Pain Subsides When Rivera Is In the Game

"The Yankees finished their regular-season series against Detroit with five victories in seven games, losing only on June 1 and in the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader.

Both times, Rivera was being rested. That points to his obvious importance. Other Yankees contributed offensively, including Derek Jeter, who reached base four times, and Bobby Abreu, who had a double and a two-run single.

But mostly, the Yankees won because of Johnson — and Rivera, the sore-armed savior who finished up."

from Tyler Kepner's NY Times article, 8/31/06

• The "elephant in the living room" is the AL MVP, Mariano Rivera. Kepner inserts an oblique reference to this idea from time to time, but in a way that won't ruffle feathers of the baseball media mafia. There's plenty of money in keeping Rivera from the recognition he deserves, but no money at all in telling the truth about him.
• Therefore, the only people willing to tell the truth about Mariano are those without aspirations at ESPN or of being a BBWAA voter-- which ain't many.

And these liars will tell you how "rested" Mariano is. THEY DON'T TELL YOU HE LEADS THE MAJORS IN IP AMONG LATE INNING RELIEVERS, GF, ETC. There's no money in it, folks!

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