12/21/24
April 06, 2005
Spreadin the boos. : Grateful and classy Yankees fans booed Rivera today, as they did Jeter last year. So, who gets the worst circle of hell-- Yankees fans, Cleveland fans, or Philadelphians?
What Hal said. Second blown save, three games into the season? Sounds to me like he had some heat coming. Ain't a lack of class to call a spade a spade, is it?
posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:54 PM on April 06, 2005
Maybe Rivera is starting to be human-We'll see how he does agaisnt other teams. He blew a save agaisnt the Twins during the playoffs last year--so it may not just be a Res Sox thing--- That said, I wouldnt write him off just yet!
posted by daddisamm at 01:35 AM on April 07, 2005
I know it's the mark of a small man, but I taped the the 9th inning of the NESN rebroadcast when I got home. Something to watch on off days.
posted by yerfatma at 06:30 AM on April 07, 2005
I'm always mesmerized by Rivera's one-pitch mastery - apparently the Sox aren't though. I'd cut the cate some slack though. It's pretty early to be all over the guy. He's only already one of the all-time best.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:42 AM on April 07, 2005
This is pretty overblown - Mo will probably still have it against other teams, but the Sox have had his number since further back than last year's playoffs. In 2004, his only blown saves were against the Angels (1), Minn (1 playoff), Toronto (1 that he won), and the Sox (3 that he lost+2 playoff). From July 04 on, he blew every save chance against the Sox until games 1+2 of the ALCS. He was definitely stronger against the Sox in 03, so they've figured him out. Like I said, overblown - the Sox have his number but he'll still be reliable against other teams.
posted by kokaku at 09:45 AM on April 07, 2005
Like I said, overblown - the Sox have his number but he'll still be reliable against other teams. I sure wouldn't count him out against the Sox yet, either. He sucked twice, he deserved to get booed, but I sure don't expect him to declare, "They're my daddy," in a fit of Pedro-esque funk. Maybe it's just the Globe staff -- that's where I do most of my Red Sox reading -- but it sure seems to me that there's a lot of early-conclusion jumping-to in Red Sox Nation. After game 3 of last year's ALCS, Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe actually wrote a "well, that's it" column, and boy, didn't he look like an idjit. In fact, he wrote an even worse column that same day that never saw print (but it was briefly on the Sox website), in which he castigated the Sox for blowing it again -- like, as if the whole thing was past tense. Talk about fickle. These "We rule!" "We suck!" mood swings are bad news if the Sox want to continue winning against Yogi's old team. It ain't over 'till it's over.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 10:12 AM on April 07, 2005
he is wornout goods. Better make that play for Eric Gane of the Dodgers Georgie. I am sure 'el cheapo Dodger owner Frank McCourt will not pay Eric and his agent Scott Boras what Steinbrenner can. Gagne could be the best ever (83 straight saves) regular season closer but at least the Yanks will give Eric plenty of chances to prove if he is worthy of the same greatness Mariano has achieved in the post-season and World Series!
posted by bluekarma at 10:23 AM on April 07, 2005
Gagne-could be on the way out--I am thinking that he may be over-used now that he is having a stint on the DL. Closers, these days need to have a very good set-up staf in front of them. That could be part of Mario's problem. I do agree, that this story is being way over-blown. The season has just started. Streaks that carry over from last year,often doesnt mean alot......
posted by daddisamm at 10:40 AM on April 07, 2005
i didn't boo him yesterday, but i didn't cheer for him either. and i don't have a problem with the fans that booed (or the ones that booed jeter last year). it's not a "you suck, we hate you, get out of town" boo. it's more of a "we're disappointed in your performance" boo. some fans in other cities do nothing when shit goes wrong (like st. louis), in new york, we boo. doesn't mean we don't love those guys anymore, just means we're not happy about the result of this particular performance. i'm not writing mo off yet. it's a bit unsettling, but it's a long season. Closers, these days need to have a very good set-up staf in front of them. That could be part of Mario's problem. i don't think that's the problem at all (not for the past 2 days anyways). tuesday the yanks left too many men on base. they shouldn't have gone into the 9th with only a 1 run lead. and yesterday, mo could've got out of it if arod didn't boot that ball.
posted by goddam at 11:23 AM on April 07, 2005
I would love it if we could ban the word "classy" or any variations thereof from all sports discussions.
posted by pitchblende at 11:35 AM on April 07, 2005
Not to brag, but the boos were coming down pretty strong against Worrell last night in Philly. You don't blow a game against Les Nationals and get away with it. Not here.
posted by cl at 12:03 PM on April 07, 2005
You don't blow a game against Les Nationals and get away with it. Not here. Not in any town with self-respecting fans, one would hope ;-) I agree with goddam. Boos don't mean that the target is worthless forever; they mean that right now, you're stinkin' up the joint. What would a ballplayer prefer, do you think: fans who give up in the seventh inning and get up and quietly leave acres of empty seats behind them, or fans who stay there until the last out and boo, because they're passionate about the outcome? The latter are the ones who passionately want you to win. The former, even if you turn it around, may buy a lot of logo gear, but they'll be filing out to beat the traffic the second things look grim around.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 12:33 PM on April 07, 2005
Rivera has some real struggles that only come with the Red Sox. Since 2001, including post season, Mariano has only blown 16 saves against other teams while blowing 11 saves against the Red Sox alone. Hopefully Rivera will get out of the funk that he's in and regain his control too, but the Yankee's and Red Sox play another what 16 times or so, so it might be a long year for Rivera if the Red Sox keep lighting him up like that. ohhh and A-rod needs to learn how to handle the hot corner a little better than that...making two errors on the same play was pretty pathetic for Yankee fans. Paying so much for someone to drop the ball in the clutch, not once, but twice....ouch.
posted by kurt71 at 02:37 PM on April 07, 2005
Paying so much for someone to drop the ball in the clutch, not once, but twice....ouch. Yeah, I was bummin' the day the Red Sox didn't get him. That would have toasted their wiener but good.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 02:48 PM on April 07, 2005
As much as I love to have fun with yankee fans (standing O for giambi, booing rivera? give me a break), this has to do more with fans everywhere than yankee fans. I'm sure Rivera will be fine, but as a red sox fan he's just another reliever. He's just not that great against us. they shouldn't have gone into the 9th with only a 1 run lead. and yesterday, mo could've got out of it if arod didn't boot that ball. Could have, should have, didn't. By those reasons wednesday's game should have never come down to rivera. The red sox should have blown that game wide open long before the ninth. Fact is you walk batters with a one run lead in the ninth you probably deserve to lose.
posted by justgary at 06:21 PM on April 07, 2005
(standing O for giambi, booing rivera? give me a break) that standing O for giambi didn't last long. i started to hear boos after he struck out for the second time on tuesday. his leash is short. i'm with you on the "fans everywhere" thing though. and self-righteous people like michael fucking kay don't help either. when was that last time he or any of these other guys that are bitching about the booing paid to go see a game? i'm wondering how much the tragedy at his home during the fall has had an effect on mo. he took the winter off, he didn't even go back to panama, and he had his family come up to new york in the off-season.
posted by goddam at 07:07 PM on April 07, 2005
Well, truth be told, he's basically been owned by the only team it's not okay to be owned by (if you're a Yankee). I'm sure the fans love him for years of excellence, especially in the post-season, but after last year's ALCS, and now this huge come-from-behind win (his second blown save, 3 games into the season), he needs a kick in the pants. The beauty for Sox fans is that the Yankees still need this guy badly to go anywhere in the post-season, and if the Sox face the Yanks again while being able to hit Rivera at whim....