J-Speaks: Yankees Lose Their Closer

By his career numbers, he is not just one of the best relief pitchers of all-time, he is the true definition of what a closer is. He has done in the regular season and the postseason. More than anything is the fact that the greatest ability that he has is his availability. That is the reason he has been able to put together numbers that has been a major reason he has helped his team win a high number of games to get to the postseason as well as win in the postseason. Unfortunately on Thursday night in an instant doing something that he has done his entire career ended his season and possibly his Hall of Fame career.

On Thursday prior to their contest at the Kansas City Royals, New York Yankees relief closer Mariano Rivera while shagging fly balls in the outfield hit his right leg on the warning track tearing the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and meniscus in his right leg.

Rivera, 42 will be lost for the rest of the season and likely his career could be over as well.

“Yeah this is bad. There’s no question about it. This is not what you come to Kansas City for to hear,” Yankees skipper Joe Girardi said on Thursday.

“It happened for a reason and just have to deal with it,” Rivera said on Thursday.

As to whether he can come back from this injury considering the fact that he is at the end of his long career Rivera said, “At this point I don’t. We have to face this first. All of that depends on how the rehab is going to happen. From there we see.”

By the numbers the “Bronx Bombers” are losing a major weapon that they have come to count on to win close games.

In 15 consecutive years, Rivera has recorded at least 20 saves, the longest streak in the major leagues and this season he has five saves in six tries. His 2.21 earned run average (ERA) is the lowest since 1920 among pitchers who have thrown at least 1,000 pitches and it is even better in the postseason with a 0.70 ERA in 141 innings pitched. In the postseason, his record is 8-1. He holds the record for most consecutive scoreless innings pitched with 34 1/3 and most save opportunities converted with 23. His 608 career saves are the most in MLB history and are exactly twice as many as the next closet to all come with one team. His record is 76-58 recording 1,119 strikeouts. He has made 12 all-star games and has helped the Yankees win five World Series titles (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2009) and was the named World Series MVP in 1999.

An interesting fact about Rivera is the No. 42 jersey that he has worn in his 16-year career is not just the number of his age, it is also the number of saves he has recorded in the postseason, which is a MLB record.

ESPN NFL color analyst Jon Gruden has said that the best ability for a football player is their availability. You do not put up the kind of numbers that Rivera has in his Hall of Fame career without being very durable. In his career, he has appeared in 1,051 games in the regular season, the most by any pitcher in major league history. He also has finished a MLB record 892 games.

With those amazing stats and the fact that he has won five rings, why would Rivera consider coming back.

He answered that question via Twitter saying, “I’m coming back. Write it down in big letters. I’m not going out like this.”

He elaborated on his plans for a comeback with ESPN’s Pedro Gomez on Friday before Game 2 of the Yankees’ series with the Royals by saying, “I don’t want to go out because I hurt myself shagging fly balls. I just want to know that I ended it because I don’t want to do it anymore.”

Rivera also told Gomez that he believes that he can make a comeback at his age because of his “trust in the lord” and that he trust in his ability.

Boston Globe sports writer Bob Ryan echoed those same feelings when he said on ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption” on Friday, “If there is a 42-year-old guy who be able to rehab properly, be fit and determined it would be Mariano Rivera.”

That rehab that Rivera will take on first begin with arthroscopic surgery to repair the ACL and meniscus and then rehab that will consist of physical therapy.

For those of you that are not aware of what the meniscus is, it is according to WABC Eyewitness News First at 4 medical reporter Dr. Sapna Parikh it is the shock absorbing cartilage in the knee.

According to Dr. Robert Gotlin New York’s Beth Israel Medical Center that 30 to 35 percent of people that have a tear in the meniscus do very well with pure old exercise, avoiding that which hurts. At Beth Israel, they try to heal their patients who have torn their meniscus with physical therapy, anti-inflammatory medications and injections that cushion the joint first. If that does work after a couple of months, then you may need surgery.

Another major factor in rehabilitating a tear in the meniscus is the individuals lifestyle, in particular the one of a professional athlete in which Rivera is.

Dr. Robert G. Marx, MD, a Sports Medicine Surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York says that “Arthroscopic surgery can be extremely effective at relieving symptoms from a torn meniscus.”

Arthroscopic surgery though is not all black and white, especially if you have severe arthritis in your knee, which is when cartilage on the end of the bone is worn down and eventually there is no cartilage left at the end of the bone. It ends up being bone on bone and then the results of the surgery is unpredictable.

“That’s why its always worth it to get a second opinion and if you are a professional athlete like Mariano Rivera a doctor usually tries to be much more aggressive,” Dr. Parikh said on Friday.

“There more likely to operate sooner, but only if they think its worth it if it could save someone’s career.”

When a team loses a vital piece like Rivera, you find out very quickly how the team will respond. After dropping the first of the four-game set to the Royals 4-3 on Thursday, they came back to win on Friday 6-2. The team knows that not having Rivera for the remainder of the season will be tough, but they have to figure it out if they want to win another title.

“Mo is Mo. There’s never been anyone like him. There won’t be anyone like him,” Yankees’ Captain Derek Jeter said on Thursday.

“You can’t go out there and try to compare yourself to him. You just go out there and try to get outs and do your job.”

“Good teams find a way to overcome things and if we want to play in October were gonna have to find a way to overcome it,” Girardi said on Thursday.

Information, statistics and quotations are courtesy of www.newyork.yankees.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariano_Rivera; 5/5/12 edition of Daily News page 45; 5/4/12 4 p.m. edition of WABC’s “Eyewitness News First at 4” with Liz Cho and David Navarro, report from sports anchor Rob Powers and Dr. Sapna Parikh; 5/4/12 5:30 p.m. edition of ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption” with Michael Wilbon and Boston Globe sports writer Bob Ryan 5/4/12 6 p.m. edition of ESPN’s “Sportscenter” with Briam Weinstein and John Anderson.