazing."

Rivera conducted a two-hour clinic at Frozen Ropes training center on Hook Mountain Road in the Pine Brook section of the township about developing healthy throwing arms.

About 125 players attended the clinic, center owner Bob Pigozzi said. The cost of the clinic, $395 per player, included an autographed baseball. Pigozzi said he limited invitations to players and groups he works with to avoid creating a scene.

Frozen Ropes, a baseball and softball instruction company with locations across the U.S., features Rivera on an instructional DVD.

"He's our model for pitching," said Pigozzi, a Kinnelon resident who has owned the Montville Township facility for the past two years. Pigozzi owned another Frozen Ropes facility in Connecticut, where Rivera also came for a clinic, prior to purchasing the facility in Pine Brook.

Rivera broke the MLB record for saves on Sept. 19. He told players on Saturday how, growing up, he used a rock wrapped in tape as a baseball and a milk carton as a glove, Monetti said. Rivera also stressed the importance of being a team player

• and not showing off, Monetti said."...

photo by Montville Patch