Mariano Rivera

[st.cronin]

Sucks.

[bosshogg23]

Ugetha Urbina is available :)

[ISiddiqui]

Are the Red Sox now Rivera's Daddy? ;)

[dacman]

Who's your daddy!!!!

[SirFozzie]

Nice to see A-Fraud's error opened it up for us :D

It's the first three games of the season I know, but it was intensely frustrating to see the Sox had 11 hits, the Yanks 3, and we were TIED... Bleah. Especially since five or six of us had MLB Gameday on our monitors :D

4 blown saves for Rivera in a row.
(pause)
Dayumn.

DAMN!!!!

[st.cronin]

I'd like nothing more than for Rivera to suddenly turn into Ron Davis (Minnesota portion of career).

[dacman]

Best 2 closers in baseball right now --

Many dumbasses (especially the media type) think: 1) Gagne 2) Rivera

The REAL answer: 1) Lidge 2) K-Rod

[Arles]

If healthy, I don't see how you can't include Gagne. But, man, did K-Rod look filthy last night.

[ISiddiqui]

If healthy, I don't see how you can't include Gagne. But, man, did K-Rod look filthy last night.
I agree... he may be hurt, but Gagne is DEFINETLY up there. I'd have to put him as my #1. K-Rod looked good, but lets see how he does the whole year. Lidge is definetly up there as well.

[Desnudo]

Foulke doesn't throw that hard, but he's one of the best.

[Maple Leafs]

So, the series is over now, right? I can start going to sports web sites again?

[SirFozzie]

Till they play the Sox Home Opener on the weekend :D

[JeeberD]

Best 2 closers in baseball right now --

Many dumbasses (especially the media type) think: 1) Gagne 2) Rivera

The REAL answer: 1) Lidge 2) K-Rod

I heart you... :)

[st.cronin]

Just posted by Bill Simmons (not really funny, but real mean):

By BILL SIMMONS

THE BRONX (April 6) -- Major league baseball on Wednesday set April 8 as the date for the historic start of the conclave to elect a successor to Mariano Rivera, as the Yankees made final arrangements for the funeral of a great career that is expected to draw millions of Yankee fans and world leaders to the Bronx.

The decision came after the future Hall of Famer blew his second save in as many days against the team's biggest rival, the World Champion Red Sox, giving up five runs in the ninth, getting battered like a rented mule and ignomiously getting removed from the game in the middle of the inning, the fourth consecutive time he has blown a save to the Red Sox dating back to the 2004 ALCS. Fans at Yankee Stadium even booed the great closer on his way back to the dugout, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that Yankee fans are headed to hell.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman said the Yankees would celebrate a morning Mass on April 8, then be sequestered in the team offices in the early afternoon to start the decision process for the next closer. Candidates include Oakland's Octavio Dotel, Detroit's Ugueth Urbina, current set-up man Flash Gordon, Rick Ankiel and Charlie Sheen. The Yankees will continue to use Rivera from the bullpen, but only in blowouts and games where the lead or deficit is 6 runs or more.

If none of the candidates gets the required two-thirds majority after about 12 days, the Yankee braintrust may change procedure and elect the closer by simple majority. The date was set on the third hour of preparatory meetings of Yankee front office people who have converged on the Bronx ahead of Friday's funeral and burial of Rivera's career.

Fans continued to flock to Yankee Stadium after Wednesday's game, jamming up streets as they waited to pay their final respects to Rivera, who has been lying in state of shock since the Red Sox hammered him off the field for the second straight day. More than 200,000 Yankee fans will have filed solemnly by the pinstriped body by the end of Wednesday night, at a rate of about 15,000-18,000 people an hour in a nearly around-the-clock procession, according to calculations by the Yankee front office.

[Ksyrup]

Man, I wonder how snooty he would have been had they actually won more than 1 game of this series...

[SirFozzie]

By the way, I think there's too much mocking of Rivera and not enough mocking of A-Fraud :D

[st.cronin]

By the way, I think there's too much mocking of Rivera and not enough mocking of A-Fraud :D

I vehemently disagree. A-Rod has never done anything to hurt the Red Sox, whereas Rivera has. (See 2003 ALCS.)

Rivera was the key player on the latest Yankee dynasty. He was invincible. His failures are cause for great rejoicing.

[Desnudo]

But Rivera is class while A-Rod is, well, not.

[Ksyrup]

But Rivera is class while A-Rod is, well, not.
And it's not very likely that he's completely through, meaning those comments from Simmons have a chance to bite him in the ass by the end of this year. If all this happened last year, and Simmons wanted to make fun of Rivera, fine, 2004 is 2004 and when the Sox won, they had the last laugh. But now, we're in 2005, and if Rivera exacts revenge at the end of the year, there's no stammering, "but..but...but...we won it all last year!" That's was last year.

Sheesh, Simmons, haven't you learned a thing from the Patriots?!?! Even Theo is spouting the Belicheck mantra.

[st.cronin]

But Rivera is class while A-Rod is, well, not.

That is a good point.

[Bomber]

A-Rod really took the blame after the game. From the sounds of it he was just sitting at his locker repeating I blew it for him. Basically, Mo didn't have his best control today (plus the ump was calling a terrible game all day). He's getting older, so a decline is to be expected, but I think he'll be fine.

[Schmidty]

I hate the Yankees (and the Sox), but Bill Simmons is the biggest fucking jackass in the universe. He knows nothing about sports (outside of New England), thinks he's a comic-genius (which is nauseating), and buys into his own hype (which is the worst thing a writer can do, imo). I just generally despise the guy. I had nothing against the Sox or Patriots.....until I read Simmons a few times. That's when I realized how hideously over-rated and irritating the city of Boston and their fans are.

I mean, of course I hate New York, but I hate them in a more faceless, emotionless, juggernaught way. I dislike them in the same way that I dislike Sean Penn. I know that makes no sense, but it does to me. I hate Boston in a different way. I hate them in the same way I hate Julia Roberts and Halle Berry. I don't know how else to explain that either. Just think Academy awards.

Well, that was inarticulate. Oh well.

[Fouts]

That's alot of hate.

[Desnudo]

Thanks for sharing.

[Schmidty]

I used the word "hate" a lot. I guess it's a kinder, gentler hate than the hate I feel for the fact that I have to go pick up dog-crap in th back yard when my wife gets home from work.

[ISiddiqui]

Don't deny your hate, young padawan.

[rkmsuf]

If anyone is to mock it's Kevin Millar. How the f*ck do you get a cramp in baseball. Guy runs what for 5 seconds a game.

[Anthony]

I hate the Yankees (and the Sox), but Bill Simmons is the biggest fucking jackass in the universe. He knows nothing about sports (outside of New England), thinks he's a comic-genius (which is nauseating), and buys into his own hype (which is the worst thing a writer can do, imo). I just generally despise the guy. I had nothing against the Sox or Patriots.....until I read Simmons a few times. That's when I realized how hideously over-rated and irritating the city of Boston and their fans are.

I mean, of course I hate New York, but I hate them in a more faceless, emotionless, juggernaught way. I dislike them in the same way that I dislike Sean Penn. I know that makes no sense, but it does to me. I hate Boston in a different way. I hate them in the same way I hate Julia Roberts and Halle Berry. I don't know how else to explain that either. Just think Academy awards.

Well, that was inarticulate. Oh well.

i've stopped reading Simmons a while ago. not cause of the sports stuff, but cause i don't like people who are fake. he wants you to believe that he has this wealth of knowledge of all things pop culture.

yeah right, like he's not up at night surfing the net looking for the most obscure movie reference to insert into his columns, then try to pass it off like it was stream of consciousness. he's lame. i hate to break it to him, but anyone who knows so much about complete nonsense and can remember every scene in every movie is either a farce or is one of the biggest nerds of the post-Industrial Age. he can't have it both ways. can't be "hey, look at me, i remember [insert B level actor's name here] was in [insert obscure movie title here], i'm so cool."

he's a farce.

[st.cronin]

I've always suspected that if Rivera lost just a couple inches off his fastball, that he would start getting blasted like a Taliban training camp. He only has the one pitch, plus location, but he doesn't miss a lot of bats. He's been great, but I think he's on a slim margin.

[SirFozzie]

Damn... CHEAP shot from today's Daily Quickie.

If I may be so bold as to steal a (purported) quote from WWII, I'd think Admiral Yamamoto's words are ringing through my head.

"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."

http://espn.go.com/i/page2/quickie/050407_quickie.jpg

[Galaril]

That's when I realized how hideously over-rated and irritating the city of Boston and their fans are.

I mean, of course I hate New York, but I hate them in a more faceless, emotionless, juggernaught way. I dislike them in the same way that I dislike Sean Penn. I know that makes no sense, but it does to me. I hate Boston in a different way. I hate them in the same way I hate Julia Roberts and Halle Berry. I don't know how else to explain that either. Just think Academy awards.

Well, that was inarticulate. Oh well.

Hey Schmidty I don't care for Simmons homerism either but I got a couple of questions for you. Have you ever been to Boston? Haveyou ever lived in Massachusetts area? Have you ever known any one personally from Boston? If not you shouldn't IMHO, judge everyone like 5 million people jsut because of a couple of "jackasses".

[Desnudo]

Don't deny your hate, young padawan.

I think he gave into the anger and hate a long time ago. Now he's suffering in Bellingham, WA.

[Maple Leafs]

I've always suspected that if Rivera lost just a couple inches off his fastballThat would be pretty cool... if every one of his pitches travelled 60 feet, 4 inches and then just hovered there. It would be like t-ball.

[Bo Jackson's Hip]

Who is K-Rod?

[st.cronin]

Who is K-Rod?

Anaheim reliever. Throws an insane slider.

[Desnudo]

I think he needs to pitch better in the playoffs before he gets ranked up there as the top reliever.

[ISiddiqui]

Who is K-Rod?
To add to what has been said already, his real name is Francisco Rodriguez. He had a lot of strikeouts in the Angels 2002 run to the World Series, and got the silly ass nickname.

Should have been F-Rod. What about if another reliever who throws a lot of strikeouts with the last name as Rodriguez comes up?

[Anthony]

KKK-Rod?

[vtbub]

Honestly, after all Mo has done for the Yankees, the fact he was booed is beyond reality. Doesn't anyone in New York remember that he was hurt this spring, AND that had A-Rod fielded that ground ball that it would have been a forgotten bump.

[nfg22]

I think you guys need to recognize Joe Nathan as one of the best closers, sure it was only one year but 29 straight and 46 outa 49 or sumthing like that...he was insane for a while...

[Schmidty]

I think you guys need to recognize Joe Nathan as one of the best closers, sure it was only one year but 29 straight and 46 outa 49 or sumthing like that...he was insane for a while...

He had a lot of balls to call the victory over the amazing Colts too.

[nfg22]

Im confused....