Before you start reading this post, please take a second to set the mood… cue music.
With one guitar riff, you know the game is over.
It’s more decisive than when the fat lady sings.
Rivera stands out in history.
Once you start to hear Metallica’s Enter Sandman you might as well just start packing your things and head home.
That song comes on, the gate from the bullpen swings open and you see No. 42, the last player ever to wear that number, slowly stroll to the mound before he clinches another victory for the Yankees.
Even though you know exactly what you’re going to get, a high dose of fastballs and cutters, Mariano Rivera has simply been captivating to watch since 1995.
Remember in the movie The Boondock Saints when David Del Rocco is describing the guy that runs the poker game and why they should go kill him? It’s almost as if he’s describing Rivera. Check it out.
“Worst night of my life when I met this guy. The guy never says a f#$^ing word to me, we’re driving 20 miles, never a sigh, no throat clearing, nothing … His face… blank, man. Just nothing there … he takes out a whole family like he’s ordering a f#$^ing pizza.”
Can’t you hear Shane Victorino saying those exact words after he was Rivera’s final victim in Game 4 of the World Series last night?
That’s exactly how Rivera plays, just calm at all times and ready to take you out at any moment. His facial expression never changes on the mound. Just a blank stare at the catcher, then a windup and an un-hittable pitch ensues.
If you look at Rivera’s career stats, they are simply unreal. It’s as if you’re playing a video game and you made one guy just a 99 ranking for every pitch and you hit the reset button anytime someone blooped a single off of him.
And by the way, have you seen anyone get a legitimate hit off Rivera in the last five post seasons? Every hit he gives up is just a bloop single that happens to drop.
The back of his baseball card is simply amazing. See for yourself.
And once the calendar flips to October he turns it up to another gear that no other pitcher has ever reached. His record is 8-1 with a 0.76 ERA, 38 saves, 106 strikeouts and just 20 walks.
Simply unbelievable.
What’s even more amazing is how underrated he is still. Think about it, if you were starting a baseball team with only the all-time greats, wouldn’t Rivera have to be the first pitcher taken?
The guy can come in just about every night (unlike starting pitchers) and the second your team goes up in the eighth or ninth inning, the game is over.
Even Philadelphia fans know it. Last night the game was tied in the top of the ninth inning. Then Jonny Damon gets a two out single, improbably steals second and third. Mark Texiera is then hit by a pitch brining Alex Rodriguez to the plate. A-Rod lines a double to left scoring Damon and the Yankees grabbed a 5-4 lead.
Rivera earned MVP honors in the '99 World Series
Since the World Series is on Fox, we even get to see Joe Buck try and set up ladders for Rivera to walk under, throw a mirror in front of catcher Jorge Posada for Rivera to smash and unleash black cats on the mound and it still didn’t shake him.
Seriously, did you hear him at the start of the bottom of the ninth inning? He was telling fans to tune in to Game 5 on Fox as the Philadelphia Phillies try to stave off elimination in the World Series trailing 3 games to 1.
Now that is bold because there were still three outs to go before the Yankees were actually up 3-1. The game wasn’t over!
And you thought his football announcing was horrible. Honestly, it’s hard to tell if it’s just because Rivera is that good and the game is practically over when he comes in, or his deep seeded hatred of all New York sports teams is just that over bearing.
Anyway, since the game was played in Philadelphia, what happened next was priceless.
Fans started racing to the gates trying to beat the traffic and avoid seeing Rivera mow down their heroes. Oh yeah, and the Phillies are the defending world champions.
It’s the World Series and your team is at home, trailing by three runs and you leave the game? Still doesn’t make sense, but it’s obvious to see why.
Rivera started warming up in the bullpen, the bullpen door swung open and Game 4 belonged to the Yankees.
Forget the Fat Lady, just give me some more Metallica.
-14 to go- (Click here to see why we are keeping count.)
