Mariano Rivera to Have Surgery

Just before the Thanksgiving holiday...Mariano Rivera disclosed that he might need to have surgery.

But before any of you New York fans get up in arms, the Yankees closer is set to have polyps on his vocal cords removed on Friday.

“I don’t like surgery, but the sooner, the better,” Rivera told reporters gathered at a charity event last week.

Now...if only eBay would revoke their "human remains and body parts policy" the 42-year-old closer, who is set to make just under $15 million next season, could make some money for retirement.

Suffice it to say...this surgery will have zero effect on his pitching and the future Hall of Famer will be fully recovered by the time Spring Training rolls around.

Mariano Rivera Might Need Surgery

Alright, New York Yankees fans...do I have your attention?

According to the New York Daily News, the all-time saves leader will find out next week whether or not he's going to need vocal cord surgery.

“Every time I talk, it gets worse and worse,” the future Hall of Famer said while hosting 42 children and their families for a Thanksgiving meal at his New Rochelle restaurant, 42 Clubhouse Grill. “I thought it was a little simple thing and I went to the doctor and she said they might have to do something. I think they have to scrape them.”

It’s not clear yet if the procedure will affect the closer's preparations for the 2012 season.

Rivera, who turns 42 next week, became baseball's all-time saves leader this past September.  He finished the season with 44 saves in 49 opportunities...making him the first pitcher over the age of 40 to save at least 40 games in a season

***Props to Michael Clair for the tweet.***

Ten Things About Mariano Rivera's 602 Saves

I'll make this short.

With a save in Monday's 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is now the all-time saves leader with 602.

Here are ten things about Rivera's 602 saves.

110
Since Mariano Rivera inherited the New York Yankees closer’s job prior to the 1997 season, there have been 110 saves tallied by other members of the bullpen.  Now, while that sounds like a lot, consider this…Rivera has 597 by comparison.

89.32%

Of the number of Major League records that Mariano Rivera holds…this is one of the more impressive.  Say what you want about the value of saves, but dude has closed out close to 90% of all the save opportunities he’s had.

68

In Mariano Rivera’s time as a member of the Yankees, he’s closed out a number of games for a number of different pitchers.  The pitcher that he’s been paired up with the most on the win/save ledger…Andy Pettitte.  Of Pettitte’s 203 wins in pinstripes, Rivera saved 68 of them.

60

Trivia time!  Two of Mariano Rivera’s record 602 saves have been one pitch saves.  The most pitches he’s thrown to get the save came August 23, 1996 when he threw 60.

51

In May 2010, mariano Rivera tied Eric Gagne for the most consecutive saves at home with 51.  Sure, it isn’t a Major League record, but given the Bombers play in, arguably, the toughest division in baseball…51 straight at The Stadium is impressive.

42

Sure, sure, 602 career saves is great and all…but how many did Mariano Rivera have in the postseason?  Answer.  42…with 11 of them coming in the World Series.

25
We all know Mariano Rivera enters Yankees Stadium to “Enter Sandman”, right?  Sure, that’s been documented plenty.  But did you know that the album the track comes from (“Metallica” by Metallica) is the 25th best-selling album of all-time in America?

12
Due to injury, Mariano Rivera saved a career-worst 28 saves in 2002.  But picking up the slack was Steve Karsay.  Karsay, incidentally, recorded his only saves as a member of the Yankees during the time Rivera was on the shelf.

4
Let’s break this down.  Mariano Rivera now has a record 602 regular season saves, 42 postseason saves and, four All-Star Game saves.  Anyone who says “saves don’t matter” haven’t watched the 648 games that have been watched with Rivera left standing on the mound.

1

And speaking of the “saves don’t matter” crowd…here’s some fuel for their fire.  21 times Mariano Rivera came in to secure the victory by only facing one batter.

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Mariano Saves Number 600

Baseball sure does like its round numbers doesn't it?

On the same night that Boston's Tim Wakefield became the 108th pitcher to win 200 games and Tampa Bay's Johnny Damon became just the ninth member of the 200/400 (home runs/steals) club comes this...New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is now only the second pitcher to reach 600 saves.

"It's a great number," Rivera told reporters following the game. "I'm not a guy who looks for things like that."

The master of the cutter joined fellow future Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman after closing out the Bombers 3-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners Tuesday night

"I don't know if we'll ever see it again. That's how much of an accomplishment this is that he and Trevor Hoffman have done. Simply remarkable," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "This is a guy who I believe is the best closer that's ever been in the game and I've had the fortune of catching him, coaching him and managing him and it's a treat."

Up next for Rivera is Hoffman's all-time record of 601 saves.  After that, when he reaches 602...the saves record will be his for, probably, ever.

But hey, let's not talk just about 600 saves...what else has Rivera done to secure his spot in Cooperstown?

• 12-time All-Star (1997, 1999-2002, 2004-2006 and 2008-2011)
• Five-time World Series champion (1996, 1998-2000 and 2009)
• 1999 World Series MVP Award
• 2003 AL Championship Series MVP Award
• All-time leader in postseason saves with 42
• All-time leader in games finished
• One of two pitchers to record at least 40 saves in eight separate seasons
• One of two pitchers to record at least 50 saves in two separate seasons

I'm going to stop now, because something tells me this post could go on for a while otherwise.

  

It's Jackie Robinson Day, Everybody!

In 1997, Major League Baseball retired Jackie Robinson’s number 42.

Now, I didn’t need to tell any of you that, but did you know that even though teams couldn’t release the number…seven players still wore the number following the league-wide retirement?

Perhaps.

If you’ve ever checked out Craig Robinson’s brilliant website Flip Flop Fly Ball…you’ve no doubt seen his “42” chart. The “infographic” breaks down, by team, the last player to have don the number.

The list is varied and, as you would expect, so are the seven guys who wore the number following the retirement of Jackie Robinson’s iconic 42.

So on this eighth anniversary of “Jackie Robinson Day”…let’s remember the last seven guys to wear 42 in the Majors.

Butch Huskey (1993-2000)
Huskey exploded onto the New York scene in 1996 with the Mets, but never quite lived up to expectations. He was out of baseball before he even turned 30. Thanks to the grandfather clause, Huskey was allowed to wear Number 42 for as long as he wanted…he changed his number to 44 in 1999 while with the Red Sox, but then reverted to 42 with the Twins.

Lenny Webster (1989-2000)
Webster played for five different teams during his 12-year career, but only appeared in more than 100 games in one season…1998 with the Baltimore Orioles. The catcher is the last played to wear Number 42 for the O’s.

Scott Karl (1995-2000)
Primarily a starter throughout his six-year Major League career, Karl is the last player to have worn Number 42 for the Milwaukee Brewers. Most recently, he has been in venture capital.

Mo Vaughn (1991-2003)
Vaughn hit .293 over the span of his 12-year big league career. He hit 328 career home runs, took home the American League MVP in 1995 and has the unique distinction of being the last player to wear Number 42 for three different teams (Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and the, then Anaheim Angels). Currently, “The Hit Dog” is the owner of a trucking company outside of Cleveland.

Michael Jackson (1986-2004)
Journeyman reliever Jackson pitched for eight different teams during his 17-year career. His 1005 games played ranks him 13th all-time among pitchers…three more than Hall of Fame closer Goose Gossage. Jackson is tied with Paul Assenmacher for the most games pitched in the 1990s with 644. He is also the last player to wear Number 42 for the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians.

Jose Lima (1994-2006)
Lima’s personality was much bigger and brighter than his overall game. Sure, he went 21-10 and was an All-Star in 1999, but outside of that…dude was 89-102 with a 5.26 ERA for his career. Sadly, “Lima Time” was cut short when the pitcher dies last May. He was 37-years-old.

Mariano Rivera (1995-Present)
Enter Sandman. Now, if Jackie Robinson is the greatest hitter to have worn Number 42…pitcher Rivera might just be the best player to have worn the number on his back. At 564 career saves, he's 38 saves away from becoming the all-time leader in the category. Can he do it? “Mo” started the season 43 back and that’s a total he's topped six times in his career...so it isn't out of the realm of possibility.

As a sidenote, while baseball has retired Number 42 league-wide for Jackie Robinson…only one team has retired it for someone else.

In 2006, the St. Louis Cardinals retired the number for Hall of Fame closer Bruce Sutter.

Suffice it to say, whenever Rivera decides to hang up the spikes…he’ll have his number retired by the New York Yankees.

You can count on it.

Below is the graph listed above.  Click that sucker to make it bigger!

Mariano Rivera to Stay in New York

If you're a Yankees legend that is about to ink a two-year $30 million deal please step forward.

Not so fast Derek Jeter.

Sure, the Bronx Bombers are rumored to be closing in on a contract compromise with the legendary shortstop, but according to the New York Daily News...stud reliever Mariano Rivera looks to be back into the fold:


The Daily News also went on to report that Rivera had received a three-year deal and more money (believed to be upwards of $17 million per year) from another team.  No word on the team...and it is pretty likely we'll never know.

But who cares..."he wanted to stay loyal to the Yankees," the Daily News source said.

Rivera, who recently celebrated his 41st birthday, had yet another standout season this past year posted a 1.80 ERA and 33 saves in 38 chances.  After 16 pro seasons, the future Hall of Famer ranks second all-time in saves with 559 and carries a lifetime 2.23 ERA...best among all active players.

So, yeah, Enter Sandman...good job, Yankees. 

Now...get your captain back under contract.

According to a source familiar with the negotiations between the Yankees and future Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera, the 41-year-old will sign a two-year deal believed to be worth $30 million by Friday night.

The season that was...June

During batting practice in 1988, Randy Johnson, then with the Montreal Expos, collided head-first with outfielder Tim Raines. Because of Johnson’s height, Raines exclaimed, "you're a big unit!"

Suffice it to say, the nickname stuck.

At 82 inches tall (or 6’10”), “Unit” is the tallest 300 game winner in history. Before he reached the milestone on June 4, Steve Carlton, Roger Clemens and Gaylord Perry shared the distinction at 6’4”.

Another fun fact, since I assume you all know about the Cy Young Awards and strikeout totals, Johnson is one of only two (Jamie Moyer is the other) players born prior to the Kennedy assassination.

Coindentally…the same number of Major Leaguers (two) were born after Johnson made his big league debut September 15, 1988.

Continuing with the trend of sluggers hitting the 300 home run milestone, Johnson’s former teammate Lance Berkman reached the milestone June 13 against Arizona. Berkman ended 2009 with 313 home runs…good for sixth all-time among switch-hitters.

Mickey Mantle leads the pack with 536. The other switch-hitters with 300 or more homers are Eddie Murray (504), Chipper Jones (416), Chili Davis (350) and Reggie Smith (314).

Four nights later, the Astros saw their catcher Ivan Rodriguez squat behind the dish and caught his record-setting 2227th game against the very team that signed him as a 16 year-old back in 1988...the Texas Rangers.

Unfortunately, he had one of his worst nights in memory in front of his old team by going one-for-five, made two throwing errors and saw the Rangers steal three bases.

Yikes.

"I-Rod" is the all-time leader in hits among catchers and sitting at 2618, it remains to be seen if he's got enough in him to be the first to see 3000. As it is...he's also ranked first all-time among catchers in doubles, putouts and with his 13 Gold Gloves and 14 All-Star Games, he's poised to enter Cooperstown as the greatest catcher ever.

A week later…on the same night the "King of Pop" died...Omar Vizquel became the "Venezuelan Hit King".

I know, I know...dumb seque. But the fact remains...with a first inning single, Vizquel surpassed Luis Aparicio on the all-time list with 2678 hits. He closed out the season with 2704.

One of the fun things about previewing milestones at the start of the season was watching them unfold throughout the year.

With a 4-2 victory over the Mets on June 27, Mariano Rivera become only the second member of the 500 save club.

Trevor Hoffman is the all-time leader with 591 saves, so it remains to be seen if Rivera (who ended the season at 526), can actually reach whatever record ends up being set. What is certain is this...it's going to be a long, long time before someone gets near either one of them.

As it stands, the next active reliever is Billy Wagner with 385 and after that...you're looking at Troy Percival with 358. Thing is, Wagner might not hit 386 and Percival might stay stuck at 358 since both have been hampered with injuries and retirement might be on the horizon for both of them.

Who has a chance at joining Hoffman and Rivera in the 500 Club?

Even though he notched a quarter of his career total of 243 saves in one season, Francisco Rodriguez is young enough at 27 to give them a run for their money.

So congrats to Rivera as you continues to secure his spot in Cooperstown, and let's all meet back here in eight years to see where K-Rod is at.

Earlier in the week, we looked at April and May. As you can probably guess…July is next.

"Do you want to hear something sick?"

The summer before I went away to college I went on a date to the local mall.

Romantic, right?

Thing is, I didn't go there because of the old stereotype "girls like to shop"...I went there solely because I needed to replace my worn out cassette (yes, cassette) of Pearl Jam's "Ten" with a new one.

Suffice it to say, my love affair with the Seattle-based rockers has lasted much longer than the result of that afternoon explaining the overlap of Green River, Mother Love Bone and Pearl Jam to a girl I shared space with in Spanish class.

And with their latest release "Backspacer", one can only be reminded of the consistency they've maintained since "Alive" first hit the airwaves in 1991. It is that same sort of consistency that has made Yankees closer Mariano Rivera an obvious shoe-in when his name comes up in Hall of Fame discussions.

Yes, I did just segue from Pearl Jam to Mariano Rivera.

Saturday night, I received the following tweet from Yankees jack of all trades Nick Swisher: "Congrats to Mo. 1000th career strikeout. Wow."

1000 career Ks...I had no clue. Immediately that led me to scrambling. I know Rivera is a stud, but how does he stack up to active counterpart Trevor Hoffman?

How about against Hall of Famers Dennis Eckersley, Goose Gossage, Bruce Sutter or friend of The Hall Rollie Fingers?

Of the six, only Hoffman and Sutter never started a game...Eckersley started 361. "Mo" started ten in his rookie campaign, and both Gossage and Fingers took the mound as the game's starter 37 times.

And, no, "Clerks" fans...not in a row.

I won't compare the save totals between the six since we're talking two VERY different periods of closers, but we can look compare their ERAs out of the bullpen.

Fingers (2.73), Hoffman (2.74), Gossage (2.77), Sutter (2.82) and Eckersley (2.85) are all pretty much cut from the same cloth when it comes to their ERA as a reliever. Rivera blows them all away with a career 2.09 ERA out of the bullpen. Matter of fact, dude even has the lowest career ERA (2.26) among relievers that have pitched at least 1000 innings.

In his saves (all American League leading 522 of them), Rivera's ERA continues to drops even more...to a staggering 0.64. The only member of the Hall of Fame with a better ERA in his saves is Gossage at 0.54.

"Do you want to hear something sick" Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder warbles as "Gonna See My Friend" kicks off their latest offering, so I am inclined to ask the same...do you?

Rivera has managed to save 85% of the games he's come in to close. By comparison...current reliever wunderkind Francisco Rodriguez is only at 77% so far in his young career. Odds are he won't touch Mo's consistency.

And since we're talking consistency (and earlier, strikeouts), the Majors did crown a new strikeout king...its old one.

That's right, Diamondbacks slugger Mark Reynolds struck out three times in a Tuesday night victory against the Giants.

Going into the night, Reynolds had 203 whiffs, one shy of his old record 204. With ten games to go in the season...it'll be interesting to see match his listed playing weight (220 pounds) with Ks.

Enter Sandman...again

Just a month ago, Mariano Rivera was making headlines by becoming only the second player to notch 500 career saves. After saving his league best 30th game on Sunday, Rivera again inched closer to immortality by hitting the mark for the seventh consecutive season

It makes sense that all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman saved 30 or more in eight straight seasons (1995-2002), but how does Rivera's streak compare to the closers in the Hall of Fame?

Of the five relievers in the Hall (Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Bruce Sutter and Hoyt Wilhelm), they COMBINED for 16 seasons (Eckersley had 8...Wilhelm zero) with 30 or more saves. Rivera has 12, whereas Hoffman has 13.

To suggest that Hoffman and Rivera would be the next two closers to be end up in Cooperstown would be an understatement.

As a sidenote, the only other reliever to have as many as seven straight seasons with 30 or more saves...Troy Percival.

Yeah, THAT Troy Percival.

Enter Sandman

One of the fun things about previewing milestones at the start of the season is watching them unfold throughout the year.

With a 4-2 victory over the Mets Sunday night...Mariano Rivera become only the SECOND member of the 500 save club.

"I don't look for records or things like that," Rivera told reporters. "I'm not here for that. I'm here to play baseball and win World Series. If it happens, it happens. But I don't come here to chase records."

Trevor Hoffman is the all-time leader with 571 saves, so it remains to be seen if Rivera can actually reach whatever record ends up being set. What is certain is this...it's going to be a long, long time before someone gets near either one of them.

As it stands, the next active reliever is Billy Wagner with 385 and after that...you're looking at Troy Percival with 358. Thing is, Wagner might not hit 386 and Percival might stay stuck at 358 since both have been hampered with injuries.

Who has a chance at joining Hoffman and Rivera in the 500 Club?

Even though he notched a quarter of his career total of 228 saves in one season, Francisco Rodriguez is young enough at 27 to give them a run for their money.

So congrats to Rivera as you continues to secure his spot in Cooperstown, and let's all meet back here in eight years to see where K-Rod is at.

Ten Milestones to Watch for This Season

Welcome to Opening Day!

Every season begins with a number of milestones on the horizon (and if you followed the divisional breakdown the last few weeks...you know them), and 2009 is no different. Gone are history-makers like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Greg Maddux.

So, before the Bronx Bombers open the doors to their newest version of Yankee Stadium, let's look at ten milestones to watch for during the upcoming baseball season.

And because of injury, you'll notice that I conveniently ignored Alex Rodriguez. I harbor no ill will toward the man.

Maybe.

Ron Villone, TBD

Ron Villone, who changes uniforms so fast, team photographers can't keep up with him, will inevitably suit up for his major league record-tying twelfth team. When he takes the bump next, he'll tie pitcher Mike Morgan on the all-time list. Close on their heels? Matt Stairs. Stairs is currently with Philadelphia, his eleventh team.

Adam Dunn, Washington Nationals

The Nationals enter their fifth season since re-locating from Montreal with little to no fanfare. For the four Adam Dunn fans out there, you’ll be glad to know that he’s 22 homers away from 300 for his career, and if he gets to 40 this season, he’ll have done so for six straight seasons. Only Babe Ruth did it more consistently when he hit 40 out in a record seven straight seasons.

Joe Torre, Los Angeles Dodgers

Aside from Manny Ramirez (more on him later), the Dodgers do have some milestones to watch out for. Off the field...or more specifically, in the dugout, manager Joe Torre is 44 wins away from leap-frogging Sparky Anderson (2194) and Bucky Harris (2157) and moving into fifth place on the all-time list.

Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals

When 2008 came to a close, Albert Pujols became the only player in major league history to hit at least .300, with 30 or more home runs and at least 100 RBI in each of his first eight seasons. The only other players to accomplish the 100 RBI feat were Al Simmons, who did it in eleven straight, and Ted Williams, who stalled after eight. All in all, “Prince Albert” is 31 home runs away from 350, 23 RBI from 1000 and 53 runs from 1000.

And oh yeah, he just turned 29.

Greg Maddux/Fergie Jenkins, Chicago Cubs

While not exactly a milestone, the Cubs are doing something pretty cool and pretty monumental on May 3. Before the “North Siders” take the field against the Florida Marlins, they’ll retire number 31 for Fergie Jenkins and Greg Maddux. Each hurler won a Cy Young Award and combined for 300 victories while wearing the pinstriped 31.

Carlos Delgado, New York Mets

Raise your hand if you ever thought Carlos Delgado was going to be a member of the 500 home run club. No one? After Gary Sheffield hits number 500, which should have come in the first week of the season...Delgado is up next. The slugger has 469 home runs and should, barring injury, close out the Mets’ first season at Citi Field with a milestone.

Manny Ramirez, Los Angeles Dodgers

Last year, Ramirez came into the season needing 10 home runs to get to 500. This season, Manny comes in with 527 and looks to pass up Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, and Reggie Jackson on the all-time list. Factor in his 2,392 hits and, by season’s end, you’ll be looking at just the sixth player to have more than 2,500 hits, 500 doubles, 550 home runs and 1800 RBI. The others: Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds, Willie Mays, Rafael Palmeiro, Frank Robinson, and Babe Ruth.

Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees

Mariano Rivera is 18 saves away from joining Trevor Hoffman as the only two closers with 500 saves. Next on the active list is Billy Wagner with 385. Savor save number 500, baseball fans. It’ll be awhile until we see it again. Saves are tricky to predict because it’s all dependent on how the Yankees fair this season. If you’re curious, Rivera has claimed his 18th save as early as May 29 (in 2004) and as late as August 6 (in 2007).

Gary Sheffield, New York Mets

A major leaguer at 18, Sheffield got off to a quick start by getting his first hit and first home run in the same swing. Now, 498 home runs later, Sheffield is on the cusp of becoming the 25th player to hit 500 long balls. Also worth mentioning, Sheffield comes into 2009 with 1633 RBI. Everyone who is Hall eligible and has more RBI than “Sheff” is enshrined in Cooperstown.

Randy Johnson, San Francisco Giants

Not since Bonds was knocking on the door of every home run milestone have the Giants had a milestone (or two) to watch for. Randy Johnson brought with him to the Bay a number of things worth noting. First and foremost, “The Big Unit” is five victories away from 300 wins. Only 24 pitchers have accomplished the feat. The closest active pitchers include Jamie Moyer (246), Kenny Rogers (219) and Andy Pettite (215).

And while he hasn’t hit 200 or more strikeouts since 2005, it’s worth mentioning that Johnson is 211 Ks away from becoming the second player to strike out 5000 batters. He won’t touch Nolan Ryan’s record at 5714, but burying his closest active competition in Pedro Martinez (3117) and John Smoltz (3011) has to be a little gratifying.

Also within reach for “Unit,” he is 15 hit-batsmen away from surpassing all-time leader Walter Johnson. He probably won’t get there (he has only 10 in the last two seasons), but passing up Eddie Plank (196) is a possibility. Something tells me that, deep down, Johnson wishes that hit-by-pitch magnet and former teammate Craig Biggio (who, ironically, “Unit” NEVER hit in 16 plate appearances) was still out there swinging a bat.