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September 07, 2007

Rivera's Turning Point

Tara Sullivan has a nice story in the Record today about Mo Rivera and that homer he gave up in the 1997 ALDS:

"It wasn't a mistake pitch but it wasn't what I wanted either," Rivera said recently, his legs propped up as he sat on a chair tucked away in his corner locker stall at Yankee Stadium. "It went up and away from him. That much I remember, seeing him swing and barely clearing the fence over Paul O'Neill. I was shocked."

Come next month, 10 years will have passed since Oct. 5, 1997, the night the Yankee universe felt the shock of his failure. What no one could know then was how the young pitcher would respond. Would his career as a closer collapse after just one season? Would Enter Sandman exit before ever catching on as a signature song? Or could Rivera return to rule the ninth inning once again?

"Guys go one way or the other, there's no halfway," said manager Joe Torre, whose Yankee tenure parallels Rivera's. "To me, I never had a doubt he would be fine. He's got great self esteem. That really helps, no question. I never doubted his ability."

More importantly, neither did Rivera. Over the 10-year span since the devastating mistake to Alomar, Rivera has become the game's most dominant relief pitcher. His ensuing postseason performance is the best in major league history, his 34 saves and 0.80 ERA in the playoffs both all- time records. Anchored by a peaceful inner confidence, Rivera is convinced he emerged from the 1997 season a better baseball player. And a better man.

The human mind is an interesting thing. As I was reading this, all I could think of was "Donnie Moore." I'm happy for Rivera, the person, that he did take a negative and turned it into a positive here. As the Moore story shows us, these things can sometimes be tragic.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at September 7, 2007 08:24 AM

Comments

From what I've read, Moore had bigger issues than the HR he gave up.

Posted by: Raf [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 7, 2007 09:58 AM

Ah, just clicked on the link (Moore's Wiki entry), it confirms what I've read over the years.

Posted by: Raf [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 7, 2007 10:00 AM