Postgame notes: “We don’t take him for granted”
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Notes, Podcast on Sep 14, 2011 
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In the dugout, the Yankees were gathered on the top step. They were leaning against the rail, staring onto the field, watching a familiar scene unfolding in a perfectly predictable way. First a strikeout, then a ground ball single, then another strikeout. Mariano Rivera was one out away from career save, and all of the Yankees seem to know it.
All of them except for Russell Martin.
“I really didn’t,” Martin said. “Just trying to get another win, you know? But it was special. I threw the guy out and didn’t realize until I saw everyone gathered up on the mound.”
Only Trevor Hoffman, and now Rivera, know what No. 600 feels like. Rivera’s next save with tie Hoffman’s record of 601, and every save after that will set a new mark.
“I think people will realize it when he’s no longer here,” Derek Jeter said. “Yankee fans have been spoiled, baseball fans watching him, us as teammates. You don’t see this. We don’t take him for granted, but I think a lot of people may, because he comes in, you assume it’s over, and the only time you talk to him is when he comes through.”
Rivera was exactly as he’s always been. Truth is, tonight’s save was momentous only because it was so perfectly routine. Rivera’s done this 600 times. He and Hoffman are the only pitchers to approach that number. He’s a constant, as close to a sure thing as the game’s ever seen. Does Rivera think about the journey to this moment?
“Maybe later on after I retire,” he said. “Right now, I’m not that type of guy. I’m a team player. I tell you guys many times and I’ll continue telling you that. It doesn’t depend on myself, it depends on my teammates giving me the opportunity to be able to pitch. Thank God for the opportunities. Thank God that we won. That’s the most important thing. We won.”
Of course they won. The Yankees had to win. They always win when Rivera gets the save, it’s the nature of the statistic. What set this one apart was the nice round number, and the fact it ended with a catcher — who had no idea he was on the verge of history — throwing out a base-runner, taking the end result out of Rivera’s hands.
Had Rivera ever saved a game like that?
“I think I have,” he said. “Definitely I have one.”
Here’s Rivera, classy as ever.
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• Long-term, of course this game will be remembered for Rivera’s 600th. Short-term, though, A.J. Burnett’s last three innings could be the most important thing about this night. He struck out seven of the last 11 batters he faced. “It’s a big step,” he said. “I kind of went back to my old delivery in the middle of the game, but kept the things we worked on with that. I was a little uncomfortable trying to get loose and trying to get the ball out like that, so Larry was like, ‘Whatever it takes.’ I was more aggressive, and I think the work we put in allowed my hands to stay in the right spot when I went back. It was confidence. Confidence and pitching with conviction.”
• When Joe Girardi, Larry Rothschild and Gene Monahan all went to the mound in the third inning, it was clear that the Yankees thought Burnett might be injured. Instead, Burnett said he simply wasn’t comfortable, and the discomfort showed in his delivery. He tweaked his mechanics after that inning, and the results were impressive.
• Impressive game for Martin even before the caught stealing in the ninth. Girardi called him a “blocking machine.” Burnett was, as always, raving about his catcher. “He loves it,” Burnett said. “I got one by him tonight, so I’ve got some bragging rights. When he’s like that back there, you have confidence. When I get ahead, I’m going to throw it in the dirt. That’s just where it’s going to go, and he’s got great eye coordination. It was sharp tonight, a real sharp breaking ball, and it gives you confidence to throw it again.”
• Martin on blocking balls in the dirt: “I do love it, except when I take it off the shoulder. Any meat part, I don’t like it as much. It seems like I’ve been finding meat a lot lately.”
• Rivera said he was surprised that Ichiro tried to steal a bag in that situation, but he also understood the decision. “I was surprised, but they’re trying to win the game,” he said. “They have to do that. If they have the speed that he has, I would try to do the same thing, too. It wasn’t a bad play.”
• The Yankees pitchers struck out 17 batters tonight. Burnett had 11 of them, and Dave Robertson had three strikeouts in his one inning. It was the 10th time in team history that the Yankees had 17 or more strikeouts in a game.
• It was the third time this season that the Yankees struck out at least 15 in a game, two of those have been against Seattle. The other was against Baltimore.
• Jeter extended his season-high hitting streak to 12 games.
• Robinson Cano has 111 RBI, which sets a single-season career high for him. He had 109 last year.
• Burnett threw two wild pitches tonight. They were the 24th and 25th of the season for him, setting a new Major League record. Matt Clement had the old record of 23 set in 2000.
• Burnett also had his first quality start since June 29.
• Martin didn’t know tonight was save No. 600, and he certainly didn’t know that 601 would tie the record and that 602 would break it. “OK, so let’s go get them,” he said. “You don’t really think about breaking a record, I’m more thinking about winning the game. But at the end of the day it’s pretty cool being a part of something like this.”
Associated Press photos
Chad -
Great post. Mo is one of a kind, and I hope everyone that has had the privilege of watching him work, and the manner in which he goes about his busness, appreciates his talent, and the gift he’s brought not only to the Yankees, but all of baseball.
Chad, I think Jeter’s quote was, “…..and the only time you talk to him is when he doesn’t come through.”
MUCH better photo, Chad.
Wow what a game of positives for Mo, Cano and Jeter who added to to his hit total. Another game off the schedule and the 90th win.
The overlooked stat from last night is that the Yanks won a one run game, something they haven’t fared too well with this year.
I doubt Martin “loves it” as much as he says……..he played a great take though…..saved runs on several occasions.
AJ has been pretty decent in 2 of his last 3…..still can’t trust him in a playoff game but it is improvement and that’s good to see.
Get the brooms out tonight…
Congratulations to Mariano Rivera for reaching #600. What else can anyone possibly say that hasn’t already been said?
AJ had a really nice game last night. I am impressed that he made adjustments – since that’s one of the things I think many have been upset about – that he didn’t seem to be able to make in-game adjustments. I guess we are just going to have to accept the WPs from him in exchange for the sharp break on his pitches. As long as innings don’t escalate, he keeps the ball in the park and can keep getting hitters to swing and miss. It’s still hard to watch him though – we’ve all been conditioned to gear up for the implosion. To his credit, he has not imploded in his last few starts (though he certainly wasn’t crisp in Baltimore, he “kept the team in the game”).
I think you have to keep Martin around if only to play goalie for AJ.
Boy I love to watch Montero hit.
Can you believe there are only 15 more games left to the season????? Where oh where did the time go?
definitely an improvement to see AJ make in-game adjustments
haha Villa, you read my mind
Good morning all.
Marc Carig’s article this morning is about Burnett’s change, in the middle of an at bat back to his old delivery, and what the meeting was about on the mound in the 3rd inning.
http://www.nj.com/yankees/inde.....t_rec.html
Montero is a force in the lineup already
blake
When ARod comes back, I guess he’ll hit 6th?
Second third, the power third, of the lineup. Nice.
Yankees have hit Vargas throughout his career with a BA of .333, led by Swisher, granderson, Jones and Cano.
Since Martin takes a beating when catching Burnett, and didn’t appear fully healed when batting, I wonder if Romine catches SuperNova tonight and Montero remains in at DH batting 5th?
Vargas numbers vs Yankees:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/.....son-vargas
Yankees Trader -
Sounds good to me.
Villa,
Yea I think it depends on what they decide to do…..every game he’s hit 5th someone other than Alex has also been out….either Swish or Granderson. My guess is that vs LHP they go
Jeter
Granderson
Tex
arod
Cano
Swisher
Montero
Jones
Martin
That’s just an incredibly nasty lineup with HR power 1-9.
Stupid west coast games. Can’t believe I missed Mo’s 600th. And AJ’s first win in like, forever.
CC_Sabathia Honored to be the #Yankees nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award. Fans can vote http://www.chevybaseball.com/clemente?. #Clemente
Probably should give Martin the night off tonight so he has two days in a row…..catch either Montero or Romine tonight. Montero is more familiar with Nova so we’ll see….
Blake-
“Montero is a force in the lineup already”
Yup. Even his outs are loud.
Think Jerk Z choked a bit watching last him night.
It’s as if Burnett turned on his “light switch” during the middle of the game and middle of facing a batter, and went back to his old delivery, regaining control and mowed down the Mariners with one strikeout after another.
MTU,
Smoak does have a position that he’s pretty good at…..but the offensive gap between those two is pretty significant and who is to.say Montero could be a good 1B by now……Smoak is a good hitter…..but Im not sure he’s ever going to be a 1B type bat.
If I were the Mariners owner choosing Smaok over Montero would be immediate grounds for dismissal.
But hey, I’m glad we dodged one, and it sure is fun to rag on Jerk Z because of it.
Blake-
When Montero was behind the plate for the first time the other day his offense suffered with 3 strikeouts. Might not be the time to take his bat out of the lineup, if his offense might suffer, while concentrating on catching, even if he has more familiarity with Nova.
The problem with making too much about AJs performance is that good lineups don’t swing at a lot of the pitches he got swings and misses on…..the Mariners are an absolutely atrocious lineup ……Ackley is the only above average hitter they have…..and that’s counting Ichiro at this point. Not trying to take anything away from AJ…..
MTU
Blake had a good line for Montero last night.
Montero Smoaks another one, i believe it was!!
Trader,
That’s a one game sample though…..so Im not ready to go there just yet.
I think the Yankees will have Romine catch and Montero at DH. It is the best set up at least for now. But I also would not be surprised to see Martin back behind the plate.
Just wanted to say that when Mo goes the hole he leaves behind will be as large as the meteor crater in Winslow, AZ., and the shadow cast like a Solar eclipse.
Nobody else fits in his shoe size. They only made one set of feet big enough to fill those.
P.S. I do love me some D-Rob.
Martin deserves a day off after catching AJ. He should get hazardous duty pay.
I don’t think anyone would go so far as to say AJ is “fixed.” But I think it is definitely a good thing that he made adjustments, but maybe more important is that although he went back to his older deliver, he says he was able to keep some of the things he did with Rothschild.
And I think ultimately that is a good outcome with some promise. Of course we’ll see next time.
Blake-
I crossed the Rubicon a while back when it comes to Burnett.
OS trade. period.
YT-
So Far Montero’s bat is all that it was advertised to be.
Blake-
I was about to write the same about tempering my enthusiasm with the outing facing the Mariners, who are 2nd, behind the Indians with batters striking out.
Ackley, who will probably be in the top 6 in ROY voting is currently their best player, and the other rookies who played last night in Carp and Seager have shown potential, unlike 2nd year player, Justin Smoak.
Romero vs. Lackey tonight.
Hey-AJ finally got a win. I couldn’t care less who he was facing.
If Ackley can stick at 2B he’s going to be a star…..he could be an Utley like player…..maybe not quite as much pop but he can really hit and he also runs well.
Speaking of 2nd basemen…..Cano is really good.
I know it doesn’t matter and Mo himself could care less…
BUT espn should be ashamed with their frontpage this morning: http://espn.go.com/
Giving Wake and his 200th W the front page over Mo and his 600th save.
Wake “earns his 200th W”… by giving up 5ER in 6 IP… Just another example of the joke they have become.
And btw I’m happy for Wake. He’s been around forever and it is a great accomplishment for him.
Joba_62 Morning all! Woke up to find Mo has gotten his 600th save. Congrats to him and only a short amount of time before before 602!
VN-
After reading Marc Carig’s article, it seems as if he reverted back completely to his old delivery, holding his hands low. What he used from his sessions with Rothschild, after he reverted back I would like to know.
MTU-
If AJ undergoes a head transplant in the OS, do you still want to trade him?
Speaking of 2nd basemen?..Cano is really good.
********************
What are “things that are totally obvious, Alex”
“Giving Wake and his 200th W the front page over Mo and his 600th save.”
That’s truly incredible.
YT-
I like Blake’s concept. Trade him to the Nats and save 10 mil.
Too much trouble. High maintenance. Not worth it IMO.
“What are “things that are totally obvious, Alex””
AJ throws a lot of balls in the dirt
I think this line about AJ says it all: “Burnett also had his first quality start since June 29.”
I’m glad he’s been taking steps in the right direction but if I had to decide right now I’d still start Phil over him in a playoff game. Either way, you gotta assume one or the other will be playing caddy to… one or the other.
YT -
Maybe more of an idea than a physical piece of the puzzle?
I’m sure Rothschild didn’t just say “do this, do that, do this.” There must have been some theory behind it. Perhaps the theory got through and he was able to adapt it to a physicality that felt more comfortable. You know with AJ, it always feels so ephemeral.
Tribute by ESPN for Rivera as the best pitcher of his generation:
http://espn.go.com/new-york/ml.....uiet-grace
Mike and Mike comparing Rivera to Jerry Rice as maybe the only players in sports that were 100% the greatest ever at their positions…….meaning that there is no legitimate argument against them.
Unfortunately, with Burnett’s poor control I don’t even think he be useful working out of the pen, unless you want to hit a Suxer.
I think Cashman will try to.move AJ this winter…..him finishing the season strong could help accomplish that.
Blake-
From your mouth to God’s ears. I just hope we can find a taker.
We have numerous young arms who are ready to offer more than Burnett is capable of at a fraction of the cost.
It looks like the decisions for which pitchers to take to the 1st round of the playoffs will have to wait until the Yankees play their 7 games against the Rays and 3 against the RS.
the network version of espn gave Mo top billing, and a 2nd segment later
I hate that there are 7 games against the Rays!!!
Totem pole view:
CC
Colon
Nova
Garcia
Hughes
l
l
V
AJ
MTU
are you trying to say you are not impressed w/ AJ?
Think Jerk Z choked a bit watching last him night.
——————————————
I thought he choked last July when Lee & Montero started packing their luggage. Lucky for us he’s a big choker.
Kate-
I’ll give ya’ 3 guesses ?
The magic number is reduced by one with this win and home field advantage is in sight.
The ideal scenario sees Mariano get one save in Toronto and the record at home vs. Tampa Bay.
Camera flashes going off everywhere like Jeter’s hit No. 3,000.
Kate-
Even his pie throwin’ totals are down this year.
New thread ==>
Who wins AL ROY with names like:
Eric Hosmer, Aaron Crow of the Royals
Mark Trumbo, Jordan Walden of the Angels
Guillermo Moscoso of the A’s
Dustin Ackley of the Mariners
Jeremy Hellickson of the Rays
OR
Ivan Nova!!
Cashman has to realize that Burnett will be in the way of progress after this year. Noesi could make a case to be in the starting rotation in 2012. Phelps and Warren could also be considered. Banuelos and Betances knocking on the door in 2013 after spending most of next year at AAA.