Problem with Mariano Rivera

[CubsFan7724]

Cubsfan, I would hate to see how emotional you would get if someone REALLY offended YOU!! Thehat was simply saying that the post was ridiculous, which it was. Mariano's stuff is NASTY!! It's all about his movement and location. He breaks at least one bat every time he pitches!! That means guys are getting sawed off because of the pitch moving in on the hands that looked like it was coming down the middle! Nice job Kulcat!!

He didnt offend me, I was just saying dont say no offense when you clearly mean offense. Oh, and you dont want to see me angry. ( ) Actually on topic for once, Rivera has some of the nastiest stuff for a closer. That cutter is 2nd to none.

[blankman]

He breaks at least one bat every time he pitches!!

That's not true, but close enough.

Imagine him with a nasty changeup too

[quickfingerz]

When we see a Kerry Wood/Oliver Perez/Octavio Dotel mid-80's curveball, we think "damn, that's nasty!"

Rivera's cut fastball doesn't have the same amount of movement but it is often regarded as one of the best pitches in the game, in fact, an ESPN analyst regarded it as the best pitch in the game.

[klvrdude]

I'll bet you TO doesn't get psyched out...
I'll bet you Jerry Rice doesn't get psyched out...

Professional athletes who are headcases don't last too long (see Beane, Billy).

Beltrans_Boy...who are you kidding? Are you telling me that if you (or half of major leaguers) aren't intimidated, if not frightened, of Clemens? The way he lurks from behind his black glove only exposing his eyes, eyes that could pierce steel and a reputation that he will willingly throw a 95mph four seamer inside...the kind of inside that breaks ribs.

I believe there are plenty of physcological games on the field, but when it comes to the pitcher/batter relationship it has to start with one player having earned the respect....why aren't pitchers pitching to sterriod pumping Bonds?

[j5mikey]

because if they do, theres about a 10-20% chance that the ball will never be seen again.

thats numbers, not mindgames.

[WhosBabeRuth]

The batter has to THINK about all the different possible situations when hitting against Rivera, which if they thought wrong, which happens wuite often (when a batter swings and mises) they were being phyched out, or like I said at the beginning, Rivera was using a key to him being a good pitcher, being pshycological................as for someones earliers comments about me comparing Rivera to a AA pitcher, you mis understood. I said If Mariano throws a 95 Mile and hour straight fastball over the plater as the first pitch, thats the same pitch a AA pitcher could throw and a batter would hammer it. But for some reason, they cant seem to hit that fastball right over the plate, qhich is why I started this topic, to see opinions on why this guy is so much different from some other joe schmo that throws gas. Why can hitters hit joe schmo on the first pitch 95 mile and hour fastball down the pipe, but they cant hit marianos...? Its pshycological.

[KULCAT]

Why do people here keep talking about players like they were robots? When i was kid i played for the juvenile national squad and we´d have Panamenian players in the bigs like Roberto Kelly and Juan Berenguer talk to us before tournaments started. I also went to a 2 day clinic Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter had here and we also had former NFL player Dennis Byrd(who´s speech was more about the power of will with him being not able to walk and all but we still asked him about football). What they all had in common was that at one point they talked about the mental aspect of the game and how big it was on them. And how do some players get in your head. Kelly talked about him and Frank Viola back when Viola was one of the top pitchers in baseball and Kelly had only been 2 years in the majors but he still was something crazy like 11-15 against him and he ran into Viola after a game and he told him that he hated facing him and that he rather faced Canseco .
The most powerful statement came from Byrd. He told us that out there everybody was big, everybody was fast and everybody had skills so where are you gonna get your edge from other than your mental game. Thats sound advice to me

[ajgnydc722]

The batter has to THINK about all the different possible situations when hitting against Rivera, which if they thought wrong, which happens wuite often (when a batter swings and mises) they were being phyched out, or like I said at the beginning, Rivera was using a key to him being a good pitcher, being pshycological................as for someones earliers comments about me comparing Rivera to a AA pitcher, you mis understood. I said If Mariano throws a 95 Mile and hour straight fastball over the plater as the first pitch, thats the same pitch a AA pitcher could throw and a batter would hammer it. But for some reason, they cant seem to hit that fastball right over the plate, qhich is why I started this topic, to see opinions on why this guy is so much different from some other joe schmo that throws gas. Why can hitters hit joe schmo on the first pitch 95 mile and hour fastball down the pipe, but they cant hit marianos...? Its pshycological.

I don't know how often you watch Rivera but rarely does he throw a fastball right down the middle. Rivera has some of the sickest stuff in the game, whether or not he gets inside the hitter's head. His stuff is awesome and people have tried and tried again to hit it. It doesn't work. Like blankman said, if you think he's much easier to hit than people make him out to be, then you step in and face him. I guarentee he'll make you look like a fool, as he does to PROFESSIONAL hitters.

[slomo007]

This is almost as crazy as saying RJ is just mentally dominating, as his pitches aren't really that good.

Anyone who doubts a proven, veteran closer with perhaps the best current track record in the game is nuts. You don't have the career Mariano has had with smoke and mirrors, and I am not a Yankees fan.

[SaintsOfTheDiamond]

This is almost as crazy as saying RJ is just mentally dominating, as his pitches aren't really that good.

Anyone who doubts a proven, veteran closer with perhaps the best current track record in the game is nuts. You don't have the career Mariano has had with smoke and mirrors, and I am not a Yankees fan.

Couldn't have said it any better myself.