Read Facing Mariano Rivera Storyline:
The all-time career leader is saves, with 633, Mariano Rivera is one of the greatest professional athletes in history. Since taking over the closer's role for the New York Yankees in 1997, Rivera saved thirty or more games in every season but one. In addition, he has an astonishing MLB record 42 postseason saves, with 11 of them coming in the World Series. After 19 seasons in the Major Leagues, his preeminence among relief pitchers is assumed and his induction into Cooperstown assured.And he accomplished it all, mostly, with one devastating pitch: his signature cut fastball. As third baseman Corey Koskie put it: “You knew what pitch [Rivera's] going to throw, a cutter ... You start to swing at the pitch and the next thing you know, the ball explodes your bat. I tried multiple things hoping to figure out a way get the barrel [of the bat] on one of his pitches.... Nothing worked."Far from a conventional biography, Facing Mariano Rivera offers perspectives and...Pages of Facing Mariano Rivera :