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Great MOments in Yankee History: A Mariano Rivera Career Retrospective

Great MOments in Yankee History: A Mariano Rivera Career Retrospective

At the end of this year, the greatest relief pitcher in baseball history and one of the greatest playoff performers of all time in any sport will be hanging up his cleats. Mariano Rivera announced that 2013 will be the final year of his phenomenal career, and we at AFR Sports would like to celebrate The Sandman by reminiscing with “Great MOments in Yankee History.” Whether you bleed pinstripes or live at Fenway, you can appreciate Mo as a professional and person. To kick off the year, let’s talk about his performances on opening day.

Believe it or not, Mariano didn’t get on the mound during an opening day game until 2000, his fifth full season in the majors. The Yankees were leading the Angels 3-1 heading into the ninth, and Mo trotted out to shut the door. After leading off the inning with a strikeout, Mo allowed a single and a walk before recording out number 2 on a fly to right. Mo Vaughn then hit an RBI single, bringing the Angels within 1 run. However, Tim Salmon flied out to end the game, allowing Mo to record his first of 36 saves that year. It was a little bit of a shaky start to that up and down season.

He wound up doing OK that year.

You could say Mariano settled down on opening day for the rest of his career. In 5 appearances, he allowed one man on base, a walk to Raul Ibanez in 2001. His final numbers on opening day:

5.2 innings pitched, 1.58 ERA, 4 Saves, 2 walks, 2 hits, 7 strikeouts, a WHIP of .705 and a 6-0 Yankee record.

Not too shabby. We’ll have to see if he gets in there this year, but if not, his opening day record is sterling already.

That’s all for our first edition of Great MOments in Yankee History. Let us know if you have any MOments you’d like to share.

 

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Steve Caronia is a New York City based physical therapist. He has had the pleasure of watching Mariano Rivera trot out to the mound 5 times in person.

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