Starting Five

1. One Mo Time!

Our friend Jeff Bradley, who once covered the New York Yankees for the New York Daily News, tweeted it best this morning: “Mariano Rivera is the rare person who is better than anyone else at his job and doesn’t offend anyone in the process.”

Agreed.

And last night Rivera returned to Citi Field, sight of one of his two blown saves in 32 chances this season, and received an encomium nearly worthy of his magnificence. As the Beatles once did at Shea Stadium 47 summers ago, Rivera stood all alone on the mound at the home of the Mets and listened to the full-throated cheers of an entire stadium.

 

Tremendous moment.

And Rivera’s farewell tour, in which he visits the front offices of opposing teams and meets the minions who do all the dirty work, is another outstanding touch.

One question, though: Why retire? Rivera has 30 saves in 32 opportunities this season and only the man who pitched after him last night, the Twins’ Joe Nathan, has a better track record (30 saves in 31 chances.). Take a look at these numbers:

1) Rivera has faced at least 5,068 batters in his career (I was unable to find how many men reached base on error on him, or else I’d have a total for you) and allowed just 67 home runs. That’s about 1.3%.

2) He has faced, again, about 5,100 hitters and thrown just 13 wild pitches. In his entire career.

If Rivera were to continue this pace, he could be looking at about 55 saves and four blown saves, which would be better than any of his previous 18 seasons. He has never won the Cy Young Award… not in 2009, when he had 44 saves, 2 blown saves and a 0.90 WHIP… not in 2008, when he had 39  saves, one blown save, and a 0.67 WHIP…and not in 2005, when he had 43 saves, 4 blown saves, a 0.87 WHIP and allowed just two home runs.

Currently his WHIP is 1.25 and he has allowed two homers. Again, he is on pace for a career-high in saves.

If Rivera wants to pack up his glove and go home, good for him. No one has earned it more. And “Enter Sandman” comes off the Yankee Stadium playlist while the number “42” disappears from baseball forever.

But it he wants to return…well, who would deny that he is still one of the premier players in the game? No. 42 pitching at age 44? I’m all for it.

2. Johnny On the Spotlight

ESPN scored a live interview with Johnny Manziel at 8:15 this morning (by telling him that the interview would commence at 7:45). Joe Tessitore handled the chore.

Joe Tessitore: Did you miss the meetings because you were hung over?

Manziel: “Absolutely not.”

Tessitore: Were you out drinking the night before?

Manziel: “I’m not going to go into details.”

Points:

1. Johnny Manziel cannot use the “I’m just a 20 year-old college student” line in one breath, and then discuss how excited he is to be flying out to the ESPYs (presumably on a private plane) later tonight.

2. Technically –and I don’t make the laws– drinking alcohol as a min0r is illegal. And, sure, hundreds of thousands if not millions of college students do so, but how many of them have Heisman Trophies? So, yeah, welcome to the scrutiny.

3. Your “dehydration” is not an issue for me or anyone in the media to scrutinize until it affects others. Which, at the Manning Passing Academy, it did. I direct you to the episode of M*A*S*H in which Radar rips Hawkeye a new one for showing up to the OR too hung over to perform surgery. “People kind of look up to you around here…and they feel as if you let them down.”

4. I got into it with Christine Golic on Twitter over this issue. As I reminded her, her husband Mike earned and continues to earn a fantastic living because of America’s obsession with sports and the people who play them. Her two sons earned free college educations because of it. You can’t reap those benefits and then suddenly act surprised and upset that people care so much about what “a twenty year-old college student” is doing. And at that point I assume Mrs. Golic returned to having her cake and eating it, too.

3. “Morning Joe” Goes Semi-Circle

This was the old set of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” We enjoyed the casual coffee house look. As if some panelist might lean across the table and ask Mika if she were done with the Entertainment section.

Then Russell Brand happened. And perhaps — or perhaps not — his flauting of the worker bees who appear on-camera in the background scared producers. Or maybe they were just eager to try something different. The new set is a semi-circle that is far more formal and standard. Boring. Progress isn’t always forward, Joe.

4. Matt Harvey Interviews New Yorkers about Matt Harvey

You probably saw this but just in case you did not. Awesome.

But it does kind of explain how Jesus was able to rise from the dead and walk the Earth for 40 more days without being mobbed by followers. I mean, if you believe that story…

5. Selena Roberts is Rich! Rich! Rich!

Turns out she left Sports Illustrated after learning that her mom had left her millions of dollars… She’s even wealthier than fellow ex-SI senior writer Joe Posnanski. We think.

Heyyyyyyy!
I left Sports Illustrated (twice…and once of my own accord). And my mother lives in Arizona. And she, too, is frugal.

Don’t worry, Phyllis. I’m in no rush to see you shred this mortal coil. But just in case, where is that secret box and who has the key?