Yankees Daily

Simply, I’ve never seen a pitcher as good as him in my life. Yes, he’s a relief pitcher but he’s just the best I’ve ever seen. It seems he’s better now in the year 2010 than he’s been in his whole career. He’s 40 years old and still making batters look foolish. His ERA is a ridiculous 0.99. Wow, look at that again. 0.99.

I’m starting to think that a lot of batters had to stop taking steroids and that’s why you’re seeing Mo dominate so much. Batters are now facing him on an even playing field. What’s amazing is how much Mo has dominated during the steroid era. Imagine that? All those saves and saves in the post season against batters on roids? Wow.

There’s been more no hitters this year than ever before so maybe the pitchers have the edge now that batters had to stop taking steroids. Maybe the steroids have stopped having an effect on a lot of batters now that they had to stop for a few years. I don’t mind because I like watching well pitched games.

And you know that Mo was never on steroids because he’s built like a stick. He has no weight on him. That’s even more amazing. How can some one so skinny, throw so hard for so much of his career and dominate like he did? Wait, he’s STILL dominating.

It seems to me that he has more control of his cutter than he’s ever had. He can spot it at will and put it anywhere around the plate. The Dodger batters looked foolish last night. I’ve never seen a team so helpless against a pitcher like I did last night. It was ridiculous what he did to them.

It’s going to be a sad day in the future when us Yankee fans have to see another pitcher close for the Yankees. I can guarantee he won’t be as good as Mariano. We’ll be spoiled and start getting upset and get on his case because he won’t be as good as Mo and that will be a shame.

When Mariano Rivera goes into the Hall of Fame, he won’t go into the Hall of Fame as just a Hall of Famer, he’ll go into the Hall of Fame as the best closer of all time.

You have to believe that Mariano was being saved for the Boston series because it’s an important one.

We know what happens some times when Mariano pitches against Boston. He some times loses the game. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team beat Mariano as much as Boston has. Every time Mariano is on the mound against any team, he’s automatic. Against Boston, I don’t get the same feeling. I get scared. Boston seems to have owned him at different times in Mariano’s career. Mariano is 2-4 with a 2.75 ERA at Fenway Park.

I know Mariano hopes to play. Marc Craig from the Star Ledger says that Mariano Rivera should be ready.

Here’s my nightmare scenario. Mariano comes in the game in the ninth with the Yankees winning 3-2. He walks the first batter. Then a broken bat single. Then I’m at the edge of my seat not being able to take anymore.

He has to be the player to watch in the series because of how important he is to the Yankees. He also has a stiff left side which is a big negative. What bothers me is that Boston knows they can beat Mariano because they’ve beaten him before and they’ve saw him so many times.

Here’s the deal however. You win with your best players. Mariano is not only the best pitcher on the Yankees, he’s one of the best of all time. You have to stick with him because he knows how to win and he, that’s right, Mariano knows how to beat Boston just like they him. It’s not like he hasn’t beaten Boston before in close game and he can’t handle pressure.

If there’s anyone I want on the mound, against Boston, in the ninth inning with a one run lead, it’s Mariano Rivera.

Today, Mariano Rivera talked about how he feels he can still perform at the age of 40. This is also the last year of his contract. Talk about bad timing.

If he really wants to pitch into his 40′s, it was a bad time to have his contract end. Here’s the thing about him saying he thinks he can still pitch… I hope so.

He’s been the steady rock in the bull pen and he’s been the most consistent. Consistently great. I’ve never seen some one as great as him in baseball. He’s probably the best baseball player I’ve ever seen. More so than every day batters we watch. Who knows who’s on steroids with position players.

Mariano could not be on steroids. There’s no way. He’s too skinny. There’s no way he could even be on weight gainer supplements.

The amazing thing about Mariano is that if he really didn’t do steroids, which I don’t think he did, he had to pitch, with great results, against a league that was juicing. Amazing isn’t it? Can you imagine if he pitched against a clean league? His ERA would probably be close to 0.00. Of course I’m exaggerating but he’s been that great.

Now Mariano is saying, “One year at a time” and that the rest is up to Cashman. If I’m Cashman, I sign Mariano because he’s been throwing with basically one pitch. There has to be less strain on his arm because he didn’t try to throw a whole bunch of different breaking pitches his whole career.

No matter what the near future holds for Mariano and the New York Yankees, I’ll always be great-full for his greatness.

Mariano Rivera pic and Mariano Rivera pictures from AP.

Mariano Rivera is a free agent after the 2010 season. We know how the Yankees don’t like to deal with free agents until after their contract expires. It’s not a bad move for the New York Yankees because they can outbid anyone because of their extreme amount of cash flow. It’s better for them because if a player gets hurt any time during the season, the Yankees wouldn’t have been stuck with their contract.

Mariano won’t leave because no one else is going to sign him for 15 million dollars. Only the Yankees can. He most likely won’t want a pay cut but I doubt the Yankees will insult him with an offer lower than 10 million a year.

Even though the Yankees have other options like Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Mark Melancon to be their closer, they are not Mo. Mo is the greatest closer ever. He’s the coolest and doesn’t fold under pressure. He’s 40 but can still play baseball because he uses one pitch that he perfected. He can probably play until he is 45. As long as his cutter, cuts, there should be no problem.

Phil Hughes and Joba have both folded under pressure especially in the playoffs so it’s fair to say that you don’t know if either one can handle the closing job.

The bottom line is this. The Yankees won’t let Mariano Rivera leave because he is the best ever and he’s a Yankee.

Here was the scene last night. It was the bottom of the seventh inning, the New York Yankees had a 6-4 lead over the Los Angeles Angels.

A.J. Burnett allows the first two batters on base. Demaso Marte comes in the game and allows one of Burnett’s runners to score. Phil Hughes came in the game and allowed two more runs. The Yankees were then losing 7-6 which would be the final score.

Why not have Mariano Rivera pitch the seventh and eighth inning and then go to Robertson or Hughes with no men on base in the ninth inning?

At that point in the game, it was first and second with no outs, bottom of the seventh with a two run lead. This is when your best pitcher, Mariano is needed most. That might of been the best spot to use Mariano so he could put the fire out.

That situation is higher leverage than bottom of the 9th with nobody on and nobody out. You have to preserve the lead and then maybe take your chances with your other other relievers later. It was the turning point of the game.

Managers nowadays use their closers as ninth inning specialists when maybe they should be used in late innings situations to save a game that is on the verge of being lost. Closers should be used in high leverage situations, not to preserve a 3 run lead in the ninth inning with no men on base.

Did it make sense to leave Mariano out in that situation? He’s the best pitcher in the bull pen. He’s one of the best pitchers of all time. You have to use your best pitcher in that spot. Even if he had to pitch three innings. You have to do what you have to do to win.

Mariano would of had days to rest before the World Series.

The New York Yankees beat the Mets by a score of 4-2. Starting for the Yankees was Chien-Ming Wang and he got the win. Mariano Rivera got the save. His 500th save.

This game was a National League, low scoring game. I was very impressed with Rivera’s walk to extend the lead to 4-2 that gave himself some cushion in the last inning. You could tell it was going to be his night. Once he walked, you knew 500 career saves was at hand. Even after Dale Murphy singled in the ninth inning with two outs, I knew Mariano was going to make Cora look foolish. He did… with a weak ground out to second base. Where would we be without Rivera all these years?

I can say with confidence, that he is the best closer ever.

I wasn’t too crazy about Wang’s performance even though he got the win. When the Yankees were winning 3-2 in the sixth inning, Tatis sacrificed Sheffield to second. Girardi wanted this game and didn’t take any chances so he took Wang out. He’s seen things fall apart fast for Wang in the past so he was done after 85 pitches.

I believe Wang has no confidence. His mechanics were all over the place and it’s most likely he lost his confidence. I believe the two go hand and hand. I pitched when I was younger and when you lose confidence, every thing just goes. Every thing was up for Wang and he had no command. He’s lucky they weren’t playing an American League team or his night would of been over much earlier.

How many ground outs is Cano going to have? He grounded out three times tonight and some of them were key outs. Why is he batting fifth? I think he took the Double Play Crown away from Jeter. Especially with men in scoring position. Girardi is showing too much faith in him. Cano expands the zone too much and is not a patient hitter. He needs to take pitches. He’s turning into the next Alfonso Soriano. Some one batting fifth doesn’t bat .215 with men in scoring position.

The great news about tonight was that Phil Hughes attacked the zone and looked awesome. I put him down in the past but I have nothing but praise for him now. Overall the Yankees won and swept the Mets. It doesn’t get any better than that folks.

Player of the Game: The best. Mariano Rivera. He walked and got his 500th save.

The New York Yankees lost to the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 9-7. Starting for the Yankees was C.C. Sabathia and he got the no decision. Mariano Rivera got the loss.

Wow, what to say about this loss. The Rays have Mariano’s number but first let’s talk about C.C…

In the early going, he was throwing a lot of first pitch 4-Seam Fastballs and was effective because he was able to throw his slider for outs when he got the batters to two strikes. He had great velocity on his fastball that was reaching 95 mph and reached 97 late in the game. He was varying the break on his slider and it had good side to side and downward movement. It was a sweeping slider and it was a good finish pitch.

Then the fifth and sixth inning happened. In the fifth inning, he just gave up a home run to a really hot batter in Ben Zobrist and then an error led to another run. It’s the sixth inning I’m sure Sabathia wish he could have back.

He gave up a lead off walk and then gave up a little dunk base hit. Then he left a first pitch change up, down and out over the plate to Willie Aybar. That was the one big mistake he made. Aybar was probably waiting for a fastball but got a change up instead, it sped up his bat and he ran into a home run and crushed it. That was the big difference in the game.

Sabathia overall pitched well. The only innings he struggled were in the fifth and sixth otherwise he pitched lights out.

We all know that Mariano Rivera doesn’t pitch well when it’s a non game situation so there’s really nothing to say about it except, I wish he did. These games don’t shock me anymore because Mariano is getting older and the Rays own him. It wasn’t a good combination.

Here’s something to keep in mind. When Posada took over for Cervelli to catch in the ninth inning, Rivera gave up three runs. Would Rivera have given up three runs if Cervelli was catching? It’s something to ponder.

The Yankee offense looked like they were going to come back again like they’ve done all year but the four run deficit was just too much to overcome. Mark Teixeira is continuing his tear from May and Alex is hitting like Alex. I just wish Matsui wouldn’t always swing for a home run when all he has to do is get a basehit to break open a tie game.

Player of the Game: Second baseman Ben Zobrist. His triple in the ninth inning basically set the tone for the Rays’ win.

I’m talking about my feelings because I don’t feel too good right now.

The New York Yankees lost to the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 8-6. Starting for the New York Yankees was Andy Pettitte and he gave up five earned runs on nine hits in six innings of work for the no decision. Mariano Rivera got the loss. He gave up two earned runs on two hits in .2 of an inning.

First let’s start with Andy Pettitte. Andy Pettitte gave up four home runs. In the begginning of the game, Andy Pettitte was throwing too many strikes. Some times you have to back batters off the plate and make the uncomfortable and Pettitte threw 11 strikes in a row at one time and that’s when Pena hit a home run.

Pettitte’s control was excellent. He had a good change up and was throwing his cutter on both sides of the plate. He was sharp.

Some of his pitches like the home run to Pena were on the inner third of the plate but Pena still smashed it. His curveball was flat on the home run pitch to Ben Zobrist. Pettitte made mistakes with his location. When Andy Pettitte makes mistakes, he doesn’t get away with it. Some pitchers do but he didn’t.

Mariano’s cutter didn’t have a lot of life on it and it was clocked at 89 mph. Mariano has already given up four home runs after giving up four all last year. I’ve never seen him pulled from the middle of the inning. You have to give Carl Crawford credit when he tied the game off of Mo. He took an inside cutter and smashed it to right-field. The pitch would of been better if it was away but Mo put the pitch where Carl was able to pull it.

The home run to Longoria was right down the middle of the plate but you have to understand that there was a tremendous emotional let down for Mo after he blew the game with Crawford.

Mo’s pitches were clocked between 89 mph to 91 mph and that’s a lot of velocity to give up when you usually pitch at 93 mph. It makes a big difference to batters especially since they can keep fouling your pitches off so they can wait for the right pitch. Instead of getting jammed with a 93 mph cutter, batters can get the barrel of the bat around on a cutter that’s much slower.

I do know that Mariano is never good coming in a game when it’s tied. I don’t remember him ever doing well.

Robinson Cano was swinging at a lot of first pitch, pitches last year but this year he’s going deeper into the count. The thing is, he might of forgot how to hit the ball because I can’t remember the last time he got a hit.

Mark Teixeira is 1-for-21 with men on base. It seems like he doesn’t know how to hit a breaking ball.

Is Johnny Damon the only hitter on this team?

It seems that the Yankees will come back in a game and feel good about themselves after they score some runs and get some momentum but then the other team comes back and scores runs.

The Yankees’ bull pen is not working, they’re not hitting with men in scoring position and their starting pitching has been inconsistent.

Mo has back spasms

It’s never a good thing when the best closer in the history of the game has backs spasms. Back problems are no joke.

“I don’t think it’s anything major,” Rivera said. “I don’t think it’s nothing I need to be concerned or worried about.”

• Rivera day-to-day with back spasm - Lisa Kennelly/The Star-Ledger

DAN GRAZIANO of the Star-Ledger wrote an interesting article today. A young reliever on the New York Yankees will be standing in the outfield and Mariano Rivera will come over and start giving the young reliever advice and his message is, don’t be afraid to throw strikes. Joba Chamberlain will get to learn a lot more from Mo because he’ll be starting the season in the bull pen. Mariano feels that it’s good to know the right way to play the game. “A lot of people feel the same way and do the same things,” Rivera said. “I just think it’s important for guys to know the right way to play the game. Not that I know everything about that, but I think I do know some things.”

The first thing Mariano will talk about with the young Yankee pitchers is respecting the game and what it takes to be a Yankee.

“The first thing he ever talked to me about was personality, respecting this game, the attitude you have to have,” Veras said. “He talks about the Yankees uniform, the Yankees clubhouse, the Yankees dugout, and how important it is to act when you’re a Yankee. He tells you, if you care about the game, that’s the thing that’s going to take you far.”

“And then,” Veras continued, “we talk about pitching.”

Mariano, a legend indeed

• Rivera’s value beyond saves – DAN GRAZIANO – Star-Ledger
• Mariano Rivera Career Stats – Baseball-Reference.com