The Demise of Mariano Rivera?
passion4baseball.blogspot.com 6/8/2009 — Buster Olney mentioned in his blog yesterday that the great Mariano Rivera has lost some velocity on his cutter and it is not moving as much. According to Olney, that makes Rivera more vulnerable this year than in the past. Olney also points out that the pitcher is now 39 and this is to be ...

Mariano Rivera and the Tale of the Wandering Remote Control
heartbeatofthebronx.blogspot.com 7/2/2009 — Yankees closer Mariano Rivera has been deservedly credited with being the greatest relief pitcher of his generation. On Tuesday night, I believe he also became the first pitcher to ever throw out the ceremonial first pitch and throw the final pitch of a game. The honor of course stemmed from ...

Revisiting an almost-trade of Mariano Rivera
riveraveblues.com 7/1/2009 — I can’t imagine the New York Yankees without Mariano Rivera for the last 15 seasons. Since he came up as a 25-year-old and wowed the crowd during the 1995 ALCS, he has always been there. In 1996, he helped shorten the games, and in 1997, he ...

Two Very Different Cutters
fangraphs.com 7/2/2009 — On the surface Mariano Rivera and Mark DiFelice should be two of the most similar pitchers in the game. They are both right-handed relief pitchers who throw a cutters almost exclusively, over 90% of the time. No other pitcher throws the cutter that ...

Yankees P Rivera Gets 500th Career Save
mkrob.com 6/29/2009 — Mariano Rivera has 500 saves—and one precious RBI. Guess which feat he was most excited about. On a New York night that belonged to baseball’s most unflappable closer, Rivera became the second reliever to reach the 500-save milestone when the Yankees held off the punchless Mets 4-2 ...

Mariano Rivera’s Curious Rates
fangraphs.com 6/17/2009 — With the activation today of Brian Bruney from the disabled list and the designation of Jose Veras , I thought it a particularly good time to check in the end of the line of the Yankee’s bullpen, Mariano Rivera . The first year into his ...

Mariano Rivera 500 Saves (Photos and Video)
sports.rightpundits.com 6/29/2009 — Mariano Rivera 500 saves put the closer in the books last night, as he became only the second player in history, behind Trevor Hoffman, to achieve the feat. Read more about the story plus see video of Mariano Rivera 500 saves and photos ...

Rivera: “I Go Home, Simple as That”
nybaseballdigest.com 6/29/2009 — Ian O’ Connor goes down memory lane in his morning column. It’s old hat, but worth repeating, how close the Yankees were to trading Mariano Rivera to Seattle for Felix Fermin. What do you think life without Rivera would mean? Probably no titles in 96 and 98-2000. You also got ...

Was Mariano Rivera too sick to pitch on Saturday?
subwaysquawkers.blogspot.com 6/8/2009 — There apparently is an explanation for why Mariano Rivera pitched so poorly on Saturday, and it has nothing to do with the Rays knowing how to hit him. Yahoo Sports' Tim Brown reports (hat tip to WasWatching.com ) that Rivera was ill: For several hours before Rivera took the ball Saturday ...

Mariano the Tiger
hardballtimes.com 7/1/2009 — Inspired by my post about Mariano's potential trade to the Tigers, Grand Cards investigates exactly what such a thing would have meant : Let's say that trade goes through and Rivera becomes a Tiger in 1995. Other than altering the course of NY Yankees history, what does it do for the Tigers? ...

Milestone Man: Rivera earns 500th save for Yankees — Boston.com -- Baseball News 6/29/2009
Mariano Rivera's 500th save included a surprising bonus: his first RBI. On a New York night that belonged to baseball's most unflappable closer, Rivera became the second reliever to reach the milestone when the Yankees held off the punchless Mets 4-2 ...

ROUGH, WILD NIGHT FOR FRANCISCO — NY Post: Sports 6/29/2009
> On a night when the Yankees closer achieved another career milestone, the Mets closer suffered a career embarrassment. Francisco Rodriguez, who has been nearly perfect for the Mets this year, walked Mariano Rivera with the bases loaded ...

New York Yankees: Mariano Rivera, the Greatest Closer of All Time — Bleacher Report - MLB 6/29/2009
Five hundred to one. That’s how many saves it took Yankees closer Mariano Rivera to record his first career RBI. The 39-year-old native of Panamá has had a stellar career and is arguably the greatest finisher of all time—even if ...

Mariano Rivera's Greatness Won't be Forgotten Anytime Soon — Bleacher Report - MLB 6/29/2009
His stare is distinguishable. His demeanor is calm. His entrance music is unexpected. His cutter is unhittable . His greatness is historic. New York Yankees' closer Mariano Rivera closed out his 500th save last night against the New York Mets, ...

Mariano Rivera: 500 Saves And... One RBI — Bleacher Report - MLB 6/29/2009
Mariano Rivera earned his 500th save last night against the Mets.   But that wasn't his only milestone.  He also earned his first RBI.   Guess which feat he was most excited about.   On a New York night that belonged ...