My Favorite Yankee

On Monday, Mariano Rivera recorded career save #602, giving him the most in baseball history. He is without question the best relief pitcher in baseball history. His consistency is incredible.

I'm currently reading Buster Olney's book The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty and here are a couple descriptive passages from there about Mo.

"Rivera, the Yankees' closer, thought players should act properly, as well; he despised pitchers who were disrespectful to opponents--glaring insolently at hitters and stomping and swaggering around the mound like Neanderthals, pumping a fist to celebrate the smallest successes. You should act as though you've won before, Rivera believed; you should act as though you expect to win again. Some pitchers grew mustaches and beards and groomed them in arcane ways to make themselves look threatening, but this made Rivera more certain they were actually very much afraid...

"There was inflexible structure to everything Rivera did. Some of the other Yankees adhered only grudgingly to the team's policy against long hair and beards, and a few holdouts always took the field with day-old facial growth. But Rivera shaved before every game and had his thinning hair cut close to his scalp, like stitches on a baseball. He wore his uniform precisely to code, with the cuffs of his uniform pants raised to the proper height above his heels, and he followed the same disciplined regimen before, during, and after games. When Rivera emerged from the Yankees' bullpen to pitch, he held his glove in his right hand and jogged steadily to the mound, running on the balls of his feet, his head always tilted downward--the coolest entrance of any closer, teammate Roger Clemens thought, because it was so understated. Rivera never looked angry or arrogant or intense. He had the demeanor of a customs agent, serious and polite. All eyes were on him whenever he stepped out of the bullpen."

I'm not going to spend time copying his stats here, but they are remarkable. Even Yankees' haters have to admire him. He is dignified, humble, calm and professional, and one of the best human beings in baseball. Yankees' games have become 8 inning affairs for the last 15 years for opposing players and fans, but my favorite part of any ballgame is the 9th inning with Mariano Rivera on the mound. I dread the day when #42 will no longer come out of the bullpen.