Facing Mariano Rivera Read online

  Chipper Jones

  Year Date Result

  1996 (Postseason) 10/22 Strikeout (Swinging)

  10/23 Walk

  10/26 Fly out

  1998 6/22 Fly out

  1999 7/16 Walk

  Postseason 10/23 Walk

  10/26 Strikeout

  10/27 Ground out

  2000 6/4 Single

  Eric Karros

  First base

  Playing Career

  Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and Oakland Athletics from 1991 to 2004

  Career Statistics

  1,755 games, 1,724 hits, 284 home runs, 1,027 runs batted in, .268 batting average, .325 on-base percentage, .454 slugging percentage

  Eric Karros facing Mariano Rivera (regular season)

  0-for-2

  Mo Cred

  Karros won the 1992 National League’s Rookie of the Year award.

  Eric Karros

  Year Date Result

  2003 6/6 Pop out

  2004 5/4 Ground out

  IT’S FUNNY BECAUSE I credit Mariano with helping me out early in my career. It was in spring training in 1995. That’s when we had that abbreviated spring training coming back late because of the strike [which started in August 1994 and caused cancelation of the World Series].

  I was coming off an average 1994 season—I was not real good in ’94—and I don’t know what I’m going to do [to improve], so I was toying around with my stance. I’m facing Mariano, and I’ve got the Andres Galarraga open stance, so open that I’m facing the pitcher. At the time Mariano is a young guy, he’s setting up for [John] Wetteland, but he’s also a starter then, too.

  So I’ve got that open stance, and Mariano runs a fastball inside and—BOOM—I get hit right in the sternum. I’m hit right in the sternum with one of Mariano’s best fastballs and I’m gasping for air, I couldn’t breathe for anything.

  The bottom line is that I closed the stance, no more open stance for me. And that year I had one of my best statistical years, I got some Most Valuable Player [award] votes, and I played a few more years after that. So I credit Mariano for making me realize there’s going to be no open stance for me.

  Mo Respect

  Ryan Klesko

  The left-handed hitting first baseman of the Atlanta Braves faced Rivera in the final inning of the 1999 World Series. Rivera broke Klesko’s bats three times in a span of four pitches, generating two foul balls and a weak pop out to second base as the wood shattered.

  That pitch is just wicked. I had never seen anything like it. You can’t help but laugh. I couldn’t believe it. It was like a 97 miles per hour Wiffle Ball that has no rotation. I told Chipper [Jones], If he breaks one more of my bats, I’m going to have none left.

  Corey Koskie

  Third base

  Playing Career

  Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, and Milwaukee Brewers from 1998 to 2006

  Career Statistics

  989 games, 936 hits, 124 home runs, 506 runs batted in, .275 batting average, .367 on-base percentage, .458 slugging percentage

  Corey Koskie facing Mariano Rivera (regular season)

  0-for-6, 0 extra-base hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, .000 batting average, .250 on-base percentage, .000 slugging percentage

  Mo Cred

  Rivera retired Koskie with one pitch to earn the shortest save of his career, on August 7, 2005, at Toronto.*

  Corey Koskie

  Year Date Result

  2000 7/28 Walk

  9/1 Ground out

  9/3 Strikeout (Swinging)

  2001 5/9 Walk

  2003 (Postseason) 10/2 Fly out

  2004 (Postseason) 10/5 Ground out

  10/6 Double (1 RBI)

  10/9 Pop out

  2005 4/21 Fly out

  8/7 Fly out

  9/16 Line out

  9/25 Strikeout (Swinging)

  I ONLY HAD SIX [regular season] at-bats in my career against Rivera, but it feels like I faced him more. I did face him in the postseason, too; maybe it seems like more at-bats because they’re always in big situations.

  Most everything I hit off Rivera was a broken bat blooper or an infield dribbler. I got one solid hit off him. I was with the Twins and we were playing the Yankees in the 2004 American League Division Series. We were up one game to none [after] Johan Santana pitched a phenomenal game in Yankee Stadium.** In Game Two we’re down by two runs when Rivera comes into the game in the top of the eighth inning with runners on first and second base. Justin Morneau singles and we scored one run. So now we’re down by one run. There are runners on first and third with one out, and I came up to face Rivera.

  I remember it being a long at-bat. He throws me cutter after cutter after cutter. But then with [three balls and] two strikes he threw a sinker away. I was able to hit the ball the other way and it ended up bouncing over the left-field wall for a [ground-rule] double. The runner on third scored and the runner on first [pinch-runner Luis Rivas] would have scored if the ball hit the wall and stayed in play. Had the ball gone another six inches and hit the base of the wall we would have taken the lead. But instead, the ball hit the ground and bounced over the fence, and the runner [who had started out] on first got called back to third base. We had now tied the game and had runners on second and third with one out. Rivera struck out the next guy, and after that got a broken-bat ground ball to the second baseman to get out of [the jam]. We went into extra innings, and in the top of the twelfth inning, we score and go ahead. But in the bottom of the twelfth the Yankees scored a couple of runs to win the game. It was a great game; it just didn’t go our way.*

  You knew what pitch Mariano Rivera was going to throw; a cutter that breaks in to left-handed hitters. I still had trouble hitting it. You start to swing at the pitch and the next thing you know, the ball explodes your bat. I tried multiple things hoping to figure out a way get the barrel [of the bat] on one of his pitches. I tried choking up, and then I tried using a shorter bat. Nothing worked. My normal bat was thirty-four and a half inches long and [weighed] thirty-two ounces. But against left-handed pitchers, and knuckleballers like Tim Wakefield, and Mariano Rivera—against pitchers where you want to wait as long as possible before you commit to swinging—I used a shorter bat that was thirty-three inches and thirty-one ounces.

  A shorter bat forced me to keep my front shoulder closed and let the ball travel deeper. The idea was to wait, and with the shorter, lighter bat I felt my swing was quicker. It was a great bat. Then I used it once against Rivera and on the second pitch, he broke it. Ninety percent of the time he’d break your bat. That’s why when you’re facing Rivera no teammate ever let you use his bat.

  I have an autographed baseball collection, and since I have trouble asking a pitcher for an autograph most of the balls have been signed by hitters. I don’t ask pitchers because they’re trying to take money out of my pocket. I don’t like to say to a pitcher: “I think you’re awesome, can you sign this ball for me.”

  But one of the pitchers I did ask was Rivera. He’s a class guy and the ultimate professional.

  Mo Respect

  Kevin Kouzmanoff

  The journeyman third baseman was 0-for-1 in his career facing Rivera.

  Kevin Kouzmanoff

  Year Date Result

  2010 4/21 Fly out

  You go up against him and eliminate everything except the cutter and it still doesn’t work. He challenged you with that pitch and you think the pitch is right there. You swing, and it’s not there anymore.

  Biggest thing is that he not only has that special ability but he has been able to stay healthy for such a long period of time. He’s been able to regularly take the ball and get the job done.

  Tino Martinez

  First base

  Playing Career

  Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, and Tampa Bay Rays from 1990 to 2005

  Career Statistics

  2,023 games, 1,925 hits, 339 home runs, 1,271 runs batted in, .271 batting ave
rage, .344 on-base percentage, .471 slugging percentage

  Tino Martinez facing Mariano Rivera (regular season)

  2-for-11, 0 extra-base hits, 1 run batted in, 4 strikeouts, .182 batting average, .182 on-base percentage, .182 slugging percentage

  Mo Cred

  Martinez teamed with Rivera to win four World Series championships with the Yankees in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000.

  HE SHUT ME down [when I was with Seattle]. I was always happy when they took him out of the game. I didn’t know who he was at first, or how good he was going to be. When he came out of a game we always talked about what kind of great stuff that guy had. And, obviously, he became a great closer.*

  Then to be a teammate of his for all those years was incredible. He’s a total professional. The guy was the best closer ever, and he does it with one pitch. Without Mo, we’d have one, maybe two, World Series [wins], but we wouldn’t have four, that’s for sure.

  The best memory I have of him is in ’96, the year we won our first World Series. He pitched the seventh and eighth inning of every postseason game, in the playoffs and World Series. It was the first time I’ve ever been on a team where after six innings if we have the lead the game was over. And it was all because of Mo. Every postseason game, Mo closed out the seventh and eighth and was dominating, and [John] Wetteland came in and closed out the ninth. If we were ahead after the sixth inning, we knew the game was over, and the other team knew it, too.

  Tino Martinez

  Year Date Result

  1995 6/11 Ground out

  6/12 Single

  8/25 Strikeout (Swinging)

  8/26 Fly out

  9/5 Fly out

  9/6 Strikeout (Swinging)

  Postseason 10/4 Ground out

  10/5 Fly out

  2003 6/15 Double play

  2004 4/14 Ground out

  5/28 Strikeout (Swinging)

  7/9 Single (1 RBI)

  7/20 Strikeout (Swinging)

  It’s funny, back then, we loved Wetteland, and he did a great job for us. But we always asked Mo if he could pitch the seventh, eighth and ninth! He was that dominant. He shut guys down. It’s comforting to have him on your team, because when he comes in, the other team knows the game is over. It’s a bad feeling for them, and a great feeling for you. He was a luxury for us to have.

  He dominates the game but he doesn’t show anybody up. He closes games the right way. You don’t see any emotion at all. That’s what I love about him the most. He’ll strike out three guys, or break their bats, then shake hands, because I did my job, and the game is over. He acted that way, like it’s his job, shutting teams down, and winning ball games. He’s a good example for young kids to watch, and other closers as well. He has the type of attitude that you can’t hate him. You don’t think: “I can’t stand this guy, let’s get him.”

  You don’t feel that way at all because of the way he handles himself on the mound. Instead, you think: “Oh boy, here comes Mariano. He’s got great stuff. Here we go again.”

  He’s a great teammate, not just doing his own job, but the way he affects the rest of the team, as well. He teaches the bullpen guys, day in and day out. He’s always talking to the young guys that come up, teaching them how to go about their business, how to prepare, how to work out in the weight room, how to get ready for the game. He didn’t just talk to pitchers; he would also be talking to hitters.

  I’m going to remember how funny it was to see all these big grown men, six foot five inches tall and 250 pounds, hitting balls off the handle of their bat that barely get out of the infield. But I’m also going to think about how we’ll never, ever see another guy like him again.

  Lou Merloni

  Infield

  Playing Career

  Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres, Cleveland Indians, and Los Angeles Angels from 1998 to 2006

  Career Statistics

  423 games, 294 hits, 14 home runs, 125 runs batted in, .271 batting average, .332 on-base percentage, .384 slugging percentage

  Lou Merloni facing Mariano Rivera (regular season)

  0-for-0, 1 walk, 1.000 on-base percentage

  Mo Cred

  Merloni is one of fifteen players who walked in their only career at-bat facing Rivera.

  I GUESS THE MOST important stat in baseball is on-base percentage, right? So I drew my eight-pitch walk. Listen, I had my one moment against Mo, and then I got out of there. It was beautiful!*

  Lou Merloni

  Year Date Result

  2003 8/30 Walk

  You knew you were in trouble [when Mo came in the game]. The competitive side of you said, “We’re going to get this guy today.” But the bottom line is, more times than not, you’re walking back into that locker room knowing you just lost a game.

  He’s pitched eighteen years and there’s never a blip in the radar. You could make the case he’s the most dominant pitcher of all time. He would shut you down. It was one pitch, the cutter. But it’s eighteen years of perfect location. He throws nothing in the middle of the plate. He’ll paint down and in to a lefty, or he’ll paint away to a lefty. Then away to a righty, or [he throws] at your hip and it’ll come back and hit the inside corner. Every single pitch isn’t the same. The cutter varies; this time maybe it’s a little cutter, the next time, maybe he cuts it a little bit more.

  He has [ninety-six] appearances in the postseason—and in [fifty-eight]

  games he went multiple innings. In other words, if your team got to the seventh inning [trailing], you started the eighth inning and you knew Mariano Rivera was out in the bullpen sitting on your neck. You either get to somebody real quick or he was coming in to shut the door, and so you didn’t like your chances. When you look at the success the Yankees had, if you ask me if there was one person who was most responsible—Mariano Rivera.

  He’s been special. I remember playing against him back in 2002 and 2003, and thinking, multiple appearances, two innings closing, how many years can he do this? That was in ’02 or ’03, and here we are in 2013. It’s amazing he’s been able to withstand it for so many years.

  Doug Mientkiewicz

  First base

  Playing Career

  Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, Kansas City Royals, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Los Angeles Dodgers from 1998 to 2009

  Career Statistics

  1,087 games, 899 hits, 66 home runs, 405 runs batted in, .271 batting average, .360 on-base percentage, .405 slugging percentage

  Doug Mientkiewicz facing Mariano Rivera (regular season)

  0-for-5

  Mo Cred

  Mientkiewicz spent a season with the Yankees as Rivera’s teammate in 2007.

  You were 0-for-7 against Rivera in your career, including the postseason, making you one of eleven batters who are exactly 0-for-7 against Mariano.

  Doug Mientkiewicz

  Year Date Result

  1999 5/5 Ground out

  5/6 Ground out

  2001 5/9 Double play

  2003 (Postseason) 10/2 Ground out

  2000 (Postseason) 10/4 Line out

  2004 (Postseason) 10/17 Sacrifice bunt

  2006 4/11 Line out

  5/28 Ground out

  SO, I HAVE company then? It’s not just me? Awesome.

  Did you ever change your approach facing Rivera?

  When I got to Boston in 2004, I started using Billy Mueller’s bats. I didn’t want to break my good ones—my gamers, I’d call them—because I knew I was going to break them.

  You pinch hit just after Bill Mueller tied the score with a ninth-inning single in Game Four of the 2004 American League Championship Series. Told to sacrifice, you laid down a bunt, but the pitch hit your finger, and the umpires should have called a foul ball. It was so cold, and it hurt so bad going down the line that I wasn’t going to show it. If it’s a foul ball, I have to face him again. I was like, No way. I’m just running to first. I don’t care if my nail is falling off and I’m bleeding all over the plac
e. If I had to do that again, I don’t think that’s humanly possible.

  Do you have any advice for a batter facing Rivera for the first time?

  If you swing at the first one and foul it off, do not even attempt to swing at the second because it’s going to be the one that’s basically called the “neck ball.” It’s the one that rides up and in on you. And if you swing—not only do you miss it—you get hit in the Adam’s apple, and you embarrass your family.

  Kevin Millar

  First base

  Playing Career

  Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox, and Toronto Blue Jays from 1998 to 2009

  Career Statistics

  1,427 games, 1,284 hits, 170 home runs, 699 runs batted in, .274 batting average, .358 on-base percentage, .452 slugging percentage

  Kevin Millar facing Mariano Rivera (regular season)

  6-for-21, 2 extra-base hits, 1 home run, 2 runs batted in, 1 strikeout, .286 batting average, .348 on-base percentage, .476 slugging percentage

  Mo Cred

  The Yankees were three outs away from sweeping the Red Sox in the 2004 American League Championship Series when Millar, leading off the bottom of the ninth inning, drew a base on balls facing Rivera. Millar was replaced by pinch runner Dave Roberts, who stole second base and scored the game-tying run on Bill Mueller’s single. The Red Sox went on to win that game and, improbably, the series, before sweeping the Cardinals in the World Series to capture Boston’s first championship in 86 years.

  Kevin Millar

  Year Date Result

  1999 6/11 Fielder’s choice

  2001 7/14 Double

  2003 5/27 Home run (1 RBI)

  5/28 Fielder’s choice

  7/6 Fly out

  7/25 Strikeout (Swinging)

  8/30 Fielder’s choice

  9/7 Single

  Postseason 10/11 Fly out

  10/14 Fielder’s choice

  10/16 Pop out

  2004 4/24 Foul out