Facing Mariano Rivera Read online

  7/1 Double play

  7/24 Single (1 RBI)

  9/17 Walk (Hit by pitch)

  Postseason 10/12 Pop out

  10/13 Strikeout (Swinging)

  10/17 Walk

  2005 5/27 Single

  9/11 Single

  2006 8/4 Fly out

  2007 8/15 Ground out

  9/19 Fly out

  9/28 Walk (Hit by pitch)

  2008 5/22 Line out

  5/27 Ground out

  7/29 Fly out

  8/22 Pop out

  2009 5/14 Ground out

  I DON’T EVER GET tired of hearing from Red Sox Nation about 2004. It’s not daily that I’m asked about 2004, but it still happens all the time.

  Red Sox fans still come up and say, “Thank you guys for getting that monkey off the Nation’s back,” and Yankees fans come up and say, “Millar, you bum, we’re sick of hearing about 2004,” though they don’t always put it that politely.

  That whole Series changed everything in Boston forever. The Red Sox could win twenty more World Series, and that team will still be remembered not only for what we did, but how we did it.

  What Dave Roberts [did] was a pivotal moment in changing the history of the franchise: He came off the bench on a freezing night, had to dive back [into first base] a couple of times as Rivera threw over, and then he stole the base by, what, the length of a hand? It was close, man. It couldn’t have been closer. Mariano is tough as heck to steal on, and [Jorge] Posada made a great throw with [Derek] Jeter nearly stealing an out with that sweep tag that he does. Dave deserves all the credit in the world for pulling that off, in that circumstance, against those guys, with all of Red Sox Nation on his shoulders.

  Dave had a great career, was a regular with the Padres and Giants, and yet it’s this one amazing play that has given him a place in baseball history that will always be his. Then Bill Mueller raps a single up the middle off Rivera, who was and still is death on lefty hitters even more than righties. If Bill doesn’t get that hit, maybe Dave gets stranded at second, and history is different. [Mueller] was the unsung hero, and it wasn’t the first time he beat Rivera.

  I remember all the details like it happened yesterday. It’s funny, but I actually enjoyed facing Rivera. I was probably the only one, but I’m a little crazy. But he’s a fastball pitcher, and comes right at you, and I was a fastball hitter, so I always felt like he was going to challenge me. Honestly, I was literally thinking, man, I could hit a home run here. He was trying to pound me in, and if he came in too far or left that cutter out over the plate, I was thinking I was going to homer.

  I had a pretty good idea what they were going to try to do—come up and in and get me to chase one out of the strike zone. It was a pretty good approach on their part, because I couldn’t resist those high heaters. And ball four really wasn’t that close, which sort of surprised me, because once it got to three balls I thought they’d come after me a little more. It’s not like I was Manny [Ramirez] or Papi [David Ortiz] and needed to be pitched around. I’m proud that it was a disciplined at-bat, though, because what we needed was a base runner. Though a homer would have been pretty cool, too!

  For me, personally, Mariano wasn’t the toughest pitcher I ever faced, because stuff wise, there’s other pitchers out there that gave me a harder time. Like Roy Halladay, with a 95 [miles per hour fastball] and a curveball and cutter, and Andy Pettitte, I couldn’t get a ball out of the infield against him for years. But Mariano Rivera in that spot in the game, yes, he’s extremely tough, because you only get to see him once. Starters you get to see three or four times. Mariano Rivera came in and he had electric stuff, he has an electric arm. Everything he threw was very smooth and easy; it just hopped out of his hand at 95 [m.p.h.] in his prime.*

  He is truly the most unbelievable professional; he’s classy, just a great human being. When he’s on that mound he’s the best this game has ever seen. To dominate this game with one pitch, the fastball-cutter, is unbelievable. He has impeccable location. Wherever [Yankees’ catcher Jorge] Posada put that glove, Rivera hit it. If [Posada] was setting up inside to a right-handed batter underneath the hands, that ball was looking like it was going to hit you right in your ribs at 95 [m.p.h.]—that made you freeze as a hitter, and then the ball would come around and catch the inside part of the plate.

  Mariano has the ability to put that ball on the outside corner, but the ball starts in the middle [of the plate] where it looks like a strike, and next thing you know, as a right-handed batter, you’re swinging and you’re hitting the ball on the end of your bat. And he saws off left-handers at will. His control was impeccable. What makes Mariano Rivera so great is not only that he dominates the game with that one pitch, the cutter, but also his control. He puts that ball where he wants to every single time he threw it.

  Bill Mueller

  Infield

  Playing Career

  San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers from 1996 to 2006

  Career Statistics

  1,216 games, 1,229 hits, 85 home runs, 493 runs batted in, .291 batting average, .373 on-base percentage, .425 slugging percentage

  Bill Mueller facing Mariano Rivera (regular season)

  5-for-11, 1 extra-base hit, 1 home run, 3 runs batted in, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, .455 batting average, .500 on-base percentage, .727 slugging percentage

  Mo Cred

  Mueller hit a run-scoring single off Rivera to tie the score in the ninth inning of Game Four of the 2004 American League Championship Series.

  THAT’S WHY YOU’RE talking to me. It is shocking. That’s how dominant he’s been over the years, especially in the playoffs. He’s one of the most special guys in the history of the game. I was never comfortable against him. I never felt good against him. I never felt like I had the advantage.*

  I went up there trying to keep things as simple as possible, [to make] a positive out, really. It’s so difficult to think you’re going to have success against such a great pitcher. It wasn’t anything more than that. He was so dominant. To have that success, I guess, I could say I’d rather be lucky than good.

  Bill Mueller

  Year Date Result

  2003 5/21 Ground out

  5/28 Single (1 RBI)

  7/6 Single

  8/30 Strikeout (Swinging)

  Postseason 10/14 Ground out

  10/16 Ground out

  10/16 Ground out

  2004 4/18 Ground out

  4/24 Pop out

  7/24 Home run (2 RBI)

  9/24 Ground out

  Postseason 10/12 Double play

  10/17 Single (1 RBI)

  10/18 Fielder’s choice

  2005 4/5 Single

  4/6 Walk

  5/27 Strikeout (Looking)

  7/17 Single

  I special-ordered a half-dozen Rawlings bats that were shorter and lighter than my usual [Louisville Slugger] model. I saved them for Mariano. I couldn’t get too attached to them, either, because there was a good chance he was going to break them. If for some reason those bats didn’t come in, I had to choke up [on my regular bat]. I just used the lightest bat I had. More than anything, it was probably a boost for my mental confidence.

  Mueller Time

  Bill Mueller [pronounced Miller] faced Rivera a total of eighteen times in his career, with all at-bats coming during the height of the intense Yankees–Red Sox rivalry from 2003 through 2005. Including postseason, Mueller batted .353 against Rivera. He was 6-for-17 with one walk.

  Mueller delivered two of the most memorable hits Rivera allowed in his career.

  Mueller hit a walk-off, two-run home run against Rivera for an 11-10 Boston comeback win at Fenway Park, on July 24, 2004. Mueller’s long ball was the thirty-ninth career home run allowed by Rivera, and the second walk-off home run (Bill Selby, Cleveland Indians, July 14, 2002).

  Then, with the Red Sox on the brink of elimination in Game Four of the 2004 American League Championship Series, Mueller’s ninth-
inning single off Rivera scored Dave Roberts with the tying run.

  Rivera has appeared in ninety-six postseason games, and Mueller is one of three men to deliver a game-tying hit against Rivera in a Yankees’ postseason loss. Sandy Alomar Jr. (Cleveland Indians, 1997 A.L.D.S., Game Four) and Tony Womack (Arizona Diamondbacks, 2001 World Series, Game Seven) are the others.

  Now, I work as a scout for the [Los Angeles] Dodgers. If you asked me to file a report on him it would be an easy one to write, that’s for sure. Perennial All-Star. Stud.

  Lyle Overbay

  First base

  Playing Career

  Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Pirates, Atlanta Braves, and New York Yankees since 2001

  Career Statistics

  1,354 games, 1,212 hits, 138 home runs, 596 runs batted in, .270 batting average, .352 on-base percentage, .438 slugging percentage

  Lyle Overbay facing Mariano Rivera (regular season)

  2-for-12, 0 extra-base hits, 4 strikeouts, .167 batting average, .167 on-base percentage, .167 slugging percentage

  Mo Cred

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

  AS HIS TEAMMATE, now the only thing I have to worry about is getting out of the way of a broken bat! I see [opposing batters] go through what I went through, and I don’t wish that upon anybody. It’s a luxury not having to worry about that cutter anymore. It’s very nice to be on Mariano’s side. It’s exciting to hear that song “Enter Sandman” and know the game is going to be over, because now, I’m on the winning side.

  He’s very confident, yet he’s also very quiet. You can see he has a presence that can be very dominant. He’s there for everyone. He takes care of the young Latino players. He helps out the young pitchers, too. Not a lot of guys have time to help, or want to, but Mariano is willing to spend time in the bullpen and discuss [pitching]. Look what he’s done for David Robertson, who has taken advantage [of Mariano’s tutelage] and now he’s throwing a cutter, too.

  Lyle Overbay

  Year Date Result

  2006 4/19 Strikeout (Looking)

  2007 5/30 Ground out

  7/16 Strikeout (Looking)

  9/12 Single

  9/21 Strikeout (Looking)

  2008 4/1 Strikeout (Looking)

  4/3 Fielder’s choice

  6/4 Ground out

  8/29 Fielder’s choice

  2010 7/4 Single

  8/4 Ground out

  9/28 Ground out

  Mariano’s cutter is different. It’s weird, how much his cutter breaks in the last four feet. You swing, and the ball ends up being another four inches farther inside than you expected, and your bat snaps in two pieces. It was a constant battle to make adjustments. I would cheat by stepping in the bucket, then I backed off away from the plate and dove in, other times I’d eliminate the inside pitch. I even tried choking up on my bat. Nothing worked. I always got jammed. I thought about turning my bat around! Maybe I should have tried holding the bat by the barrel, because I hit it off the handle every time!

  When I was with Toronto we faced the Yankees a lot because we were in the same division. I remember one hit [helped us] tie a ballgame [when] we were down one run. That was the only at-bat that I felt I had a chance to connect because, that day, his cutter wasn’t cutting like usual and he didn’t have good velocity, either. He apparently had one bad day in eighteen years. It’s amazing that he can [throw] just one pitch for eighteen years and not have to adjust like everyone else in this game. It doesn’t make sense.*

  Facing Mariano Rivera was no easy task. Not only are his pitches deceptive, his location is consistent. That’s why he’s still dominating, because of location. He pitches up and in, right under your hands for a lefty, or down and away on a lefty, and down and in on a righty. He can hit the [catcher’s] glove every time.

  Dustin Pedroia

  Second base

  Playing Career

  Boston Red Sox since 2006

  Career Statistics

  1,016 games, 1,218 hits, 99 home runs, 493 runs batted in, .302 batting average, .370 on-base percentage, .454 slugging percentage

  Dustin Pedroia facing Mariano Rivera (regular season)

  1-for-12, 0 extra-base hits, 1 run batted in, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts, .083 batting average, .250 on-base percentage, .083 slugging percentage

  Mo Cred

  Pedroia, hitless in his first 13 at-bats against Rivera, finally broke through with a ground ball single up the middle in the ninth inning of a 4-1 Yankees win at Yankee Stadium, on May 31, 2013. It was Rivera’s 627th career save.

  HE’S NO FUN to hit against. Hey, I’m still not sold it’s his last year. He’s dealing.

  Mariano is first-class. There’s a reason why the Yankees have won as much as they have and been so successful. It’s because of the way they carry themselves, the way they prepare. He’s a Hall of Fame player and person.

  The All-Star Game was awesome. I’ll never forget that. I was just standing right there watching. That’s one of the coolest things I’ve seen playing baseball in my life. It looked like he was kind of uncomfortable but it was pretty cool. I had goose bumps the whole time. I’m sure a lot of people did.

  Dustin Pedroia

  Year Date Result

  2007 4/27 Walk

  5/23 Strikeout (Looking)

  8/29 Ground out

  9/16 Walk

  2008 7/6 Strikeout (Swinging)

  7/25 Ground out

  9/28 Strikeout (Swinging)

  2009 4/24 Strikeout (Looking)

  9/26 Strikeout (Swinging)

  2010 4/6 Fly out

  4/7 Ground out

  5/18 Fielder’s choice

  2011 8/7 Sacrifice fly (1 RBI)

  2013 4/4 Walk

  5/31 Single

  8/18 Ground out

  The next inning, he’s was just standing there on the rail and I was right there, and he said, “That was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen,” and I was like, “Coolest thing you’ve seen?” Just getting a chance to talk to him for a little while is awesome. He said, “Enjoy it. It goes by fast.” He’s a first-class guy.

  He deserves everything. What he’s done over the course of his career is pretty special.

  Mark Reynolds

  Third base and First base

  Playing Career

  Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, and New York Yankees since 2007

  Career Statistics

  988 games, 797 hits, 202 home runs, 568 runs batted in, .233 batting average, .329 on-base percentage, .464 slugging percentage

  Mark Reynolds facing Mariano Rivera (regular season)

  1-for-8, 0 extra-base hits, 5 strikeouts, .125 batting average, .125 on-base percentage, .125 slugging percentage

  Mo Cred

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

  Mark Reynolds

  Year Date Result

  2007 6/12 Strikeout (Swinging)

  2010 6/23 Strikeout (Swinging)

  2011 4/24 Strikeout (Looking)

  7/31 Fly out

  8/29 Strikeout (Swinging)

  9/5 Single

  2012 4/11 Ground out

  2013 6/4 Strikeout (Swinging)

  SURE, I REMEMBER the first time facing Mariano. It was my rookie year. I’m 23 years old. I go up there and I’m [thinking], I’m going to sit on a cutter away and see what happens.

  So I get up on the plate, he throws me a front-door cutter, and I jump out of the way, but it’s called a strike. Then I back off the plate, and I guess he notices it, because he throws me a cutter away, another called strike. Now I’m just like, “Aw, crap.” And then he throws another cutter away and I swing and miss.*

  I was like, Well, I guess I’m in the big leagues. This guy’s pretty good.

  Kevin Seitzer

  Third base

  Playing Career

  Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, and
Cleveland Indians from 1986 to 1997

  Career Statistics

  1,439 games, 1,557 hits, 74 home runs, 613 runs batted in, .295 batting average, .375 on-base percentage, .404 slugging percentage

  Kevin Seitzer facing Mariano Rivera (regular season)

  3-for-6, 0 extra-base hits, 1 run batted in, 2 strikeouts, .500 batting average, .429 on-base percentage, .500 slugging percentage

  Mo Cred

  Seitzer, who led the American League with 207 hits as a rookie in 1987, witnessed Sandy Alomar Jr.’s famous home run in the 1997 postseason.

  Kevin Seitzer

  Year Date Result

  1995 8/1 Foul out

  9/26 Single

  1996 4/17 Single

  7/4 Strikeout (Looking)

  7/20 Single

  1997 6/27 Strikeout (Looking)

  6/29 Sacrifice fly (1 RBI)

  MY LAST SEASON in the big leagues was in 1997 with Cleveland. I was in the dugout when Sandy Alomar Jr. hit that clutch home run off Mariano. Our bench erupted. Obviously, we were ecstatic. That would be a normal reaction no matter who’s pitching. Whether it’s Mariano or Joe Nobody on the mound, a hit that big, in that situation, in such a big game, is definitely pretty cool.

  You have to keep everything in perspective. Mariano wasn’t yet the dominant force he’d become; he was just getting himself established as a closer. Still, I’m sure Sandy feels pretty good about himself. For me, it was just as big a deal then as it is now, not because of who Mariano became, but because of the timing of when the home run happened, in a really big game, in an important spot.*

  When I first faced Mariano Rivera [in 1995] he threw a four-seam fastball. The ball had good life, with a little skip to it, but it wasn’t a big deal because you saw the ball real good out of his hand. Then, the next year, all of a sudden, he’s got the cutter. I remember facing him for the first time when he threw the cutter, and I said to myself, “Oh crap.”

  You need intense mental training to hit the cutter because you have to trick your brain. Your eyes see the ball at a certain spot, and that’s the spot you swing at, but the ball is not there by the time contact happens. You have to tell yourself, See it here, but hit it there. Mariano’s command of the cutter was excellent. He could put the ball wherever he wanted; that’s what makes the pitch such a good weapon for him. He basically can make the plate feel like it’s three feet wide—and no batter can cover that much distance.