From his mechanics to his mental approach, Rivera was always nearly flawless on the mound.
From mechanics to mental toughness, Rivera seemed flawless on mound
In the moment, you never realize what you are seeing. Maybe towards the end of Mariano Rivera’s dominant, 19year career in the big leagues, you got an idea that this was generational greatness; a once-in-a-lifetime talent. Now, five years later, with Rivera heading into the Hall of Fame as the first player ever to receive a unanimous nod into Cooperstown, it is hard to imagine anyone ever measuring up to him.
“That’s hard to say. Did we say we’d see another Tiger Woods or another Babe Ruth, or another Mickey Mantle,” said former Yankee Lou Pinella, who managed against Rivera’s Yankees. “You always see them somewhere down the line, but this is going to be hard
to duplicate.”
The generational talent and the state of the game during his era seemingly will make it very hard to replicate his success. The special combination of freak natural ability — Rivera’s fingers were so flexible he could famously bend them back to touch the back of his wrist — with preternatural calmness made him perfect for the role of closer on the last team that could be called a dynasty.
“Longevity is so suspect in that type of job,” former Yankees manager Joe Torre said last year, “because not only the physical part of it, but the emotional part of being in that situation all the time and being able to turn the page if it doesn’t work.”
With advanced analytics and the changes in philosophy of how high-leverage relievers are used, it makes it almost impossible to imagine that any pitcher will be able to rack up the numbers Rivera did.
“He was incredible. With one pitch, his ability to control and command that pitch, he was special,” said former Orioles closer and current Yankee setup man Zack Britton, who won the 2016 award named after Rivera as the reliever of the year. “He probably wouldn’t be used in the same way these days. There’s more high-leverage guys and he would probably have fewer chances.”
And, of course, there has not been another dynasty in baseball like the teams Rivera played for. He’d never get the chance to build his postseason legacy in this day and age, Torre said.
“I don’t think so. I think it’s really tough to do what he did, especially (with) as many postseason opportunities as he had,” Torre said last year. “I don’t think anybody will get as many postseason opportunities.”
Signed out of his native Panama in 1990 for just $3,500, Rivera arrived in the big leagues five years later. His career as a starter lasted just 10 games, but he blossomed as a reliever in the Yankees’ run to the World Series in 1996. The next year he discovered how to cut his fastball and control it perfectly, took over the closer role and never gave it up until he retired after the 2013 season.
In that time, Rivera compiled a gaudy 652 saves, baseball’s all-time record, and finished a major league best 952 games. Trevor Hoffman (601) is the only other player to even cross the 500-save mark. Rivera made 1,115 total appearances, fourth all-time but the most in American League history. He finished with a 2.21 earned run average, 11th overall in baseball history.
His legacy, however, was really written in the postseason. He’s pitched in the most postseason games — 96 (former teammate Jeff Nelson is second with 55) — and his 42 postseason saves are the most in baseball history (Brad Lidge is second with 18). He has the lowest ERA in the postseason — 0.70 — with a minimum 30 innings pitched. In 141 postseason innings pitched, he allowed just 11 earned runs. In 16 postseasons, he was charged with multiple runs in just two of them — 2000 and 2001.
Rivera led the American
League in saves three times (1999, 2001 and 2004) and had 15 seasons with at least 30 saves, nine of at least 40 saves and two of at least 50.
He was a 13-time AllStar, a six-time AL Reliever of the Year (an award which is now named after him), a five-time Rolaids Relief Award winner. He was the 1999 World Series MVP and 2003 AL Championship Series MVP. He was the 2013 All-Star Game MVP and the 2013 AL Comeback Player of the year.
Looking back at what his predecessor accomplished, current Yankee closer Aroldis Chapman is just amazed with the quantity and quality of the work.
“That he was able to stay healthy and stay there and help his team for so long is what is impressive to me,” Chapman said through an interpreter. “His consistency over such a long time is impressive too.”
For those who knew him best, the guys who watched him work every day up close during his prime, it was simple to see why Rivera was so healthy and consistently dominant.
“He had flawless mechanics. This guy was so smooth. One of the best athletes in baseball, I think,” Nelson said. “We used to go out and practice shagging flies. I hated to run, but I ran during batting practice, and the control center and right center, he was probably our best outfielder if they’d ever put him out there. You could see him bounce off the mound.
“An incredible athlete and every single part of his mechanics was repeated perfectly,” Nelson continued. “It’s almost like he never got out of sync. And obviously he threw just one pitch and it was amazing.”
But it wasn’t just the freak natural talent to throw the cutter. It was his ability to mentally overcome setbacks that made him special, Nelson said.
“He was the perfect example of having a short memory. Nothing ever bothered him. That was something as a reliever we all needed, we still need today,” Nelson said. “He was a guy that if he blew a game, which was very rare, if he ever blew a game, it was quickly forgotten.
“You look at ’97, he gives up the home run to (Sandy Alomar Jr. in the ALCS that cost the Yankees the series) and comes back in ’98 and he was unbelievable. Same in 2001. Nothing ever bothered him. Other closers it would get under his skin and they would never be the same.
“With him, nothing ever bothered him. You never knew if he had a great game or a bad game. Nothing ever bothered him.”