Mariano Rivera (born November 29, 1969 in Panama City, Panama), nicknamed Mo, is a relief pitcher for the New York Yankees. He is frequently referred to as the "greatest pitcher in postseason history" and is arguably the best reliever of all-time.
His rookie year in the Major Leagues was 1995, a year in which he made a limited number of appearances. Originally a starter, Rivera did not exactly impress in his 10 starts and spent the year bouncing between the majors and Triple-A. Rivera possessed ordinary stuff, as his fastball topped out around 88 to 90 MPH. Coupled with the fact that we was already 25 years old and was 3 years removed from elbow surgery, the Yankees were looking to trade him and nearly did for Detroit Tigers pitcher David Wells. However, out of nowhere, Rivera began throwing upwards of 95 to 96 MPH in the minors, surprising the Yankees' management and prompting the team to decide to keep him.
In 1996, he served primarily as a set-up man for the closer John Wetteland. During that season, the Yankees finished 70-3 when leading after the 6th inning. Rivera typically would pitch the 7th and 8th innings, before Wetteland pitched in the 9th. Their effectiveness essentially shortened baseball games to 6 innings. Rivera played an important role that year in the Yankees winning their first World Series since 1978. Setting a Yankees' record with strikeouts by a reliever in a season (130), he came in third for the Cy Young Award voting, behind twenty-game winners Pat Hentgen and teammate Andy Pettitte, respectively.
When Wetteland left the team following that season, Rivera became the Yankees' closer. It would not be a seamless transition from setup man to closer, as he blew 3 of his first 5 save opportunities, but he rebounded to have a strong season. It would not end well, however, as Rivera, two outs from advancing to the American League Championship Series, blew a save in Game 4 of the American League Division Series by giving up a homerun to Sandy Alomar, Jr that tied the game. The Yankees would lose the next game and be eliminated from the playoffs. It would turn out to be one of the last times anyone got the best of Rivera in the postseason again.
In the following seasons, Rivera would become one of the league's best closers. He has been one of the most consistent, dominating, and dependable relief pitchers in the Major Leagues during his tenure as a closer for the Yankees. As a reliever, Rivera has always finished the regular season with a sub-3.00 ERA. Only once in his career has he failed to pitch at least 60 innings in a season. He has been especially overpowering in the postseason, in which his lifetime ERA of 0.81 is the Major League record. Rivera's postseason dominance played a critical role in the Yankees' four championships in the late 1990s. From 1998 to 2001, Rivera converted 23 consecutive postseason saves and pitched 34 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings in the postseason, both Major League records.
However, Rivera's most infamous moment came in the postseason in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, when he blew a save in the bottom of the 9th inning, despite striking out the side the previous inning. A lesser man would have been affected by the failure, but Rivera perservered, putting the disappointment of the 2001 World Series behind him, and continued to be one of the game's best relievers. In 2003, he would have arguably his best postseason performance ever, when he pitched 3 shutout innings in a Game 7 victory over the powerful Boston Red Sox in the ALCS. His gutsy performance won him the ALCS MVP Award.
In 2005, Rivera had perhaps the greatest year of his career. Despite blowing his first two saves of the season against the rival Red Sox, he managed to convert 31 consecutive save opportunities, a career record that spanned 4 months. He added a save in the 2005 All-Star Game in Detroit. He had 43 saves overall in 47 opportunities, a 1.38 ERA (a career low), a 0.87 WHIP (a career low), an opponents batting average of .177 (the 2nd best mark of his career), a strikeout-to-walk of 4.44, and a K/9 of 9.19 (the best of his career since 1996). He finished second in the race for the Cy Young Award to Bartolo Colon and ninth in the Most Valuable Player Voting in the American League.
Rivera has won the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award four times, in 1999, 2001, 2004 and 2005. He donated his 2001 trophy to the New York City Fire Department, and the trophy is on permanent display at the FDNY's Brooklyn headquarters. He won the World Series MVP Award in 1999, when the Yankees swept the Atlanta Braves in four games and Rivera earned two saves. He has also won MLB.com's Closer of the Year Award in 2004 and 2005, and the DHL Delivery Man of the Year Award in 2005.
Rivera's signature pitch is his cut fastball, or cutter, which he mixes with both a four-seam and two-seam fastball. The cutter has drawn comparison to a mid-90s breaking ball that breaks down and in to a left-handed batter and down and away to a right-hander. Rivera's cutter has been called one of the best pitches in baseball history, a 95 mile-per-hour fastball that breaks at the last second. Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves once compared Rivera's cutter to a buzzsaw, due to its tendency of shattering the bats of opposing left-handed hitters. Despite the fact that batters know the cutter is coming, they have not yet been able to figure the pitch out, which makes Rivera's dominance that much more impressive. Rivera usually starts a count off with the cutter and usually finishes a batter off by elevating the 4 seam fastball, or by backdooring (pitching on the outside corner of the plate) the cutter for a called strike 3.
As Rivera enters a game in Yankee Stadium, the song "Enter Sandman" by Metallica is played on the loudspeaker system.
His uniform number is 42, which has been retired by all Major League Baseball teams since 1997 in honor of Jackie Robinson. However, Rivera is permitted to use the number due to a grandfather clause, and he is the last active Major League player to wear the number.
Some of Rivera's accomplishments include:
Lowest postseason ERA of all-time (0.81) (as of 2005)
Most postseason saves of all-time (34) (as of 2005)
Lowest career ERA of closers in top 50 of career saves (2.35) (as of 2005)
Second-best save conversion percentage of closers with at least 150 saves (87.9%) (as of 2005)
Only 2nd closer in history to record 40 saves in 6 different seasons
5th all-time in career saves (379), 2nd all-time among active pitchers (as of 2005)
Only 3rd pitcher in history to notch 300 saves with one team
One of only 8 pitchers to record at least 50 saves in a season
One of only 6 pitchers to record at least 53 saves in a season
Holds record for 34 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings pitched in postseason
Recorded 12 2-inning saves in the postseason, twice as many as the next player on the list (as of 2005)
Most saves in World Series play (9)
Only reliever to win ALCS MVP (2003) and World Series MVP (1999) awards
Most seasons with 20-plus saves and sub-2.00 ERA (6)
7-time All-Star
4-time World Series champion
Most strikeouts by a Yankee reliever in single season (130)
Yankees' all-time leader in saves and appearances
Named the relief pitcher on Major League Baseball's Latino Legends Team
Finished 3rd in voting for American League Cy Young Award in 1996, 1999, 2004; finished 2nd in 2005
Only 2nd pitcher since 1997 to finish in top 10 in voting for American League Most Valuable Player Award (2004, 2005- 9th place)
See also
List of players from Panama in Major League Baseball
