The Evolution of the Truth About Mariano Rivera

Baseball writers are people....who have opinions but desperately want us to believe they're objective. This would be fine if everyone had time to check out the facts themselves, but they don't. So, as a public service, I'm going to help them out on the subject they're least clear about---- Mariano Rivera. I'll be doing this on a continuing basis, & was most recently prompted by Gabriel Schechter's article in January of this year entitled, "The Evolution of the Closer." He makes his main comparisons using a large graph that only looks at regular season saves. As often happens, he generally refers to Mariano's post season distinctions within the body of the article, then adds a disclaimer at the end saying there may be relevant information not included. Why does he make this point in fine print at the end? Gabriel highlights a statement under a photograph of Rollie Fingers saying , "MARIANO RIVERA HAS NEVER RECORDED 1 SAVE OF 3 INNINGS OR MORE." WOW!!! What an agenda Gabriel has!

• GABRIEL, MARIANO RIVERA RECORDED 2 WINS OF 3 INNINGS or more IN LATE INNING RELIEF----ONCE IN THE 1995 ALDS AGAINST SEATTLE (3.1 scoreless innings 12th through 15th inning). AND, IN 2003 IN GAME 7 OF THE ALCS, HE PITCHED SCORELESS 9th, 10th, & 11th INNINGS, EARNING THE WIN, WITH THE SEASON ON THE LINE, TAKING HIS TEAM TO THE WORLD SERIES.

So, how valid is Gabriel's big point that he put out on Hall of Fame stationery?

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