Last week something really unusual happened that caused a few ripples amongst followers of Baseball, but which probably went overlooked by the rest of the world at large!
On Tuesday 28th May, Rivera entered the game against the Mets with a 1-0 lead, then gave up three straight hits to lose the game 2-1. It was Rivera’s first blown save of the 2013 season!
However it was only the third time in Rivera’s 1,072 career appearances that he hadn’t recorded an out and the first since 2008. And in the other two, he faced only a single batter. But more significantly, for the first time in his entire 19-year career, Rivera blew a save and lost a game without recording an out.
Just think about that for a while!!! The FIRST TIME in a 19-year career!!
Wow!!! Just – wow!!
To paraphrase the Great Bard himself – “I come not to bury Rivera, but to praise him”!
What this stat highlights is the fact that Mariano Rivera is one of the greatest, if not perhaps THE greatest Yankee pitcher to have ever played the game. He has already proven himself to be the greatest closer the game has ever known, and whatever comes next in his Hall of Fame career will write itself into Baseball legend!
Who knows? He may well have another season left in him after this one!!
The Wax Fantastic 