Down goes Mo
As if you were not already aware, Mariano Rivera was injured while shagging fly balls during batting practice before the Yankees game against the Royals. According to early reports (including Joe Girardi‘s press conference), the word is that Rivera tore his ACL and damaged part of his meniscus. Rivera is now done for the season, and he may even be done for his career. If so, the amount of grieving I did yesterday is nothing compared to what I shall experience at some point in the not-too-distant future.
Yes, I am a proud member of Cardinal Nation and have loved Cardinal baseball for as long as I can recall, but I am first and foremost a baseball fan. As such, there are certain things that I consider transcendent to my own personal bias in favor of a particular team. There are and have been things or people I have admired from afar simply because some things make team distinction seem like a trivial thing.
Mariano Rivera has always been one of them. My thoughts immediately go all the way back to 1996 when Rivera was actually the setup man for John Wetteland. One had a 2.83 ERA, a 1.178 WHIP, and 9.8 SO/9. The other had a 2.09 ERA, 0.994 WHIP, and 10.9 SO/9. That “other” guy was Rivera, and he was certainly better than Wetteland and perhaps more deserving of the closer’s job at the time. None of that seemed to matter to Rivera, because his focus was on being the team player. He didn’t want anything akin to a quarterback controversy, and he simply showed up for work ready to pitch.
The numbers speak for themselves. Rivera has a 2.21 ERA (206 ERA+) in 1219 2/3 innings over 18 years. His career WHIP is 0.998. That is basically the equivalent of saying that the opposing team is fortunate to even get 1 base runner in an inning against Mo. Look up the word “dominant” in a baseball dictionary, and it should be accompanied by a picture of Rivera. He is already the all-time leader in saves with 608, and I hope it stays that way. It’s not that records are not meant to be broken, but some should simply be such lofty goals that nobody even seriously talks about reaching them. It’s like hitting in 56 straight games or stealing 1406 stolen bases.
Rivera is as much a fixture in the world of the Yankees as Monument Park and the “roll call”. Derek Jeter may be the face of the franchise, but Rivera is the sturdy backbone. He was the rock upon which championships were built. In the playoffs, he was the closest thing to a “sure thing” there ever was. For a franchise that boasts more World Series titles than any other by far, that says a lot. He has already put himself in the company of Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, and Yogi Berra.
I will openly admit that I am not a big fan of the Yankees. I don’t “hate” them, but I don’t care a lot for them either. Rivera is the exception. I will happily switch to a Yankees game at the beginning of the 9th inning just to watch Rivera pitch. If Rivera is pitching at Yankee Stadium, I’ll switch even more quickly just to see him enter while Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” blares through the stadium. It’s a moment worthy of goosebumps. It’s like seeing Ken Griffey Jr. track a ball in the direction of center field that he has just destroyed with one of the sweetest swings I have every seen. It’s like Ozzie Smith roaming behind the 3rd baseman and leaving his feat to loft a throw over to first base. At the same time, it’s Alex Rodriguez pushing Cal Ripken Jr. to shortstop in the All-Star Game (click here for a video of this on YouTube).
It’s all about one pitch and one pitcher who has reached the apex of his craft. Rivera’s cutter is a masterpiece in motion. It’s effects are undeniably consistent and efficient, yet the pitch and the man throwing the pitch are practically unerring and sublime. The thought that I may never get to see this take place again brings an unexpected degree of sadness. Time yields for no man, yet no man has ever made the passing of time seem so irrelevant.
Imagine working practically an entire career to perfect just one thing. That’s like Edison failing 2000 times to invent the incandescent bulb or Einstein waiting years to find supporting evidence for his theory that gravity bends light. It takes intolerable patience and a strength of mind wanting in most all of us. If only we all could be so fortunate as Rivera.
If he has indeed pitched his last 9th inning, then know that he will exit the game with the same class and grace that has defined him for 18 years. Sadly, we will all be that much poorer for his absence. If Rivera is done, then I humbly suggest that MLB consider retiring the save stat right along with Rivera. The stat itself is much maligned and practically meaningless to some people, so why not let the save record accompany Rivera as he exits stage right?
TIDBIT: I pointed this out yesterday, but it is worth mentioning again that Rivera injured himself while shagging fly balls. The man is 42 years old and a future Hall of Famer, and he was shagging flies. He could easily be excused from such a trivial exercise, but he wasn’t and never asked to be. That says as much about the man as anything else you will read during the next few days.
OTHER BITS OF TID: If you do a Google image search on Rivera, you will find literally hundreds of pictures of Mo smiling that big, light up the city smile. It’s a wonderful juxtaposition with his countenance on the mound.
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Some Wizard of Oz love for Cardinal Nation to enjoy…
{ 15 comments }
This article would be 100 times better with videos of the events you speak of above. The lack of videos to show people how the game was once played that are easily accessible is one of the many reasons baseball is slowly fading away. Mo was one of the reasons I still liked baseball.
It is getting so much harder to get behind the sport.
I agree 100% with your sentiment. I’ve been looking around this morning for video that I can legally/rightfully use, but practically everything I’ve found is on YouTube or a proprietary site and is not within the public use sphere. It’s a shame, because the Cal Ripken ASG moment is one of my favorites.
I’m not a big time basketball guy, but being able to read an article like http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7883334/the-footnote-title
makes the article so much better and more engaging, I can reminisce about those games and even re-live some of the ones that I missed.
Maybe one day Bud will leave the game and we can jump into the 21st century, but by that time most of the tapes will be lost and or in someones basement.
Yeah, the folks at Grantland/ESPN have just a bit more pull than I do, but I’ll keep searching for more to add.
I’ve been hoping that Bud would leave the game sooner rather than later, but we’re already to what I consider the “later” part. I’d like to punch him in the ear for messing with the playoff format.
I found Cal/A-Rod:
Nice. I found a good one of Ozzie on YouTube, and I’m trying to find a good one of Mo entering a game. Unfortunately, most of those are recorded on phones, and the audio quality isn’t very good. Still trying, though.
The problem is the NBA doesn’t care that their videos are on youtube, etc, neither does the NHL. I’ll routinely see blues players tweeting videos of past games, etc.
Precisely. I’m afraid that my links will get stuff taken down.
A classic Junior blast, in his second tour with the M’s:
Could the announcers have been any less interested in that game?
If you are talking about the M’s game in the clip, then probably not.
If you were referring to the broadcast of the Yankees/Royals game after the injury, then the answer depends on which feed you had. The YES crew was relatively somber, and the Royals team was slightly affected as well.
I meant the Mariners game. Whoever was talking as Griffey was crossing home sounded like the guy at the bar who’s been drinking whiskey all night and is about to tell you how you’re really great, I really mean that you’re really great man before he passes out.
Ozzie, ranging to his right (about half-way in):
This is a very sad thing to hear. Rivera is one of the greatest of all time and i would hate to see him go. I do agree though that we should care about this. I am just as much an MLB fan as i am a St. Louis fan. I’m always questioned why i’m wearing a Braves shirt, or why i’m wearing the new Miami Marlins hat. People say i though you were a Cardinals fan but i always simply reply with “I’m an MLB fan.”
I’m somewhat encouraged by Rivera’s statement about not allowing himself to go out this way, so I optimistic he will return. Considering the injury, I just tend to wonder whether he will eventually return with slightly modified mechanics. Given his age and the injury, I could envision him being slight more upright or something like that. Then again, I’ll be glad to see him back no matter what the condition.
I cannot agree more about being a baseball fan. I’ve often said during the middle of winter that I’d watch a game between out-of-shape men if they all happened to be wearing uniforms and carrying bats, gloves, and balls on a baseball diamond.
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