THE YANKEES MOUNT OLYMPUS: MARIANO RIVERA

We are now to the top five entrants to the New York Yankees hallowed Mount Olympus.  These are the best of the best and represent baseball’s immortals.

At number five we have a player whose abilities would translate to success in any era.  He holds records that may never be touched at his position, and in 2018 he should be a unanimous selection into the Hall of Fame.

Of course, I am talking about the great Mariano Rivera.

It is rare for a player to be in the game for so long yet still leave at, or near the top of his profession.  Last year, Rivera did just that.

In 2013, his 19th and final season, Rivera had 44 saves and a 2.11 ERA.  His strikeout to walk ratio was 54 to 9.  For any other reliever, that would be considered a peak season.  For a 43-year-old Mo, it was just the punctuation on the greatest career any closer has ever had.  Rivera’s final tally may never be touched.  His 952 games finished, 205 ERA+ (a baseball-reference.com category that takes into account ballpark factor), and 652 career saves are staggering and represent the highest in MLB’s history.

Even more impressive is what Mo did in the most important games.  He holds a 0.70 ERA with 42 saves in the postseason, and that includes a 0.759 WHIP (Walks+Hits per innings pitched) that is jaw-dropping.

The great ones all raise their level of play in games that matter most. Rivera is a great one.

Consistency is what most marked the Rivera years for the Yankees, and it is his consistency that made the reliever so intimidating.

From 2003 through 2011, Rivera never had less than 30 saves and his ERA only went higher than 1.94 once.  In six of those nine seasons Mo’s WHIP was lower than 1.000.

The most remarkable thing is that Rivera accomplished those numbers with basically one pitch.  The hitters knew what was coming; they just couldn’t do anything about it.  The sounds of “Enter Sandman” in the ninth inning meant that another game would be placed in the Win column.

After five World Series titles, seven AL Championships, five Rolaids Reliever awards, one World Series MVP, a Comeback Player of the Year award and 13 All-Star selections, there is little doubt to Rivera’s greatness.

What the accolades and accomplishments don’t tell you is the type of person Rivera was.

On and off the field Mo was always the epitome in class.  His quiet, humble demeanor was a breath of fresh air in an era full of self-promotion, and his generosity was unequaled.

That is best understood in looking at Rivera’s final season; his farewell tour.  Yes, he received numerous gifts from each team the Yankees visited in 2013, but all the while behind the scenes Mo was quietly thanking the people he had come across over 19 years.

Fox Sports followed Rivera in his last season and put together a piece called “Being: Mariano”.  It documents how Rivera made a point of finding fans and workers out of the public eye to personally thank them just for being fans.

It is a must-see and make sure you have a box of tissues with you when you watch it. The documentary shows that Rivera’s greatness on the field is merely a small part of his greatness as a man.

The Yankees enter a new era in 2014; one that no team would envy.  For the first time since the mid-90’s, the club will have a new closer. For Yankees’ fans the game will just feel “different”.

David Robertson has the unenviable task of stepping into the footprints of the game’s greatest reliever.  While we are sure that he will do a solid job in the ninth innings of games, he can never be – nor should he ever try to be – Mariano Rivera.

It is our honor to welcome the greatest reliever that ever lived to the Yankees’ Mount Olympus.


    

--Steve Skinner, BYB Guest Writer
Twitter: @oswegos1

 

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