As good as he was, I'll never forget him blowing the save in game 4 of the 2004 ALCS against Boston. When he walked on, every single Red Sox fan knew the game and their chance at the Series was over...

i saw rivera at a panera in baltimore. he had a game that night, was eating lunch. i walked over to say hi to him and interrupted him during his pre-meal grace. he wasn't happy someone was interrupting him during a prayer. he says grace before each meal apparently.

/still was willing to provide an autograph
/cool story bro.

has anyone in any sport failed as emphatically as Rivera did in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, and gotten a free pass?

If Luis Gonzalez wasn't juicing that year, that last ball is in Jeter's glove.

Gulper Eel: has anyone in any sport failed as emphatically as Rivera did in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, and gotten a free pass?

If Luis Gonzalez wasn't juicing that year, that last ball is in Jeter's glove.


You say that knowing at least half of the Yankees were also juicing, right?

Didn't know he also has 42 postseason saves. Maybe it's just meant to end now.

Still sucks about the circumstances.

Melodramatic? Between bounties, D-Rose's ACL, and Mo's ACL, someone should inform everyone on the Devils roster that I'm a fan of their hockey team, so that they can be prepared for pianos falling out of the sky. How's that, lol.

IlGreven: Well, duh. A certain Hall of Famer just had a probable career-ending injury. Everyone should be getting melodramatic over it.

/Go back to '92 and say the LA Times would be getting all "melodramatic" over Magic retiring due to HIV...I dare you...

Dude... in 1992, HIV was a freaking DEATH SENTENCE. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, thought Magic Johnson would have been dead ten freaking years ago.

I mean in the public, of course. Even many doctors probably didn't expect him to be so healthy 20 years after his diagnosis, if alive at all.

chimp_ninja: I can't get the cap off!: People in future generations will be as jealous of us as we are of those who watched Ruth play.

Whoa, whoa.

Rivera is no-questions-asked the greatest closer of all time, but it's a small role relative to what Ruth added to the Yankees, both in terms of popularity (Ruth is one of the best-known athletes in American history, period), personality (ditto), and the number of wins he helped bring home. Ruth revolutionized offensive strategy in 1920. Rivera had an impact (mostly in the proliferation of the cutter), but the closer role was well-defined long before he stepped into it.

He may have meant just from a Yankee fan's perspective. It's all relative. Modern-day equivalents and all that.

I can't get the cap off!: Gulper Eel: has anyone in any sport failed as emphatically as Rivera did in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, and gotten a free pass?

If Luis Gonzalez wasn't juicing that year, that last ball is in Jeter's glove.

He's also the greatest relief pitcher in the history of the game, which probably helps.

People in future generations will be as jealous of us as we are of those who watched Ruth play.

Are you freaking kidding me?

Mariano is the best reliever ever. No question, because he spent his career doing the job and put up the stats to prove it.

But closer is the most overrated position in baseball. It's UNHEARD OF for the most talented of pitchers, except Mariano (who probably would have been a very good, but not great, starting pitcher for 10-15 years), to spend their entire careers as closers. Lee Smith was a big name before Rivera, and he wasn't all that special (he just accumulated a good amount of numbers) and moved into the job in part because of a lack of success as a starter (and he wouldn't have had such a long career as a starter, due to some of his self-induced health problems). Trevor Hoffman was a field position player for most of his youth through college, but showed a nice arm and was converted (so who knows how he would have done as a starting pitcher, considering he wasn't a "pitcher" for a significant portion of his development). There are reasons why guys like Smoltz (potential HOF starter who had major injuries curtail his career as a starter), Isringhausen (former one-year wonder starter, with good stuff, who had injuries and other problems derail his career, and he made a nice comeback for a few seasons), and Eckersley (decent former starter who had a lot of former demons) move to the bullpen. There are some guys who, if given the opportunity later in their careers, could have done a fine job as short-term closers, because they had the "stuff" that could get a few batters out very quickly but didn't have the endurance to pitch 6+ innings a night. Granted, warming up and cooling down isn't easy unless you're throwing knucklers, but it's a bit different when you know you're only tossing 20 or so pitches versus 100+, particularly when a closer doesn't have to face the same batters 3 times or more in a game. It's better for an arm to have a bit of work every day than to basically be thrown out every five days, cooled off for a day or two, then starting the work cycle all over again.

Aside: the fact that people are so quick to easily put him in the HOF, for a relatively small job in the sport (even if he was the best at it), yet the DH is still being treated as a position that doesn't deserve HOF acknowledgement, is somewhat silly to me. If he played in, say, San Diego, I doubt there would have ever been this kind of discussion about his talent, HOF potential, and now, the end of his career.

Of course, he wouldn't have had nearly as many opportunities for saves with a team that hasn't been, over his career, probably the best all-around franchise in the sport.

He says he's coming back. See you next year, Mariano. Get healthy.