The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

As seems to be all too common, the media has blown Mariano Rivera's recent struggles out-of-proportion. The long-time New York Yankees closer has blown his past three save opportunities - the first time that's occurred in his Hall-of-Fame career. What has happened as a result of that? ESPN analysts wondering aloud if Rivera is losing "it." Let's get something straight here - while Rivera has struggled in his past three outings, even with those struggles, he has a very solid ERA of 2.44. Rivera is now 3-2 on the year, with 35 saves (5 blown), 41 strikeouts and 8 walks in 44.1 innings pitched. This is Rivera's 19th year with the Yankees. To this point, he's saved 643 games for the club, struck out 1,160 batters, while walking just 285 in 1,264.0 innings. He also has a career ERA of 2.22 and a WHIP of 1.00. Those are just Rivera's regular season stats. His post-season statistics are even more impressive. He's 8-1 in post-season play, with 42 sav...

As much as I hate to say it, since I despise the New York Yankees, I've really been saddened to see future Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera and now Derek Jeter go down with injuries this year. Hate the Yankees as much as you'd like, these two guys have been two of the greatest for a number of years, have been extremely loyal to their club throughout their lengthy careers and have been stand-up citizens off the field as well. Just as I would have hated to have seen Atlanta Braves future Hall of Famer third baseman Chipper Jones retire after his injury-filled season a year ago, I'd hate for Rivera and Jeter to retire in such a fashion. I hope the two can come back for one more healthy season and be able to leave the game in a much better manner than if they were to retire after this season. I wish them both a very speedy recovery and if either should decide to retire after this season, as a fan of baseball, all I can say is that it's been a genuine pleasure watching them.