Monday, July 29, 2013

 

Mystique and Aura back in the Bronx after long absence, Jeter hits first pitch out, Rivera gets win

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7/28/13, Rivera v Tampa Bay Rays, final 6-5 Yankees, ap 

























7/28/13, Rivera v Tampa Bay Rays, ap via SI.com















7/28/13, Rivera v Tampa Bay Rays, ap via SI.com
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7/29/13, "Mariano Rivera: Breaking bats, and hitters' hearts, for 19 years," LA Times, Ben Bolch

"Mariano Rivera, the greatest reliever of all time, is as good as ever in final season of Hall of Fame career, as Dodgers may learn this week."

"All 16 pitches Rivera threw in the All-Star game earlier this month were cutters. No surprise there. Rivera rarely uses the four-seam fastball and sinker that complete his repertoire.

Eighty-nine percent of the pitches Rivera has thrown since the start of the 2007 season have been cutters, according to the website brooksbaseball.net. Of the 2,614 pitches Rivera has thrown to left-handed hitters in that span, 2,582 — or 98.8% — have been cutters.

"He throws his cutter more than [Tim] Wakefield used to throw his knuckleball," Minnesota first baseman Justin Morneau said. "I mean, that's crazy to think about, a pitcher who's been this successful mastering one pitch. You know it's going to break and I think it always seems like it breaks more and later than you anticipate.

"You can get frustrated because you go up there saying, 'I'm not going to swing at anything in,' and you end up breaking a bat. It's one of those tough at-bats that you come back shaking your head and then you remind yourself that the guy's going to be in the Hall of Fame for a reason."

Rivera's cutter closely resembles his four-seam fastball until the pitch veers sharply in the final moments before reaching the plate."...


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"BACK TO THE FUTURE: Is it 2003?! Derek Jeter homers on FIRST PITCH back from DL as veterans Soriano, Ichiro and Rivera play hero in Yanks' 6-5 win over Tampa Bay Rays"
 
 









7/28/13, Collage of Yankee heros, from 6-5 Yankees win v Rays. Rivera got the win pitching scoreless 9th with score tied 5-5, photo collage NY Daily News (photo only appeared on front page of NYDN website so no permalink)

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11/2/2001, "Mystique, Aura, and Timely Hits," Tim Sullivan


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