The post I never thought I’d have to write

3 Responses to The post I never thought I’d have to write

1. Professor Longnose says:

   May 4, 2012 at 10:11 am

   Shed a tear.

   It feels so wrong.

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2. Duh Innings says:

   May 4, 2012 at 10:18 am

   Matt don’t be so down on yourself for what you wrote as you were hardly ushering Mo out the door. It was natural to wonder about the Yanks after Mo retires.

   There are alot of younger Yankee fans out there who know only of 1997 on Yankees, some with vague or hazy memories of 1995-96, so I’m here to tell them all this:

   Steve Farr, closer by committee, and Wetteland.

   Steve Farr was the Yankees closer from 1991 to 1993. He was 2.16 ERA and 1.56 ERA solid in 1991 and 1992 respectively then 4.21 ERA bad in 1993 when the Yanks still managed to win 88 games and have their first winning season in five years. ‘Funny how he was at his best when the Yanks were at their worst and he was his worst when the Yanks were at their best. I think his 1991-92 was especially impressive because the Yanks won only 147 games in those years (71 in 1991 and 76 in 1992), so Farr HAD to be good closing games as the Yanks didn’t have alot of games to close.

   The 1994 Yankees had a closer by committee as follows:

   Steve Howe – 15 saves
   Bob Wickman and Xavier Hernandez – 6 saves apiece
   Sterling Hitchcock and an old, at the end of his career Jeff Reardon – 2 saves apiece

   This team finished first albeit in a strike-shortened season.

   In 1995 the Yankees made the postseason for the first time since 1981 with Mo as a starter / not a reliever and John Wetteland as the closer, while in 1996 the Yankees appeared in their first World Series since 1981 and won their first World Series since 1978 with Wetteland as the closer who closed ALL FOUR World Series wins vs. the Braves for the World Series MVP award. Yes, Mo was the super/uber/monster bridge to “Wette”, but they don’t win it all without Wetteland and his bleached from sweat baseball cap either.

   So, recent history, as late as 1991, shows that the Yanks can win and have varying degrees of success with other closers (strike 1991-92 from this success of course.)

   Personally, I think Robertson could be every bit as good as Wetteland if not better and Soriano has shown he has the stuff to close. I will NOT evoke D-Rob and Sori in the same sentence as Mo save this one. I would be all for Hughes moving to the bullpen to take on the 7th or maybe even 8th inning man role depending on how well Soriano pitches. Hughes may have go there with Pettitte arriving soon and considering Phelps while good so far (even in his first MLB start where he struck out 5 and walked no one but just threw too many pitches) is probably too inexperienced for the 7th inning role. He’s definitely not pitching in the 8th unless the Yanks are trailing, assuming he went back to the bullpen. David Aardsma who costs the Yanks a measly peanuts $500K this year is rehabbing and could join the Yanks as a total low-risk high-reward guy. He has closer experience, too: 38 saves in 2009 and 31 saves in 2010. Yes, I know he didn’t pitch last year, but Bartolo Colon didn’t pitch in 2010 and most of 2009 and look at what he’s done since last year. Aardsma isn’t a kid anymore but he is alot younger than Colon.

   If Mo wants to then can come back I think the best thing for him to do is to come back August 30, 2013 even if he’s ready to join the team earlier, be put on the postseason roster the next day, and pitch as much as he can in September but not too much. I think it’d be great if he had a 10-game season which could serve as a tuneup for him in the 2013 postseason. If he can’t make it to the postseason, the Yanks replace him on the postseason roster and maybe he retires after 2013, throws the first pitch at Yankee Stadium in 2014, and has his number retired August 2015 (20th anniversary of his first year in MLB.)

   Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m glad this happened after he broke the all-time saves record in that it would’ve been even sadder had this happened and he was tied with Trevor Hoffman or worse, a save short of Hoffman. If Mo retires after this horrific event, at least he retires the all-time saves leader in the regular season and postseason.

   One last thing, to lighten the mood although I’m serious about it:

   Let me be the first one to call for a best closer award called the Mariano Rivera Award after Mo officially retires. They could call it “The Mo” haha.

   GET WELL MO AND HERE’S TO YOU COMING BACK NO LATER THAN 8/30/13 AND COMING BACK PERIOD EVEN IF IT’S JUST FOR ONE LAST INNING!!!

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3. Phil C says:

   May 4, 2012 at 10:57 am

   Thanks Matt for accepting the blame. (tongue-in-check) What a series of weird injuries this year — Robertson trips on a stair!? Joba on a trampoline !? Mo shagging flies!? Anyone out there an actuary and can give us the odds on those instances?

   Best of luck to Mo!

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