Milestone for Mariano (with audio)
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That was certainly a fun game to watch. It’s not every night you can see a legendary player drive in his first career run and get his 500th save.
Here is the full audio of Mariano’s postgame press conference including the questions asked in Spanish. Take the time to listen because you’ll really get a sense of what kind of person and teammate he is:
A few notes and quotes for you:
Chien-Ming Wang: The starter had to wait 11 outs to see if he was going to get his first win in 379 days. So, I asked, what were you thinking when you saw Rivera come in the game?
“We’re winning the game,” Wang said.
Wang had a baseball in his locker and he planned to have Rivera sign it. “For my son,” he said. “I want him to know I played with Mo.”
Justin Wang is 12 days old and his old man has had 24 of his 55 wins saved by Rivera. Only Andy Pettitte (59), Mike Mussina (49), Roger Clemens (35), El Duque Hernandez (32) and David Wells (25) have had more,
Derek Jeter: “Yes, No question,” he said without a moment of hesitation when asked if Rivera was the greatest he has played with. “There has never been anybody more consistent. Mo is great in the regular season, the postseason, even spring training.”
Jorge Posada: “I think I’m as excited as he is,” the catcher said. “This means a lot to me, to have caught this game. That man … we’ve been through a lot together. He makes my job easier, he makes all our jobs easier. He’s the best ever.”
Joe Girardi: The manager was the catcher when Mariano recorded his first save on May 18, 1996 against the Angels. Fittingly enough, Andy Pettitte got the win and Jeter was 2 for 4 with an RBI hitting eighth.
With the Yankees up 8-5, Mo entered the game in the ninth inning. He struck out Randy Velarde. Mike Aldrete singled and then Garret Anderson grounded into a double play.
Girardi said that when he caught Mo in spring training of 1996, he knew the Yankees had something special. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘Who is this guy?’ Then he had the best, most dominant year I think I’ve ever seen a reliever have,” he said.
The numbers bear that out. Mo pitched 107.2 innings over 61 appearances with a 2.07 ERA. He allowed 73 hits and fanned 130 with 34 walks.
Cody Ransom: Mo used Cody’s bat and batting gloves again. Cody, no fool, put the bat in a sanitary stocking after the game and was taking it home as a souvenir. Mo said he was welcome to it. “It’s his bat,” he said.
Mariano Rivera: Ever the class act, Rivera talked about how special it was for him to be congratulated by Jeter, Posada and Pettitte, his three long-time teammates. Jeter, he said, has always supported him and said the right thing at the right time.
Mo had a box of balls after the game and was planning to sign them for his teammates.
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If you’ll permit me a personal aside, I’ve been doing this job since I was 17 and Mariano is the best athlete I have covered. He is the model of professionalism in how he approaches every aspect of his job, how he treats his teammates and how he treats those around the team, including reporters.
A few years ago, he blew a save and was not around after the game to talk to the writers. It turned out he had left the clubhouse quickly because one of the his children was sick. The next day, he apologized and said he would be willing to answer any questions about the blown save. It’s easy to be gracious in victory but the true measure of a man is how he handles defeat and Mo always is there, win or lose.
If at some point, God willing, I’m an old man telling stories on a porch somewhere, the first thing I’ll say was that I got to cover the great Rivera. It has been a tremendously fun part of this job.
It also is tremendously fun to write for such dedicated fans. Nearly 2,100 comments on the blog today and close to 90,000 page views. Thanks to everybody for reading. No baseball on Monday, but we’ll have a few posts.
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on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 1:03 am by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Thanks for this Pete
From the previous thread:
We saw the perfect illustration in the 9th inning what separates Mo from every other closer in baseball history.
His impeccable control and he doesn’t walk anybody. Period.
Allowing those extra base runners is what sometimes leads to disasters for your team and opens up opportunities for the opposing team like the dropped pop up from Castillo back at the Stadium and tonight walking Mo with the bases loaded.
K-Rod walked three hitters (and should have had four) in the inning and the other base runner got on via a miscue by his defense behind him.
If you don’t allow free passes, those defensive miscues that are out of your control don’t come back to bite you nearly as often.
K-Rod often makes things interesting. So does Papelbon. The walks are a very big reason for it and that’s why Mo has always been superior to either of them.
That impeccable precision and “no walk” mentality is the reason why The Eck is now in the Hall of Fame despite not throwing hard when he was a closer.
Mo Rivera is still the greatest after all these years. I first started watching the Yankees in ‘96 when I was 13. It has been such a joy to grow up and watch Mo become the most dominant closer of all time. Every year there’s rumblings that he is on the decline, but he always proves them wrong. His 39/3 K/BB ratio this year is just sick. A very nice milestone to one of my favorite players of all time.
A great game and love the result, but Pete and the main stream media need to ask Girardi about why he keeps Cano batting in the 5th spot with lesser results than the Yankees need right now?
Mo is always so understated.
It sets him on a class above anyone else.
Mo is the greatest of all time. Plain and simple.
I love the “Congratulations, blah blah blah blah blah”
MO=GOAT
such a class act, it’s been an honor to watch him in Pinstripes, may he have a few more postseason saves:)
I missed it but apparently Phil Hughes–made a post-game comment to Suzyn Waldman about how much he admires Rivera and how Rivera talks to him when they’re in the bullpen
# Rebecca–Optimist Prime June 29th, 2009 at 1:15 am
I love the “Congratulations, blah blah blah blah blah”
I loved that myself
Great quotes, Pete – you can tell the guys really love Mo.
It really is amazing when listening to that audio not only what a great player Mo is but more importantly what a great person and teammate he is. He is just so classy there really will never be someone like him again. We as Yankee fans are very fortunate to have seen him grow up before our eyes.
Tonight I sleep with my prized possession under my pillow.
[IMG]http://i42.tinypic.com/nla71k.jpg[/IMG]
I’m so close to tears right now. First of all, because of what Wang said. That he wants his son to know that he played with Mariano Rivera. Unbelievable.
And second, randy l, did you really take firejoemorgan so seriously?
Thanks for the audio Pete!
randy, I don’t have any problem saying that word I didn’t say, I just didn’t want to embarrass you.
Ok lets try this again
http://i42.tinypic.com/nla71k.jpg
They need to win the WS every season until Mo retires.
Bronx Jeers: That’s awesome!
For my 8th grade graduation (back in 2000, haha) my parents got me signed pictures of my favorite Yankee and favorite Devil–Mariano Rivera and Martin Brodeur.
They’re a little too big to sleep with, but they’re still hanging in my bedroom at home.
randy l.
June 29th, 2009 at 1:05 am
“I would think that sitting next to Rivera talk about pitching out of the pen (or, pitching in general) would be the same as sitting next to Koufax while talks about pitching or Ted Williams”
gb7-
you just made me make a connection i hadn’t before.
do you remember when i said that carl taylor used to fish with ted williams every sunday when he was 15-16 years old in the florida keys ?
guess who was the yankee bullpen catcher when rivera came up?
yup, carl taylor.
if you want to see one of my favorite photos click on my username. there’s a photo of carl and me throwing in pre season when he was the yankee bullpen catcher catching mariano.
carl had quite the baseball life. he was also boog powell’s half brother.
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I envy you (God…I can’t believe that I said that) that you and PAT M were able to get that far inside the game. I never had much chance to talk to pro ball players other than one time when I was introduced to HOfer stan Covelesky and he was talking with a bunch of kids that had fathers who were part of the Kiwanis Club and I went with a neighbor.
Other than that, the closest I ever got to instructions from a pro…..nahhh…better not talk about her instructions….errrr….was when Orville Moody told me to find another, less dangerous hobby than golf. I only assumed that he meant “less dangerous” for him and others.
I would love to hear those sorts of conversations, especially back then.
One of the ironies of commemorating Mo’s 500th save is that Mo’s accomplishments already have and will only continue to demonstrate how insufficient saves are to assess the effectiveness of closers.
This will be one of Mariano’s great impacts on the way people understand the game.
During his career there has been near universal agreement that he was the best closer in baseball. But during his career how many times has he led the league or even the AL in saves? No often.
And when reality disagrees with a statistic like that it points out the limitations of the number.
Watching Mariano perform and the way that performance was not being adequately captured by the notion of a save greatly accelerated the devaluing of a save as a meaningful number.
Instead to really capture how amazing mariano has been you had to look elsewhere – ERA+, WHIP, FIP, tRA, etc. etc.
I’m not in any way saying that mariano was solely responsible for this. There’s been a convergence of thinking over the years have made people rethink the numbers in baseball as a whole and saves in particular.
But that thinking required crucible to concentrate itself in. And for relievers, Mo was that crucible.
Mo is the greatest relief pitcher in the game year in and out. But year in and out he’s not the leader in saves. His brialliance so visible that it became readily apparent that the problem with that equation was with the save statistic rather than with anything having to do with Mo.
For my 8th grade graduation (back in 2000, haha) my parents got me signed pictures of my favorite Yankee and favorite Devil–Mariano Rivera and Martin Brodeur.
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Talk about a collection of saves! The best at their respective positions.
And this is coming from a Ranger fan.
“randy, I don’t have any problem saying that word I didn’t say, I just didn’t want to embarrass you.”
nick in sf-
you’re embarrassing yourself thinking you could embarrass me.
the fire joe morgan guys were exactly as i said . i’ve yet to see an african american face on any of them who’ve gone public. maybe you can find one and prove me wrong. i think i’ll be waiting awhile on that one.
not a one of them could ever take that crap they spouted into a major league clubhouse.
but as far as you and me , i have no problem with you personally not liking listening to morgan . that’s a personal choice.
what they were doing was a very different thing.
What’s ironic is that a closer faced a closer.
listening to Mo describe what Derek said to him after the game – was the Audio Highlight of the year.
(jump to the 7 min mark if you don’t want to wait…blah blah blah)
gb7-
i have no doubt carl taylor would be listening to you as much as you listened to him if you ever met. i think you two would like each other.
peter great comments.
mo is once in a lifetime player… to think he has been doing this at a high level for about 14 years is astounding..
the yankess are hitting 23 points lower then the mets with men in scoring position. can you say achilles heal>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
why can they not hit with RISP??? In the playoffs if they get there pitchers are better, free passes and BP homerun pitches do not happen often, how can they get better at this????
THats ther big offensive issue… If anyone can find out men left on base, and post the numbers for the yanks and a few other teams that would be great……………
m June 29th, 2009 at 1:40 am
What’s ironic is that a closer faced a closer.
——————
Maybe we’ll see Elias dig up a a factoid on when the last time that occurred.
It certainly hasn’t happened very often in the last 20 years.
It happened with a little more regularity in the 70s and 80s when closer’s weren’t primarily limited to one inning.
Stats for closers are problematic due to sample size issues. That’s why I like WPA.
I meant how many runners they have left on base this year, I bet the #is HUGE>>>>>>>>>>>>
randy, I wasn’t making any reference to your feud with people on some other blog. Just what you wrote one night on this blog. Maybe you meant it, maybe you didn’t Whatever, dude! I still like you.
“For my 8th grade graduation (back in 2000, haha) my parents got me signed pictures of my favorite Yankee and favorite Devil–Mariano Rivera and Martin Brodeur.
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Talk about a collection of saves! The best at their respective positions.
And this is coming from a Ranger fan.”
Indeed!
Both the Yankees and the Devils won that year, and since the Yankees won both in 1999 and in 2000 I can say that my two favorite teams won both in the same academic year and in the same calendar year.
Oh, that was a glorious, glorious year.
Coolest thing that ever happened–my brother, father, cousin and I went to game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals, where the Devils had a chance to clinch, and though we didn’t win that game (we won it in six), my brother did get a puck.
He later got the puck signed by Jamie Langenbrunner, who’s ended up playing for the Devils, but at the time of the game played for the Dallas Stars.
My brother’s always been a little more into the memorabilia than I have, but I do have Yogi Berra, David Cone (dated 7-18-99…Cone spelt my name wrong which is kind of awesome) (these were gifts from a business associate of my father’s who found out how obsessed we were when we had dinner with him), Paul O’Neill (I won a contest on his website I entered because I was bored, as has so often been the case in my life), Jose Molina (last HR ever at Yankee Stadium so I needed something!!), Phil Hughes, Matt LaPorta (charity auction that Tom Kackley organizes), Mariano Rivera… I think that’s it. I also have copy number 250/300 of The Yankees Encyclopedia, not sure which version, my mom got me for my 15th birthday–there’s an insert that’s filled with all sorts of autographs of old timers, including Phil Rizzuto and Bobby Murcer.
Oh man. You totally just made me miss home. The only autograph I have here is the Jose Molina baseball.
What will we ever do without our Mo? He is the epitome of a truly great man. How often do you find that kind of talent housed in so noble a person?
It’s so rare, you treasure those times you do run into it.
God bless you, Mo.
This lady on WFAN I swear. She just loves her Mets. If we had our whole AA team playing the Red Sox we would expect them to win, and We won’t make excuses. This is sad.
We wouldn’t make excuses if we lost.
I’m never been so proud as much as I am today of Mariano. My fellow Panamanian. Well done!
)
Now they are bringing up 2004 lol so sad.
Two players that I’ve admired for a long time are Ichiro and Mo- never lose their cool, never throw their teammates under the bus, total professionals.
I have a friend from Montana who had never seen a Yankees game until we were in school together in 1999- we headed out to a bar to catch Game 2 of the division series on TV and he saw Mo come in to pitch for the first time. “Who is that? That guy looks like a bad***,” he said as he watched him finish up his warm-up pitches. “Look, he even looks cool when he spits. I bet he’s going to strike out the side.”
He didn’t strike out the side, just two of the three batters he faced.
The only thing I care about is this team is wins. I don’t put more emphasis on wins against the Mets or Red Sox than I do anyone else.
Personally, I hate games against the Mets and Red Sox because the fans often make them much more important than the other series.
They all count the same. Beat the teams you’re supposed to beat and they’ll be in the mix all season.
randy l.
June 29th, 2009 at 1:42 am
gb7-
i have no doubt carl taylor would be listening to you as much as you listened to him if you ever met. i think you two would like each other.
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That would be an enjoyable meeting for me. When he was with the Cards and Pirates, I always hoped NYY would get him in a deal. I think he could have played the Johnny Blanchard part and really helped.
If we play golf in Florida, I’ll use your clubs. No sense in breaking rental clubs that I’d have to pay for.
Someone on here was talking about an etiquette lesson in golf that I’ll always remember. If you don’t play as well as the others and your play is holding up the others, just take 10 strokes and move on. It was also a lesson in how to cut my score in half.
Congrats to Mo good win yankees are on a roll. The only problem tonight is that Cano needs to do a better job with RISP if he is hitting in the 5 hole. Maybe it is his wrist that is bothering him.
nick in sf-
we’re good. the blog wouldn’t be the same for me without all our sparring. i like to think over time a mutual respect developed.
tonight was a great night to be a yankee fan. you can tell peter a. was even hit by the specialness of the evening and it takes a lot to move beat writers who have seen everything.
Hey Peter,
Did you notice that Bruney didn’t have the inaugural season patch on the hit hat today? I live in California and don’t catch many games on tv, have you noticed this before? any reason why? keep up the good work
Rebecca, you must be the same age as Young Master Phillip…..GB, Your golf tales are become legendary as well as humorous……
“If we play golf in Florida, I’ll use your clubs. No sense in breaking rental clubs that I’d have to pay for.”
between broken clubs and lost golf balls, golf could be a very expensive game for you.
i have about a hundred golf cubs righty and lefty in a storage unit in the sarasota area that by now has made those clubs really expensive.
you breaking them would save me the rental fee so that sounds like a plan.
another interesting connection i just thought of. carl passed neil allen to me when he went to the yankees. he had been catching neil in sarasota. that’s how i got to know neil.
WFAN is hilarious right now. And the only reason I’m awake.
# Rebecca–Optimist Prime June 29th, 2009 at 2:13 am
WFAN is hilarious right now. And the only reason I’m awake.
Same!
Pat M: Phil Hughes is two months younger than me. (And a week, I think).
Pat M.
June 29th, 2009 at 2:07 am
Rebecca, you must be the same age as Young Master Phillip…..GB, Your golf tales are become legendary as well as humorous……
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The really sad part is that they are true.
The FireJoeMorgan guys took every sportswriter in america to task. Infact, by the end of it, they probably hated more on Hatguy or Bill Plaschke than Joe Morgan. The entire reason for the website, is that ESPN trumpeted Jon Miller and Joe Morgan, ran multiple chats with Joe Morgan, and Morgan was simply unprepared to be a good analyst.
There is absolutely nothing racist about the website, and thats reading too much into it or giving a guy a pass because of his race.
The funny thing about Joe and guys like McCarver is that they DO have great baseball knowledge. But after years of being on the TV they’d become incredibly dumb. If you watch ESPN there might be 1 game or 10 innings a year where Joe Morgan comes up with a really great observation, but its marred by the other 1000 innings of ‘consistency’ and not knowing who players are, and saying blatantly stupid things.
Thanks for this tribute to Mo -mylil moment in life with Mo. He came to Oakland and I was there for batting practice I held his jersey up and was calling his name out he looked up smiled ad waved to me. I felt like I was the onlt person there.He has handled his saves and losses with true class! Thank you Mariano!
I am debating calling WFAN for the pure and utter heck of it. Please talk me out of this, I have nothing intelligent to say at 2.19 AM.
pat m
how’s the hip coming ?
golf in the picture yet?
we really should do a spring training lohud golf get together next winter in florida. see some games , play some golf.
i dying to see gb 7 play.
though i probably shouldn’t use the word “die” and give him any ideas.
Call in Rebecca
Carl: And say what?
randy l.
June 29th, 2009 at 2:12 am
“If we play golf in Florida, I’ll use your clubs. No sense in breaking rental clubs that I’d have to pay for.”
between broken clubs and lost golf balls, golf could be a very expensive game for you.
i have about a hundred golf cubs righty and lefty in a storage unit in the sarasota area that by now has made those clubs really expensive.
you breaking them would save me the rental fee so that sounds like a plan.
another interesting connection i just thought of. carl passed neil allen to me when he went to the yankees. he had been catching neil in sarasota. that’s how i got to know neil.
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Your getting tips from Carl Taylor and Neil Allen is something like my brother’s friendship with Eric Rasmussen, the former Cards and Padres pitcher. They’re next door neighbors. At first my brother didn’t know who he was until he saw him at the Ft Myers Miracles game and Rasmussen was in uniform. My brother has season tickets and asked him what the deal was. Turns out that Rasmussen was the pitching coach for the Twins FSL team there. My nephew had been getting pitching instructions from Rasmussen and the nephew’s best friend was getting instructions from Al Leiter. They had been teaching them how to throw a proper curve and changeup without hurting their arms.
# Rebecca–Optimist Prime June 29th, 2009 at 2:23 am
Carl: And say what?
That I do not know
>And say what?
In a sympathetic tone:
“Hi, I’m a die hard Yankee fan and I REALLY would like to express my sympathy to Mets fans listening right now simply by saying- BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
And don’t stop laughing until they hang up on you.
Pel: I’m not that mean, alas.
I’m thinking of saying something like people will forget this is CMW’s first win of the season…
What do you guys think?
Randy I, I just started the rehabbing thuis past week….Long road awauts, but I’ve there before…..So rather than the 14-16 weeks, I’m hoping to knock it out in 6-7 weeks…..My goal is to be hitting a bucket of balls by Labor Day weekend, and then be ready for the golf witner season……I miss my skin games…..Trust me, when that time comes , I’ll be contacting you as I overhaul my game from scratch…Starting all over….Hands to fast, lower body will have become that much slower…..
randy l.
June 29th, 2009 at 2:21 am
pat m
how’s the hip coming ?
golf in the picture yet?
we really should do a spring training lohud golf get together next winter in florida. see some games , play some golf.
i dying to see gb 7 play.
though i probably shouldn’t use the word “die” and give him any ideas.
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I’ll only play golf with you guys if I’m in your wills.
I’d bet I’m the only golfer in the world that has an entourage that consists of a full medical team and a lawyer that specializes in personal injury suits. They follow me around to pick up a few extra bucks.
Congrats Mariano on your 500th Save
… You’re a truly “Orgullo Hispano”. We LOVE YOU MAN!
Seriously, I think I’m going to do this, but I need something to talk about.
>I’m not that mean, alas.
Ah, the rare Yankee fan who can take it but can’t dish it out.
This is truly a night for firsts.
” If you watch ESPN there might be 1 game or 10 innings a year where Joe Morgan comes up with a really great observation,”
jerkface-
with all due respect, i hear things from morgan every time i listen to him that are interesting. he does talk about a lot of mechanical things which you may not be interested in, but that doesn’t make him non interesting. it just means you may not be interested in playing yourself.
as far as him not being prepared, i see that sometimes. people do get stale when they’ve had a job for a long time.
did you notice the respect morgan had for mo and mo for morgan tonight when they talked? these fire joe morgan guys and rivera and morgan could not go into a room and have a good baseball discussion.
what would the fire joe morgan guys have to say to mo?
tonight is a night to celebrate mo, so i don’t want to go any further into these fire joe morgan guys, but i don’t think they’d have much good to say about mo either. they’d probably be making fun of his accent and his lack of education compared to them.
i think rivera and the fire joe morgan guys are like oil and water. they just wouldn’t mix.
Pel: My two best friends are Mets and Red Sox fans…
I guess I’m a bit of a peacemaker =P
“i think rivera and the fire joe morgan guys are like oil and water. they just wouldn’t mix.”
and i should add that would be their loss because mo is an amazing human being.
>My two best friends are Mets and Red Sox fans…
>I guess I’m a bit of a peacemaker =P
OK, you’re officially eligible for sainthood.
“>My two best friends are Mets and Red Sox fans…
>I guess I’m a bit of a peacemaker =P
OK, you’re officially eligible for sainthood.”
Alas, Jews don’t do the saint thing!!
pat m and gb 7-
seriously, we should try to do a lohud golf/spring training get together next winter.
what’s the worst that could happen?
that’s why they have bail bondsmen
Ok, I can’t get through and it’s bed time. Maybe I’ll try tomorrow. Because I can’t shy away from opportunities to embarrass myself!
Great post by Pete A.
Mo is the best, ever.
Congrats to Mo and to Yankee fans that have cheered him on for him for years. Great day for the Yanks all the way aound.
Cheers.
-dennis
>Alas, Jews don’t do the saint thing!!
I’ll take your word for it, but a little wikiing says I should take umbrage with that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S....._religions
Randy I, Sounds good to me…Maybe sometime before Christmas, as certainly the hot stove season will be in full bloom……SJ is a member somweher in the Miami area, so getting a tee-time should not be an issue…..Seriously, we should work on it……
Calling it a night……Memorable evening on several fronts….
what would the fire joe morgan guys have to say to mo?
—-
They would have no reason to talk to Mo. They target the inane things that the sports media say. They aren’t media, they are just a fun blog that makes fun of the incredible amount of stupid that comes out of sports writer and analyst’s mouths.
They are also boston fans, which sucks, but they are all very smart, very funny writers. They make great points generally.
I can understand if you are an old school guy, you won’t like a bunch of sabermetricians ripping Plaschke or whoever for suggesting Juan Pierre rules.
-
I like Joe Morgan the player, and Joe Morgan the analyst SOMETIMES. There is a great anecdote about Joe in Ball Four. Then there are things like where he thinks mOneyball was written by Billy beane and doesn’t understand the concept of moneyball or the fact that Joe Morgan is one of the ultimate money ballish type players.
Anywhoooooooo bottom line, Mariano Rivera RULES
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4292883
Sunday Conversation with Mariano. He’s so humble. And silly. Laughing through the whole interview.
He even gives a nod to “Popplebahn”.
Intergleague is finally over. Two intra-division matchups start up tomorrow. Sox @ Orioles and Jays (Halladay) @ Rays.
Nice post, Pete.
Working Wed-Sat nights in a place w/ no TVs, I haven’t been able to watch too many games live this season, but I was very glad I was home to watch this tonight(despite having to listen to Miller, Morgan, and Phillips). To see the Yanks sweep and the Great Rivera get his 1st RBI & 500th save was definitely the way to wind down a long week.
Although, in truth, I was hoping they wouldn’t need Mo tonight and he’d get #500 on Tuesday, when I’ll be making my very 1st visit to the new Big Church In The Bronx.
Either way, time to scrap the Mo painting I just started and get to work on one commemorating 500, whaddaya think?
Pete well done with this post – I just wish you’d cover other Yankee players with the same sense of admiration as you do with Mo.
Mariano represents the Yankees on and off the field with as much class as any Yankee in history.
He may be the last of his kind. Closers like Papelbon and K-Rod will flame out ahead of their time.
pete,
thanks for all of your efforts. for an old 20th century guy, you’ve made the transisition to the 21st century a little easier and much more fun. i also think you have an interesting insight regarding the team. always love to hear the “inside baseball” type stuff, the human stuff, about the guys and the games…. carry on my son, go forth and multiply…….. an old mantle fan in socal…..
Mo’s the best ever. But he’s way too modest, saying a bunch of guy are better than him, including this clown Papelbon or whatever.
Pete,
Thanks for the tears to start my day!
Mo is a rare individual. A true professional. A role model in a world where authenticity is difficult to find.
Thank you to whoever posted Mo’s Q&A after the game. I missed it last night. Loved the “blah, blah, blah.” (Who didn’t??) And the follow-up – which is what we were all interested i knowing – what was the blah, blah, blah, “I forgot.”
Thanks m, for posting the clip from ESPN Sunday conversation. Mo’s answer about PEDs should be shown to every student athlete. If his God-given gift isn’t enough, he quits. Powerful statement, I thought.
This has been a long 9 games, hasn’t it? Did they end up 4-5? or 5-4? My mind is really going, it seems.
Actually, had a lot to do the last 3 days, so the details aren’t all so clear.
Okay -
The Yankees were 6-3 on this road trip. How did that happen? And they didn’t get swept by anyone, though they lost the series to the Marlins. And if you go back to losing 2 of 3 to the Nationals, they’re still 7-5 in their last 12 games.
It sure doesn’t look as bad in retrospect as it felt going through each game.
And didn’t they pick up 2 games on the RS?
Hmmmm..
actually, last 9 games, yankees are 6-3.
Great weekend with an absolutely perfect ending.
Completely skipped the game thread and it appears that it was a good night to do so.
Tobinson Cano should be very happy Mariano got his 500th last night because it took attention away from what had to be the worst series of at bats he’s had al year. Six outs on four swings and it should have been seven, hacking at the everything including a high, outside 2-0 pitch… just awful. And for good measure the one time he reached because of a dropped throw he got caught stealing by about 10 feet.
I have been a Yankees fan since my father took me to see the Mick. It’s always a thrill for me to watch my boys, but it is an honor to watch Mariano. He is simply the best.
Pete, Thanks for such a respectful rendition of MO’S historic contribution to baseball.This accomplishmemt in lieu of his squeaky clean image during the steroid era.
The only drama Mo has caused,was on the mound,watching his incredible saves some with the narrowest of margins. As much as people hate the Yankees,they even acknowledge his greatness.
I can’t remember the year,but it was in the midst of the 4 WS championships,MO had a .38 era,in post season,just a wicked sick stat.
Who,gets the ball at the All Star Game,and trusted to close the game that now decides home field advantage in the WS games?
He’s forever apart of YANKEES history
From a proud Yankees fan Congrats, MO.
I grew up a huge 49ers fan and got to watch Jerry Rice in his prime. Rice has been my sports idol for a long time.
What a privilege it is to be a fan of another player who is the best ever at his position.
We should all appreciate it every time he comes out. We are witnessing history every time Mo pitches and there is no greater joy in baseball than watching Rivera mo down opposing batters.
Luds
June 29th, 2009 at 6:42 am
Mo’s the best ever. But he’s way too modest, saying a bunch of guy are better than him, including this clown Papelbon or whatever.
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Rivera wasn’t really saying ‘they’re better than me’ – he was saying ‘I don’t get into hyperbole or comparisons – let them have that.’
The fact that he is above such BS is what helps make him who he is. He also said, later, I’ll let other people talk about me – I’m not going to talk about myself.’
Brent, he has caused no drama here in th US… but in Panama, he is not very supported because he bailed out of playing the 2006 WBC… being a Panamanian, i don’t blame him, they Panamanian team sucked, AND the guy who is the head of baseball in Panama is a crook and I can’t stand him… I stand behind Mo’ in whatever he does!
I find it ironic that Pete glows about Rivera and his willingness to stand up and talk about his failures to the media and then is so criticial of ARod who stands and listens to the stupidest questions about his ability and is as stand up as any player in losing.
I love Rivera and think he is class and the best ever, but it is clear that the bias people show is unfair
congrats mo!!
Thanks Pete… Mo is the best at what he does and so are you.
Ziny
When Mo comes in a game it’s drama,intense,heart pounding,and he makes it seem so effortless.When the rare time of a blown save it was drama, .,e. 2004 ALCS.
He has the most grace under pressure,than any one I’ve witnessed on the Mound.
Every body loves Mo. How could they no,if they love the game?
Thank you for that personal aside, Pete.
It’s a real privilege to watch the greatest at anything, but to watch Mo do it with so much class and professionalism makes it all the richer.
If only I could beleive that Mo never did steroids. Sadly I think he probably abused PED’s somewhere along the line just like Roger, Andy, Alex and Giambi.
Its great a classy guy such as Mariano achieved such an accomplishment
“. . . If at some point, God willing, I’m an old man telling stories on a porch somewhere, the first thing I’ll say was that I got to cover the great Rivera. . .”
What a nice thing to say Pete. There are a lot of people out here who envious of that part of your job; me included and I wouldn’t trade what I do with anybody.
Steroids or not, he is one of the best ever.