Mariano Rivera

[1sikbITCH]

I don't watch baseball much. I'm too ADD for that.

However as a child growing up in 1970s Bmore, Orioles Magic dominated the city and rooting for the O's seemed like a community event much like it is on Sundays around here from Sept to January these days .
I remember going to games as a child and seeing many larger than life baseball heroes (in Baltimore) from that era: Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Earl Weaver, Jim Palmer, and Eddie Murray are some Hall of Fame Legends that most Americans are at least aware of.

As with those guys, you can't not know who Mariano Rivera is whether you watch BB or not. It seems like Yankee fans and Yankee haters alike need to recognize the passing of a great player. I just didn't realize he was all this:
https://medium.com/p/dfdc0c34f425

Greatest closer seems a no brainer. Is Mariano Rivera the best pitcher ever? Seems like it's cheating to just pitch a few innings but the game changed since the 70's.

 

[SP33Demon]

I don't watch baseball much. I'm too ADD for that.

However as a child growing up in 1970s Bmore, Orioles Magic dominated the city and rooting for the O's seemed like a community event much like it is on Sundays around here from Sept to January these days .
I remember going to games as a child and seeing many larger than life baseball heroes (in Baltimore) from that era: Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Earl Weaver, Jim Palmer, and Eddie Murray are some Hall of Fame Legends that most Americans are at least aware of.

As with those guys, you can't not know who Mariano Rivera is whether you watch BB or not. It seems like Yankee fans and Yankee haters alike need to recognize the passing of a great player. I just didn't realize he was all this:
https://medium.com/p/dfdc0c34f425

Greatest closer seems a no brainer. Is Mariano Rivera the best pitcher ever? Seems like it's cheating to just pitch a few innings but the game changed since the 70's.

While he was an amazing specimen that defied physics, he wasn't anywhere near the greatest pitcher ever because he was a closer. Greatest ever would be reserved for a handful of starters, such as Randy Johnson and his slider (non deadball era of course). Non deadball era add Cy Young and Walter Johnson.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/WAR_pitch_career.shtml
Notice that Rivera ranks #70, even behind Pettitte and Halladay from a cumulative value perspective.

There were other extremely dominant pitchers who could bring the heat + had a signature pitch that were arguably worth more because they were starters. Clemens and Schilling splitters, Pedro and Maddux's circle change/slurve, Nolan Ryan/Koufax/Blyleven for their curve. All of them had more total value than Rivera, it's not even close.

 

[Lyfer]

Very classy fella and amazing on the field. We need more people like him in sports.

 

[FalseChristian]

He may not be the greatest PITCHER ever but he is the best CLOSER ever and I hate the Yankees! LOL!

 

[Pantoot]

Class act for sure.
I am just happy I got to see him pitch live, in game 7 in 2001

 

[BUTCH1]

Yea, best closer bar none. Amazing control and that trademark slider he threw had more late-life movement than any other pitcher I've ever seen, looks like a standard 92-92MPH fastball coming at 'ya then the last 15 feet veers off, lot's of swing and misses with that baby. Total class act and as a Red Sox fan I salute a great man and the end of a fantastic career..

 

[BoomerD]

I don't watch baseball much. I'm too ADD for that.

However as a child growing up in 1970s Bmore, Orioles Magic dominated the city and rooting for the O's seemed like a community event much like it is on Sundays around here from Sept to January these days .
I remember going to games as a child and seeing many larger than life baseball heroes (in Baltimore) from that era: Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Earl Weaver, Jim Palmer, and Eddie Murray are some Hall of Fame Legends that most Americans are at least aware of.

No love for Boog Powell?

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/powelbo01.shtml

 

[GagHalfrunt]

I'm a Yankee fan and therefore a Mariano fan. I am however a person that thinks the modern role of 'closer' is a complete joke and that almost anyone could do the job effectively. I just thought that Rivera did it more effectively than anyone else and that even though it was a silly job, he was a HUGE help to the team. Now I have to reconsider that. The stats paint a completely different picture.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9718373/mariano-rivera-overrated-well-beloved-respected

Cliffs from the link:


Before you bring the tar to a boil and gather more feathers, let me again cite the work of Project Retrosheet founder Dave Smith. He thoroughly and tirelessly researched games from more than seven decades and found that the rate at which teams win games with late-inning leads basically has not changed. Teams leading by one run after eight innings have gone on to win 85.7 percent of the time. That number goes up to 93.7 percent when leading by two runs, and 97.5 percent when leading by three runs.

Mull that over, and then please tell me why Rivera is so amazing for having an 89.1 percent career save rate (which, by the way, is lower than Joe Nathan's). Because, basically, Rivera was not used except in games the Yankees were going to win 88 percent of the time anyway. Actually, the percentages were usually higher than that. According to Elias, of Rivera's 652 career saves, just under a third (210) were with a one-run lead when he took the mound while 216 were with a two-run lead, 180 with a three-run lead and 46 with a lead of at least four runs.

 

[soulcougher73]

He may not be the greatest PITCHER ever but he is the best CLOSER ever and I hate the Yankees! LOL!

This.

 

[fstime]

As Mike Francesa said, you cannot say Mariano Rivera was one of the greatest pitchers ever because he is considered a specialist in his role.

You can say he was one of the best at his specific specialty but that is as far as it goes.