Facing Mariano Rivera
Page 16
Salvador Perez
Year Date Result
2011 8/15 Ground out
8/16 Strikeout (Swinging)
2013 5/11 Double
5/12 Double play
It was unbelievable. To see him coming through the bullpen like that and catching him, it was the best thing. I will never forget it in my life.
I was a little nervous, for sure. I went out to talk to him, and he told me: “Just give a target down and away. If I shake you off, I will go inside.”
I said: “Okay, that’s easy.”
When the inning was over, I told him, “Good job, you are the best pitcher in the league. I am so proud to catch you in your last All-Star Game. This means a lot to me.”
Mo Respect
Wil Nieves
Nieves was behind the plate for one of Rivera’s 652 career saves.
He loves eating at Benihana. He would always call me and say: “Wil, let’s go to Benihana.”
It’s always nice to have him around, to soak up whatever you can from him. He’s just a great pitcher, and people obviously know him as a player. But he’s a better person than a player.
A.J. Pierzynski
Catcher
Playing Career
Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, and Boston Red Sox since 1998
Career Statistics
1,763 games, 1,782 hits, 172 home runs, 800 runs batted in, .283 batting average, .322 on-base percentage, .428 slugging percentage
A.J. Pierzynski facing Mariano Rivera (regular season)
1-for-16, 1 extra-base hit, 1 walk, 1 hit by pitch, 3 strikeouts, .063 batting average, .167 on-base percentage, .125 slugging percentage
Mo Cred
Pierzynski’s .063 batting average is the lowest of any player with a hit against Rivera. He gave Rivera a battle during a ten-pitch at-bat on April 27, 2011.
TO GET TO ten pitches with Mariano, I mean, it’s the end of the game; it isn’t Money Ball, where you want to get his pitch count up! There’s no such thing as a moral victory in baseball.*
The first time I faced Mariano Rivera was at Yankee Stadium in 2001. That was a long time ago. I was with the Twins then. I got a hit [off him] my first at-bat. He threw me a cutter and I [hit] it over the third baseman’s head for a double down the left-field line. At that point I was one-for-one against him. I thought I own this guy. I haven’t gotten a hit since. Now I’m 1 for 14. He’s made up the difference.*
A.J. Pierzynski
Year Date Result
2001 5/10 Double
2002 5/10 Strikeout (Swinging)
5/11 Ground out
5/17 Strikeout (Swinging)
5/19 Walk (Hit by pitch)
2003 (Postseason) 10/2 Line out
2006 7/14 Fly out
8/8 Fielder’s choice
8/9 Line out
2007 5/16 Ground out
6/5 Ground out
6/7 Strikeout (Swinging)
2008 4/23 Ground out
9/15 Ground out
2009 8/2 Walk
2011 4/27 Ground out
8/1 Ground out
2013 6/25 Fly out
7/25 Fielder’s choice
I remember one time facing Mariano in Yankee Stadium when [Ken] Griffey was on our team. Griff was giving me grief because I was saying, “Oh, great, I’m going to break a bat again.”
He said, “Have confidence.”
So I told him, “I’m so confident I’m going to use your bat.”
I took his bat, and I’m up there in his stance, and I hit the ball three inches in front of home plate. [Yankees catcher Jorge] Posada picked up the ball and threw me out for the last out of the game. I came back to the dugout holding a piece of [Griffey’s] bat, and I told him, “There’s your confidence, Griff!”**
You’re at a disadvantage because he never makes a mistake and his ball moves so late. You know what pitch is coming, but it doesn’t matter, you still can’t hit it. You have two choices. You can either hit the ball out front and then you hook it foul, or you can let [the ball] get deep and then it breaks your bat, or you hit a weak ground ball. You’re stuck in between. You can’t take a pitch, because it seems he never throws a ball, he always puts it in the perfect spot. You’re fighting an uphill battle because he’s so good.
I was catching him in the All-Star Game in 2002 and I was laughing because the National League batters had never faced him before. They didn’t know what to expect. You can watch him on television and wonder, “How do people not hit that?” But until you step into the [batter’s] box you don’t realize how hard he is to hit, and how much [his ball] moves. At that All-Star Game, I asked him to show me how he holds his cutter. He showed me the grip and I try to replicate it when [I fool around and] I throw my bullpen sessions. I can’t throw it like he does. Then again, nobody can.*
Why am I doing this interview? Because he’s Mariano Rivera, and everyone is one-for-fourteen off the guy! Whenever I see him I just laugh, and he laughs back. In a way, it’s fun facing him, because you know the history and you know what he’s done in his career. But you also know you’re going to lose one bat, he’ll break at least one, so when you go up to the plate to face Mariano, you take your least popular bat, your least favorite bat. He owes Louisville Slugger a ton of money! I figure, with all those bats I’ve sacrificed over my career, I owe it to him to give him some praise.
Jorge Posada
Catcher
Playing Career
New York Yankees from 1995 to 2011
Career Statistics
1,829 games, 1,664 hits, 275 home runs, 1,065 runs batted in, .273 batting average, .374 on-base percentage, .474 slugging percentage
Mo Cred
Posada was behind the plate for 368 of Rivera’s 652 career saves, and teamed with Rivera to win four World Series championships in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2009.
WE DON’T GET to the playoffs, we don’t win championships, we don’t do a lot of the things that we were able to do without this guy. Mo’s special. It’s just not about what he brings to the field, he’s a special man. He’s a quiet leader, but a very legit leader in the clubhouse. There will never be anybody like Mariano Rivera. There’s nobody that’s going to come close to what he’s been able to do.
The best thing about catching him is I never had to bat against him. It’s amazing that he’s been able to do it for so long with one pitch, which he executes over and over again. I know him so well. He stands there on the mound, and I just give a sign for location—either in or away—and he goes ahead and throws it. You’re calling the pitch, so you know what’s coming. You’re prepared for it. The pitch breaks either this way or that way.
Everybody talks about his cutter but [where] he puts a cutter is what makes him so effective. One of those things about Mariano, he has great control, that cutter will not go away. I can’t put him into words. People don’t understand how good he has been. He’s a perfect example of committing to what you do. There’s nobody better.
The first time I met him, it had to be in the Instructional League, in 1991. He was going through rehab. He had had elbow surgery and he was just tossing [a ball] here and there. Mariano is a freak of nature. His heart is humongous. So I knew Mariano was going to be 100 percent [recovered from his knee injury of 2012]. I expected Mariano to come back and be the old Mariano.
Nothing he does surprises me. I think he can pitch three, four more years. It’s up to him. I’m pretty sure that he can still do it. But his family wants him home. That’s the toughest thing. As Yankee fans, we want him here because we need him here.
Curtain Call
Jorge Posada urged Mariano Rivera to get back on the mound to soak in the Yankee Stadium crowd’s cheers after Rivera surpassed Trevor Hoffman with his record-setting 602nd career save by closing out a 6-4 win over Minnesota on September 19, 2011.
[The idea] just came in my head. I said, “Stay on the mound a little longer.”
It was his moment, so we ne
eded him to stay on the mound. I was super excited. This was an important moment. Nobody, ever, is going to get even close to this. It’s amazing we were watching [him set records] right in front of us.
Asked to describe that moment, Rivera said: “Oh, my God. For the first time in my career, I’m on the mound alone. There’s no one behind me, no one in front of me. I can’t describe that feeling because it was priceless.”
Mo Respect
Jorge Posada
Posada released this statement praising Rivera on the day Rivera held a press conference to announce his retirement, on March 9, 2013.
There is only one Mariano Rivera. There won’t be another person who will come along and do what he did. No one does it like him. It was an honor to catch him and play alongside him for as long as I did. He made my job as a catcher so much easier. Mariano is a special person and obviously a special player.
I’m so happy he is going out on his terms. Now every time he steps into a ballpark this year, teams and fans can celebrate and appreciate what he has meant to this great game we play.
Austin Romine
Catcher
Playing Career
New York Yankees since 2011
Career Statistics
69 games, 31 hits, 1 home run, 10 runs batted in, .201 batting average, .248 on-base percentage, .279 slugging percentage
Mo Cred
Romine has been behind the plate for 12 of Rivera’s 652 career saves.
I REMEMBER THE FIRST time I caught him; I was making my major league debut. I caught his 599th career save. I remember not even knowing where I was and just trying not to mess it up for him.*
Since this was my debut, I was kind glad it was just over. I was glad I didn’t mess anything up. I remember he told me, “Great job,” and patted me on the chest. I think he knew that I was a little worked up being my first time and he made me feel real comfortable.
I went out to talk to him when he first came into the game and he was like, “Just go. Relax and have fun. We’re going to get through this.”
He didn’t have to say anything. He could have just come in there and said, “Go back there and go catch,” but he made me feel comfortable and calm. That’s who he is and what he does to the people around him.
Terry Steinbach
Catcher
Playing Career
Oakland Athletics and Minnesota Twins from 1986 to 1999
Career Statistics
1,546 games, 1,453 hits, 162 home runs, 745 runs batted in, .271 batting average, .326 on-base percentage, .420 slugging percentage
Terry Steinbach facing Mariano Rivera (regular season)
1-for-13, 0 extra-base hits, 0 RBIs, 4 strikeouts, .077 batting average, .077 on-base percentage, .077 slugging percentage
Mo Cred
Steinbach was the catcher for the formidable Oakland Athletics teams that won three consecutive American League pennants (1988–90) and the 1989 World Series. A three-time All-Star, Steinbach was the Most Valuable Player of the 1988 game. He is currently the bench coach for the Minnesota Twins.
Terry Steinbach
Year Date Result
1995 5/28 Strikeout (Swinging)
5/28 Fly out
5/28 Fly out
6/6 Strikeout (Looking)
6/6 Ground out
9/1 Strikeout (Swinging)
9/1 Ground out
1996 5/21 Strikeout (Looking)
5/31 Line out
6/2 Single
8/23 Pop out
9/2 Fly out
1997 8/9 Pop out
WHY ARE YOU talking to me? You should be talking to guys who’ve hit off him and had success. [Laughs.] I remember him early in his career as a starter and middle reliever. My approach [when facing Rivera] was not too successful. I tried to be aggressive early in the count, because maybe, in his mind, he’s trying to throw a get-me-over pitch to get ahead in the count. If he gets two strikes on you, because he has such good command, and he can locate his pitches so consistently and throw the ball where he wants to, he’s almost unhittable. To be quite frank, I did not like to get into any two-strike counts with him because I think more often than not, he’s going to come out ahead.*
I distinctly remember seeing the cutter for the first time. I was playing with the Twins and we went to Tampa to play [the Yankees in 1997 in] a spring training game. When Mariano came into the game, Scotty Ullger, who now is the Twins’ first base coach but at the time was our hitting coach, he gives us the scouting report and says: “We know him from early in his career when he was a starter and middle relief guy.”
And now, all of sudden, Mariano starts throwing the cutter and [the pitch] is darting in and out, and we come back to the bench and say, “What is he throwing?”
He came up with a cutter and that pitch catapulted him to the closer role. So I was there for the introduction of the cutter and the beginning of this phenomenal career that’s he had.
What makes him so difficult to hit is his location. Rivera is so precise with his pitches. Even though you know the cutter is coming, he has tremendous command of that pitch. He can throw it away from the righties and he can run it in on the lefties. His control is phenomenal and you have to give Mariano credit mentally, too, because his pitch selection is also very good. He does mix in four-seam fastballs every now and then, even though the cutter is his bread and butter [pitch]. He can also front door the cutter to the righties. Against a right-handed hitter, like I was, he liked to throw the cutter away and have me go out there and chase it. But every once in a while he would throw a front-door cutter, [which means] he throws the ball at the hitter and allows it to break over the inside part of the plate. And when he mixes in a straight four-seamer, wow, it really makes it difficult for the hitter to put the ball in play.
Now that I’m the bench coach, I don’t think I’ll give our players any advice [before they face Rivera]. I’m one-for-thirteen against him, so I don’t think I’m the guy they should be asking. I think they might be better off on their own.*
Mo Respect
Chris Stewart
The New York Yankees former catcher was behind the plate for 28 of Rivera’s 652 career saves.
Being back there and having the experience with him, knowing that I’ll be able to tell my kids and my grandkids I caught one of the best pitchers—if not the best—of all time, it’s a truly humbling moment for me. It’s a blessing that I’ve been cherishing for the entire season.
I’ll go out there and second guess him every now and then, but he’s been doing this forever, so I don’t know if it’s me second guessing myself or what. He knows what he’s doing out there, and I let him do his thing, and obviously most of the time it works out pretty well.
Kelly Stinnett
Catcher
Playing Career
New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, Kansas City Royals, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals from 1994 to 2007
Career Statistics
734 games, 476 hits, 65 home runs, 230 runs batted in, .234 batting average, .313 on-base percentage, .379 slugging percentage
Mo Cred
Stinnett, a Yankees back-up catcher in 2006, was behind the plate for 2 of Rivera’s 652 career saves.
CATCHING MARIANO WAS awesome. It’s fun to be able to put down one finger and know you could sit in a rocking chair behind home plate and the pitcher is going to be able to locate to both sides of the plate and hit your glove. I never saw him miss bad, the ball is always right there.
He has a good idea of what he wants to do, and executes to the hilt. He might throw a shorter cutter early in the count to get ahead, but with two strikes, he can make the pitch cut even more. The first few times catching him in spring training and in the bullpen sessions I noticed he had a heck of a sinker, too. He never threw it in a game because he didn’t want to get beat by it.
The biggest factor about Mo coming into the game is the mindset that the game is
over. Every single ballplayer who sees him walk onto the field knows he goes out there and does his job. He’s going to get three outs, the game is over, it’s all said and done. If you’re on his team then you go celebrate. After catching a save, my adrenaline was pumping; I was more excited than he was.
I can’t remember any difficult outings; with him, it’s usually one, two, three. I do remember a game in Detroit early that season. Curtis Granderson came to the plate, and Mariano’s first pitch was a cutter inside for a called strike. I noticed Granderson move his feet an inch or two away from the plate. The next pitch is a foul ball off his knuckles. Same thing, I see he scoots back another two or three inches off the plate. Mariano notices, too. Next pitch I call for is a cutter away, Mariano hits the glove, strike three looking. I watched many a lefty hitter back off the plate, only to have Mariano throw to the other side and catch the corner. He can do that any time he wants to.*
I never faced him in a regular season game, but I faced him twice in spring training games when I was with the Reds from 2001 to 2003. That was during Mariano’s heyday, though it seems every year is a heyday for him. When you face a pitcher like Mariano Rivera, you do remember your at-bats against him. I don’t care if it’s on a back field at a B game in spring training, you remember.
The first time I faced him was in Tampa and I struck out. You see the ball coming, and you think you can hit it, so you start to swing at the ball in a certain spot. Then the ball disappears. By the time your bat head gets to the spot, the ball is gone. It’s either below your bat head or at the end of your bat head.
The second time I faced Mariano, in Sarasota, now you know what pitch is coming—the cutter—and as a right-handed batter he takes away your power by making you hit the ball the other way. I hit a soft fly ball to right field. Game over.
It’s so tough to hit his cutter because you can’t prepare for it. You can’t practice hitting that pitch. There’s not a pitching machine in the world, or a batting practice pitcher anywhere, who can simulate that pitch. That’s why Mariano is so successful.