Rivera the greatest in his profession never to be topped 
QUEENS - There are never enough adjectives or superlatives to describe Mariano Rivera.
As great as you may say he is, he is ever better than that.
As special of a pitcher as he is, he is even more special than that.
Though he nailed down his 500th save of his career on Sunday night in the Yankees sweep of the Mets, placing him second all-time to Trevor Hoffman who has the current lead, it was of no matter to anyone.
If Rivera were never to save another game for the rest of his career, no one would argue that we have not seen one of the greatest relief pitchers (if not, pitchers) that have ever played in Major League Baseball.
The number is just an accessory. A nice little keepsake. Mark Teixeira handed him the ball after he made the final put out on a groundball to Alex Cora, placing it right in his glove and looking at him with a smile to say, "Congratulations, a job well done."
Another Rivera will not come along in our lifetime again. Oh sure, there will be some good, if not great closers around baseball or even pitching for the Yankees in the years to come. It will be long after Rivera has finally had enough and back in Panama relaxing and waiting for the Hall of Fame phone call, or returning for Old Timer's Day at the Stadium in July.
Unfortunately, to replicate this marvel will be impossible.
When your team has the lead and he is signaled from the bullpen to get those final three outs, he is one of few pitchers that elicits extreme confidence that the job will get done. He is so self-assured and his belief has rubbed off to the fans. If he is coming into the game, there is no worry.
While other relievers put their teams and fans through high-wire acts and raise levels of agita, Rivera comes in, slams the door and rarely gives you a chance.
Before Rivera, there was John Wetteland out there in the in the ninth inning, and would turn most of his saves into full-fledged productions that were better than daytime soap operas. Even closing Game 6 of the World Series in 1996, he brought us Yankee fans right to the edge of the proverbial cliff, only to get that
final out.
After that night, those days ceased.
Starting in 1997, Rivera ushered in a completely new era and brought a different dynamic to the way I approach the ninth inning. No longer would I be on the edge of my seat. Getting the final three outs became as easy in the ninth as it would be in the first.
It was efficiency never before seen or will be seen again.
Occasionally he will give you some drama, but it is amazing that nearly every time he comes through. There is no more apropos way of using the term "automatic" then when you are describing Rivera.
Other closers may have gaudy percentage numbers in terms of their ability to finish games (Armando Benitez, Trevor Hoffman, Brad Lidge, Billy Wagner and Jon Papelbon immediately come to mind), but they are still not as good.
Not then. Not now. Not ever.
He is so good and has been so great for so long that you are surprised and sometimes downright stunned when he does not come through.
Rivera had a hiccup when he gave up a game tying home run to Sandy Alomar in Game 4 of the 1997 Division Series at Jacobs Field that would have put the Yankees (then defending world champions) back in the League Championship Series with a chance to reach the World Series again.
Unfortunately, on a Sunday night against the Cleveland Indians and Sandy Alomar at the plate, Rivera left a cutter out and over the plate that eventually landed over the fence to tie the game. The Indians would go on to win the game and the eventually the series.
A moment like that could have shaken his confidence as it has for many others that have come before and are in his peer group now.
Not Rivera.
No one knew it then, but from that night, he went on a run converting 23 postseason saves. In this time, he established himself as the greatest postseason reliever in the history of baseball. For nearly four seasons, Rivera would throw 56 1/3 innings and amassed an inconceivable 0.80 ERA.
QUEENS - There are never enough adjectives or superlatives to describe Mariano Rivera.
As great as you may say he is, he is ever better than that.
As special of a pitcher as he is, he is even more special than that.
Though he nailed down his 500th save of his career on Sunday night in the Yankees sweep of the Mets, placing him second all-time to Trevor Hoffman who has the current lead, it was of no matter to anyone.
If Rivera were never to save another game for the rest of his career, no one would argue that we have not seen one of the greatest relief pitchers (if not, pitchers) that have ever played in Major League Baseball.
The number is just an accessory. A nice little keepsake. Mark Teixeira handed him the ball after he made the final put out on a groundball to Alex Cora, placing it right in his glove and looking at him with a smile to say, "Congratulations, a job well done."
Another Rivera will not come along in our lifetime again. Oh sure, there will be some good, if not great closers around baseball or even pitching for the Yankees in the years to come. It will be long after Rivera has finally had enough and back in Panama relaxing and waiting for the Hall of Fame phone call, or returning for Old Timer's Day at the Stadium in July.
Unfortunately, to replicate this marvel will be impossible.
When your team has the lead and he is signaled from the bullpen to get those final three outs, he is one of few pitchers that elicits extreme confidence that the job will get done. He is so self-assured and his belief has rubbed off to the fans. If he is coming into the game, there is no worry.
While other relievers put their teams and fans through high-wire acts and raise levels of agita, Rivera comes in, slams the door and rarely gives you a chance.
Before Rivera, there was John Wetteland out there in the in the ninth inning, and would turn most of his saves into full-fledged productions that were better than daytime soap operas. Even closing Game 6 of the World Series in 1996, he brought us Yankee fans right to the edge of the proverbial cliff, only to get that
final out.After that night, those days ceased.
Starting in 1997, Rivera ushered in a completely new era and brought a different dynamic to the way I approach the ninth inning. No longer would I be on the edge of my seat. Getting the final three outs became as easy in the ninth as it would be in the first.
It was efficiency never before seen or will be seen again.
Occasionally he will give you some drama, but it is amazing that nearly every time he comes through. There is no more apropos way of using the term "automatic" then when you are describing Rivera.
Other closers may have gaudy percentage numbers in terms of their ability to finish games (Armando Benitez, Trevor Hoffman, Brad Lidge, Billy Wagner and Jon Papelbon immediately come to mind), but they are still not as good.
Not then. Not now. Not ever.
He is so good and has been so great for so long that you are surprised and sometimes downright stunned when he does not come through.
Rivera had a hiccup when he gave up a game tying home run to Sandy Alomar in Game 4 of the 1997 Division Series at Jacobs Field that would have put the Yankees (then defending world champions) back in the League Championship Series with a chance to reach the World Series again.
Unfortunately, on a Sunday night against the Cleveland Indians and Sandy Alomar at the plate, Rivera left a cutter out and over the plate that eventually landed over the fence to tie the game. The Indians would go on to win the game and the eventually the series.
A moment like that could have shaken his confidence as it has for many others that have come before and are in his peer group now.
Not Rivera.
No one knew it then, but from that night, he went on a run converting 23 postseason saves. In this time, he established himself as the greatest postseason reliever in the history of baseball. For nearly four seasons, Rivera would throw 56 1/3 innings and amassed an inconceivable 0.80 ERA.
He was the backbone to the Yankees winning four world championships with him as closer and were three outs away from a fourth straight championship and fifth title in Game 7 against Arizona.
Then came the ninth inning.
The Yankees had taken a 2-1 lead in the eighth inning and Rivera struck out the side in the bottom half. He was pitching to the bottom of the lineup and no one could have foreseen that this would be the night where it would all end.
But it did.
A single, error and a double tied the game. Luis Gonzalez would then bloop a single over a drawn-in infield to win the World Series for the Diamondbacks.
At that moment, you realized that even Rivera was human.
Sure, no one wants to blow the seventh game of the World Series, but it happened. Always prideful and never willing to hide, stood by his locker and answered every question reporters asked him after the game.
He would do the same after Game 4 of the 2004 AL Championship Series when his blown save became the genesis for the Boston Red Sox historic comeback from 0-3 against the Yankees.
You begin to realize that even The Great Mariano cannot close them all.
In a role where you need to have a short memory after failure, it is Rivera who handles it the best. Others like Mark Wohlers, Mitch Williams and Donnie Moore (RIP) have similar moments and are never the same again. For the Yankees immortal, he just moves on to tomorrow.
So here he is, at age 39 still doing a job that has one of the shortest life spans of any position. To be able to do what he does even now is incredible. Last year, pitching with a tender elbow that required surgery, he pitched the finest season of his career with an ERA of 1.40 and WHIP of 0.66.
Watching him go out there each time his number is called and hearing “Enter Sandman” play over the loudspeakers has been a tremendous experience that we all will miss once his career is over.
When he does finally say goodbye, we can all sit back and say that he is one of the greatest that ever lived.
Thanks Mo.
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