Mariano Rivera became the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to make 1,000 appearances with the same team on Wednesday, doing business as usual cleaning up the ninth inning of a 7-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
It was just another day at the office for the 41-year-old closer, as Enter Sandman blasted over the Yankee Stadium speakers when he took the mound in relief of Joba Chamberlain. He allowed an Eric Thames single to kick off the inning, but got Rajai Davis and Edwin Encarnacion to fly out before J.P. Arencibia struck out swinging to end the game.
The 11-time All-Star is the 15th player to reach 1,000 appearances, but the first to do so with one team. Entering his 17th big league season, he has seen the Yankees make the playoffs 15 times and win five World Championships. Outstanding.
Rivera, who is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA and 13 saves in 21 appearances this season, had this to say about his feat of longevity:
"You have to be old to do that... You’ve got to have the right combination, I guess, an organization willing to keep you around and you doing your job."
[USA Today]
3 comments:
GO MO!
I've always had a deep respect for Rivera, even though I detest the Yankees as a team, an organization, a religion, etc...
Ditto, Bassmaster.
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