Mariano Rivera

.  This morning as I checked out some of the highlights from their game, I saw a cool video of Mariano Rivera putting on batting gloves, getting some advice from his teammates, and stepping into the batters box.  Apparently he promised his team that he wouldn’t even swing the bat, according to Bryan Hoch for mlb.com.  Here’s his at bat – it’s fun to see the reaction of both Rivera and his teammates:

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Watching Derek Jeter jog off to a rousing ovation before watching Mariano Rivera fire the final pitch in the building, I couldn't help but think it was all pretty fitting.

So farewell, Yankee

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It seems I can't post a comment in response to John Keller's diatribe (entitled Boston Red Sox: Masters of the Mediocre) because I'm not a member of the New York Yankees site, and I refuse to defile myself in such a way as to sign up for it. So here is my simple response to his over-caffeinated, ill-timed (given the Yankees utter futility this season) and strangely aggressive post.

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ight (when the Sox brought up their murderers-row of Coco, Varitek, and Lugo to face Yankees closer Mariano Rivera), Coco looked unbearably clueless, flailing (and missing) at three pitches outside the strikezone. Crisp's .261 BA, 5 HR, and less-than-healthy .310 OBP are all less-than-stellar. But its his arm (the arm that makes Johnny Damon’s look like a howitzer by comparison) that puts Coco in a class by himself. If there were a stat for runners-that-would-have-been-thrown-out-had-not-the-centerfielder-possessed-the-arm-of-a-pre-pubescent-girl, Coco would be the run-away league-leader. Seriously, we are talking about a probable 20-30 run differential.

Continue reading "Baseball's All-Underachieving Squad"

So can we please talk about Jason Giambi's mustache for a second? First the guy admits to wearing a gold thong when he needs to break out of a slump (it's hard to imagine that's all he's "breaking out of" in that kind of attire). And now he goes ahead and grows a full-out, mid-80s, Magnum PI mustache. Add these two nuggets to the fact that he's one of the 3 sweatiest humans on the planet, and that he's a New York Yankee, and you have the grossest person in America. Ever. Period.

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d since 1990: Bobby Thigpen of the 1990 Chicago White Sox currently holds the record with 57, while Mariano Rivera is tenth with his 50-save performance of 2001. Eric Gagne and John Smoltz have both threatened to unseat Thigpen, each coming within two saves in 2003 and 2002, respectively.

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I was hoping to get this up yesterday with the Yankees-Red Sox series fresh in everyone’s mind but I didn’t have the time.  After a few weeks of the baseball season and watching almost every Red Sox and Yankee game I have a few observations on these two teams so far.  You may not agree with them all, this is just what I have noticed this season.

Continue reading "Early Season Observations of Yanks and Sox"

success of making the playoffs.  He was able to go one or two innings and take the load off of Mariano Rivera.  He also lessened the stress for Kyle Farnsworth, Luis Vizciano and Ron Villone.  With his high 90’s fastball and devastating slider Joba, definitely did rule.  If he is back in the bullpen this season there is no reason not to believe he won’t do more of the same, his stuff is that nasty.  Being in the bullpen this season would also keep his innings down for the future because the Yankees do say, no matter what, one day he will be a starter.  And having Joba as the guy handing the ball to Mo makes the Yankees bullpen a strength of the team.  This move is safe because the Yankees know what he can do as a reliever but is it the best move for the team, this year or in the future?

Continue reading "Joba Rules"