WHY RIVERA GETS A PASS

"Mariano is as close to perfect in these spots as you can be, but as we know, nobody is perfect." --Joe Girardi

(photo: Zimbio)
Yes, it's true. If any other pitcher on the New York Yankees did what Mariano did last night and blow that save, they would have been crucified and rumors of trading them would be circulating all over Twitter. They would be called names, bitched about and hated. But when Mariano does it, it's allowed. Why? Because Mariano Rivera has a track record that trumps nearly everyone in baseball and he's allowed to have 1 bad night.

No one was more upset about last night's collapse than Mariano Rivera. But even Superman couldn't handle kryptonite, so we just need to move on.

Mariano, whom I have tremendous respect for, didn't hide from the media last night. Damn, I would have, that was embarrassing, but he's a real man. He's not afraid to admit mistakes and he has no problem explaining where he is at:

"I have control of that. I can't attribute that to anything. It just happened. (If) you put your pitches where you want to put your pitches, you'll be okay."

Mariano, you don't need to explain to me, you do what you set out to do 98% of the time and you'll be over that hump today, no doubt.

Ironically, Pete Caldera from the Bergen Record made a great point in reference to David Robertson, something I just didn't think about at the time. It's a small worded nugget and it's in today's piece HERE. He wrote: "Robertson did a striking imitation of Rivera's usual brilliance in the sixth, inheriting AJ Burnett's bases loaded, one out situation and striking out both hitters he faced to preserve the Yankees 4-3 lead."(photo: AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
It's true. Robertson deserves more credit than I wrote about in the recap titled WHY MARIANO'S HUMAN. He was dominant and when called upon, he basically started the bridge to Mariano. It just so happens that last night, the bridge worked... and Rivera didn't.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is baseball. You never know what you're going to get. Mariano is the greatest closer of all time. The Blue Jays are a regular team. The matchup seems obviously slanted in Rivera's favor, but it wasn't.
(photo: Getty)
The most ironic part of it has to be Travis Snider. The Blue Jay had struck out 3 times and cracked his bat over his knee in his last strikeout in the 6th. Yet, Snider was the one with the winning hit for the Blue Jays last night. Who the hell would have bet on that happening? Not me.

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