OT / Bronx Mo happiness

[Bronxjeff]

Yankees' Mariano Rivera 1st Player Unanimously Voted into Baseball Hall of Fame

 

[Lynx23]

A great ballplayer, but a man of solid character as well. Never spoke ill of anybody, and you never heard anyone speak ill of him. A great ambassador for the game of baseball, and sports(manship) in general.

 

[j66kicker]

Awesome! First ever unanimous HOF selection. Mr. Post-season:

- 42 Post-season saves
- Post-season ERA 0.70 (that's not a typo - gave up only 11 earned runs in 141 post-season innings)
- 110 Strikeouts and only 21 walks in post-season
- Gave up 2 post-season HRs to 527 batters
- Etc, etc etc.

Mo 42!!!

Will Jeter be the 2nd unanimous choice?

 

[nwhoopfan]

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Edgar Martinez finally got in, last year he was eligible. The voters really made him sweat it out. Bias against DH I guess.

 

[JordyG]

I'm am not a Yankee fan, not by a long shot. But some people don't really seem to understand the true extent of his greatness on the field. He was the most dominant reliever in the history of BB and folks, he only had one pitch, the 2 seam fastball. Oh yeah he occasionally threw a splitter or a curve, but his 2 seamer was unhittable. Everyone knew what pitch was coming and they still couldn't hit it. Even Gibson or Ryan or Pedro in their primes had other pitches. But this guy was phenomenal with just a single pitch. I could literally see grown men on the field well up when "Enter The Sandman" started up.

 

[j66kicker]

More humans have walked on the moon than have scored an earned run off Mariano Rivera in the post-season.

New Players Tribune article (short) by the founder of Players Tribune:
Mo | By Derek Jeter

 

[Bronxjeff]

Thank you all for contributing to this recognition of Mariano!

My first job as a kid was selling peanuts at the Stadium (I've been told I peaked early), during Mantle's final years.... Mariano has been my favorite in the 50 years since. as Lynx23 says above more than a ballplayer, a truly great guy!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Mariano and Dave Winfield - my favorite Yanks. Just classy.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

The Red Sox were so happy to see him go they threw him a party:

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Mo gets the HOF phone call:

 

[JordyG]

One thing I failed to mention. I put Mariano right up there with Vic on my list of American's I admire. Mariano Rivera wasn't born in this country, he was born in Panama City. But that ain't gonna stop me. He's on my list, period.

 

[Bigboote]

I really thought Cal Ripken would be the first unanimous Hall inductee, and I lost a little respect for the Hall voters when he didn't even eclipse Tom Seaver's percentage.

That said, as a lifelong Red Sox fan, I think Mo deserved it. As others have said, he is an exemplar not only on but off the field. And as Jordy pointed out, he's the only player that I can think of who's CLEARLY the best ever at what he did. I think for a very long time there will be conversations about who's the second-best closer ever.

 

[HuskyNan]

There is a Baseball board here at the Boneyard. This discussion belongs there

 

[Bronxjeff]

There is a Baseball board here at the Boneyard. This discussion belongs there

UCONN is in Yankee / Red Sox territory. Even the Sox fans are happy for this!