Facing Mariano Rivera Read online

  Copyright © 2014 by David Fischer

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Sports Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on f ile.

  ISBN: 978-1-61321-639-2

  Printed in the United States of America

  For my grandpa Jack Baron, a Brooklyn Dodgers fanatic, who told me stories about another legendary No. 42, Jackie Robinson.

  CONTENTS

  Foreword

  Introduction

  Section One: Infielders

  Roberto Alomar

  David Adams

  Mike Blowers

  Aaron Boone

  Mike Bordick

  Robinson Cano

  Eric Chavez

  Jeff Conine

  Carlos Delgado

  Mark DeRosa

  Robert Eenhoorn

  Matt Franco

  Nomar Garciaparra

  Jason Giambi

  Ozzie Guillen

  Scott Hatteberg

  Todd Helton

  Derek Jeter

  Chipper Jones

  Eric Karros

  Ryan Klesko

  Corey Koskie

  Kevin Kouzmanoff

  Tino Martinez

  Lou Merloni

  Doug Mientkiewicz

  Kevin Millar

  Bill Mueller

  Lyle Overbay

  Dustin Pedroia

  Mark Reynolds

  Kevin Seitzer

  Bill Selby

  Ed Sprague

  Jason Smith

  Mark Teixeira

  Jim Thome

  Robin Ventura

  Ty Wigginton

  Tony Womack

  David Wright

  Kevin Youkilis

  Section Two: Outfielders

  Brady Anderson

  Garret Anderson

  Frank Catalanotto

  Bubba Carpenter

  Johnny Damon

  Jim Edmonds

  Darin Erstad

  Lew Ford

  Brett Gardner

  Luis Gonzalez

  Curtis Granderson

  Gabe Gross

  David Hulse

  Mike Humphreys

  Torii Hunter

  Raul Ibanez

  Reed Johnson

  Adam Jones

  Mark Kotsay

  Paul O’Neill

  Jay Payton

  Alex Rios

  Dave Roberts

  Tim Salmon

  Mike Simms

  Matt Stairs

  Ichiro Suzuki

  Nick Swisher

  B.J. Upton

  Shane Victorino

  Vernon Wells

  Section Three: Catchers

  Sal Fasano

  Francisco Cervelli

  John Flaherty

  Darrin Fletcher

  Todd Greene

  Jesse Levis

  Russell Martin

  Chad Moeller

  Gustavo Molina

  Salvador Perez

  Wil Nieves

  A.J. Pierzynski

  Jorge Posada

  Austin Romine

  Terry Steinbach

  Chris Stewart

  Kelly Stinnett

  Tom Wilson

  Gregg Zaun

  Section Four: Designated Hitters

  Jack Cust

  Eric Hinske

  Kevin Maas

  Edgar Martinez

  David Ortiz

  Luke Scott

  Mike Sweeney

  Section Five: Pitchers

  Jonathan Albaladejo

  Bronson Arroyo

  Dellin Betances

  Joba Chamberlain

  David Cone

  Dennis Eckersley

  Tom Gordon

  Rich Goose Gossage

  Jason Grimsley

  David Huff

  Phil Hughes

  Jason Isringhausen

  Shawn Kelley

  Pedro Martinez

  Al Leiter

  Joe Nathan

  Denny Neagle

  Jeff Nelson

  Andy Pettitte

  J.J. Putz

  David Robertson

  CC Sabathia

  Curt Schilling

  John Smoltz

  Mike Stanton

  Tanyon Sturtze

  Rick Sutcliffe

  Justin Verlander

  Ron Villone

  Adam Warren

  John Wetteland

  Section Six: Management

  Mike Borzello

  Bruce Bochy

  Brian Butterfield

  Bill Evers

  Terry Francona

  Joe Girardi

  Mike Harkey

  Jim Leyland

  Bill Livesey

  Mitch Lukevics

  Joe Maddon

  Bob Melvin

  Mark Newman

  Juan Nieves

  Herb Raybourn

  Larry Rothschild

  Glenn Sherlock

  Mike Scioscia

  Joe Torre

  Career Statistics

  Acknowledgements

  Photo Credit

  FOREWORD

  IF YOU’VE EVER studied the best major league pitchers, either from a seat at the ballpark or on television, when a batter swung and missed, you, as a decent ballplayer in your day, might have muttered, “I could’ve hit that one.” And maybe you could have.

  But maybe not. Probably not. And if that pitcher was Mariano Rivera, almost certainly not.

  Page after page in Facing Mariano Rivera, you will read how he not only baffled the best major league hitters with his cut fastball, he often shattered their bats. Of all the gifts he received in his 2013 farewell tour, he said his favorite was a rocking chair constructed of broken bats from the Minnesota Twins. “If you’re a left handed hitter,” says an opponent who later would be a Yankees teammate, “you almost have to look for an outside pitch and pull it, because if it’s middle in, it’s going to break your bat.” If only David Fischer could have interviewed some of those shattered bats.

  No need to tell you here the most successful hitter against baseball’s greatest closer, but even he acknowledges, “It was never a comfortable at bat.” Another hitter who once swatted fifty home runs (none off Rivera), analyzes that “His cutter has four-seam fastball spin and then it cuts—it cuts late . . . and he learned to throw a two-seam fastball that broke in on righties.”

  For all of the hitters’ testimony, perhaps the most authoritative comments are from his Yankees’ teammates. From the outfielder who says, “He was the Devil when I was playing against him, but when I came here, he became God because he’s on our side.” From the right-handed pitcher who says, “His arm slot is the same every pitch.” From the bullpen catcher who says, “I don’t think he ever threw a ball that ever bounced in my twelve years of catching him in the bullpen. He would pitch up and down, and in and out, but never in the ground.”

  And as much as all these oppo
sing batters dislike trying to hit that cut fastball, they praise him for never “showing up” any of them. “Once you get to know Mariano,” one says, “you respect him more as a person than as a player.” As challenging and frustrating as facing him was, they seem to enjoy having had the opportunity. And now the opportunity in these pages to describe what it was like.

  —Dave Anderson

  INTRODUCTION

  DURING HIS ILLUSTRIOUS career, Mariano Rivera faced over five thousand batters, from Brady Anderson to Gregg Zaun; from stars like David Ortiz, who faced him thirty-four times, to neophytes like Bill Selby, who faced him twice. The list of batters included in this book run the gamut from Hall of Famers like Roberto Alomar, who managed to hit .455 (5 for 11) against him, to All-Stars like Alex Rios, who didn’t have a hit in 15 plate appearances, to Jason Smith, a lifetime .212 batter who inexplicably hit .600 (3 for 5) against Rivera.

  “I don’t think I owned him,” says Smith. “I was very lucky.”

  The success or (more often than not) failure rate when facing Rivera for each player interviewed for this book has been documented to the best of my ability. Some players will boast of their personal accomplishments against Rivera, while others can only laugh at themselves for their futility against him. Whatever the case, each of the speakers’ unique achievements, either positive or negative, are recognized under the heading labeled “Mo Cred,” as in credibility.

  Whatever the results compiled by individual batters, this much is true: If there was one relief pitcher in the last two decades who personifies the word “closer,” a stadium full of baseball experts would pick Rivera. Few, if any, relief pitchers enjoyed the immensely positive reputation for finality that Rivera earned with the Yankees. As manager Joe Girardi said: “I love when he comes into the game. You feel like it’s over.”

  Finality is a subject often cited by the nearly 150 baseball people who spoke to me about Rivera. I conducted the interviews during the 2013 season, while Rivera was still an active player; hence, the recollections of the players are spoken in the present tense. One of the first ballplayers I spoke with was Mike Sweeney, who compares Rivera’s entrance music to the soundtrack of a horror movie, because “you hear that music and you know what’s going to happen,” says Sweeney. “Mariano will finish the game and get the save.”

  The vision of Rivera bursting through the bullpen door was enough to give even the most malevolent opponents serious pause. With the Yankee Stadium sound system blaring Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” and the fans raucously cheering in anticipation, Rivera jogged across the outfield grass and strode gracefully to the mound. The music meant that entering the game is Mariano Rivera, the reedy right-handed relief pitcher from Panama with a steely focus and a sense of mental calm so great he could sleep through a thunderstorm. He fires seven or eight warm-up pitches, stares blankly at his target with shark-like eyes, and then gets down to the serious business of recording the three toughest outs in baseball.

  More than anyone else, it was Rivera doing his job that propelled the Yankees to be World Series champions five times, as he was on the mound to record the final out in four clinching Series games in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2009. October after October, the 6-foot-2, 185-pounder held precarious leads the Yankees had scratched together. He literally attacked rival hitters with one pitch: an unsolvable cut fastball that has been called a combination of thunder and location. That pitch, more than any other subject, was a recurring theme among the pitchers and position players who participated in this project. All of the batters I spoke to, particularly those hitting left-handed, had vivid memories of frustrating plate appearances that more times than not ended with them holding a piece of their own broken bat.

  Sometimes a ballplayer’s time was limited or our time together cut short, resulting in a briefer interview than I had anticipated. Many of these players sincerely apologized for not being able to devote more time to talking about Rivera, though their comments are just as insightful and revealing. In these instances, I have set off the text in a special box titled “Mo Respect,” an appropriate moniker to express the admiration they feel toward the last major league baseball player to wear No. 42.

  The ballplayers represented in this book told many amusing stories and had an uncanny memory for game situations, pitch sequences, base runners, the name of the umpire behind the plate, and similar details that occurred in games played many years ago. Time and again, I was amazed by a player’s instant recall and unusual ability to provide the play-by-play for a regular season game occurring in the last decade that had little or no impact on the league’s pennant race. While this book is based on their memories, I do provide footnotes to occasionally set the record straight, to elaborate on their stories, and to place game events in historical context.

  Rivera’s historical impact on the Yankees’ success, especially in the postseason, couldn’t possibly be any greater. Twelve people have walked on the moon but only eleven have scored an earned run off Rivera in the postseason. His lifetime postseason earned run average of 0.70 in 141 innings is the major league record. During the Yankees, memorable 1998 season, Rivera did not give up a run in ten postseason appearances. He did the same again during eight appearances in 1999, when he was the World Series Most Valuable Player. More impressive still, his record 42 postseason saves, including 11 in the World Series, are 24 more than his next closest competitor, Brad Lidge (18), which explains why Rivera’s teammates could act as if they were about to inherit the family trust fund when he entered the game.

  “He wants the ball in big situations and [is] not afraid of anyone,” says Derek Jeter. “You won’t see anyone like him again.”

  Rivera retired as the king of all closers. Final inventory figures for his career will show that all other relief pitchers will be shooting at his mark of 652 saves for a long time to come. But Mariano Rivera’s contributions go beyond mere numbers, impressive though they happen to be. It’s the form as well as the substance that makes Rivera a star in the grand old Yankee tradition: humble, gracious, and poised. The fact that he’s also a spiritual man made him all the more valuable as an inspiration to his teammates and to his opponents. Those to whom I spoke lauded Rivera for his comportment, sportsmanship, classy demeanor, and for his professionalism. To a man, everyone admired him as a human being, respected him as a competitor, and marveled at the high level of performance he sustained for a storied franchise in a pressure-cooker environment.

  Many of the interviews in this book took place in the days following the 2013 All-Star Game, which will long be remembered for the touching moment when Rivera entered the game.

  He stood alone on the mound as his American League teammates and National League opponents remained in their respective dugouts, allowing Rivera to soak in the two-minute standing ovation from the adoring crowd. Those I spoke to cite this unprecedented tribute bestowed upon Rivera as being one of the most emotional moments they’ve ever experienced while watching a baseball game. Rivera’s ability to rehabilitate from a serious knee injury resulting in surgery that limited his 2012 season to just nine appearances and to come back to finish his final season at the top of his game is also a common recurring theme that speaks to Rivera’s character.

  Hollywood scriptwriters could not have conjured the storyline any better. The son of a fisherman who grew up playing baseball on a beach in Panama with a milk carton for a glove, a tree limb for a bat, and rolled-up fishing net for a ball, would come to America and go on to become the greatest closer of all time. Five years after his retirement, Rivera should become the first player to win unanimous election to the Hall of Fame, proving how revered he is among his peers in the game.

  Truly dominant pitchers come along only rarely. Rarer still are those who embody attributes that any parent would want his son or daughter to have.

  I sincerely hope you enjoy this tribute to Mariano Rivera.

  Section One: Infielders

  Roberto Alomar

  Second base


  Playing Career

  San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, and Arizona Diamondbacks from 1988 to 2004

  Career Statistics

  2,379 games, 2,724 hits, 210 home runs, 1,134 runs batted in, .300 batting average, .371 on-base percentage, .443 slugging percentage

  Roberto Alomar facing Mariano Rivera (regular season)

  5-for-11, 3 extra-base hits, 1 run batted in, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, .455 batting average, .500 on-base percentage, .727 slugging percentage

  Mo Cred

  Alomar, a Hall of Famer, struck out and grounded out facing Rivera as a member of the Orioles in the 1996 American League Championship Series, won by the Yankees in five games.

  SEEING MARIANO MEANT, ninety-nine percent of the time, the game was over. Mentally, guys thought it was over when he came into a game.

  First of all, he’s very confident. I admired his approach. He said, “If you’re going to beat me, you’re going to beat me with my best pitch.”

  Roberto Alomar

  Year Date Result

  1996 4/30 Pop out

  6/28 Single

  7/13 Walk

  9/19 Double

  Postseason 10/9 Strikeout (Swinging)

  10/12 Ground out

  1998 6/17 Double

  9/20 Double

  1999 6/1 Single

  2000 5/1 Walk

  5/3 Sacrifice bunt

  2001 6/2 Strikeout (Swinging)

  6/25 Ground out

  2003 6/22 Strikeout (Swinging)

  6/28 Sacrifice fly (1 RBI)

  6/29 Ground out

  8/28 Strikeout (Swinging)

  That’s what made him so different than all the others. To me, it’s amazing how he did it, with only one pitch.

  He’s a great student of the game, and I think the older he got, the better he got. He started throwing cutters backdoor, and started throwing cutters inside.

  Mariano set the standard for closers, and so many people admire him. He’s just so good for baseball. For him to close this long, at this level, is just ridiculous.

  Mo Respect

  David Adams

  Adams was Rivera’s teammate with the Yankees in 2013.

  The one thing that sticks out most to me is how electrifying the crowd gets and how loud the Stadium gets every time he comes out to the mound. As soon as his song comes on the loudspeaker, and he jogs through the gate, it’s just like a big boom. That’s the one thing that is electrifying to me.