New York Yankee pitching legend Mariano Rivera made history on Tuesday, January 22, 2018.
He became the only baseball player in history to be voted unanimously into the Hall of Fame being named on all 425 ballots submitted. In the 75 year history of the Hall of Fame, no player has been perfect in the Baseball Writer’s voting (although many will argue that several others should have). The previous high was the 99.3% of the vote earned by Ken Griffey Jr. in 2016.
Rivera, a 13-time All-Star, is the all-time leader in saves both during the regular season with 652 and in the playoffs with another 42. He is the fifth Yankee to be enshrined into the Hall in his first year of eligibility joining Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson.
Rivera, 49, spent his entire 19-year career with the Yankees, from 1995-2013. He faced the New York Mets 34 times in regular season games with 4 more appearances in the 2000 World Series. Although Rivera was consistent in his excellence throughout his career, the Mets had a few special moments against him which we now examine as we look back at Mariano Rivera’s career against his cross-town rivals.
Interleague play in baseball began in 1997, so the Mets did not face Rivera in the first two years of his career. From 1997 until 2013, the last year of Rivera’s career, the two teams faced each other 94 times. During these 17 years, the Mets had three memorable walk-off wins against Mariano, the first coming in 1999.
In a game that saw five lead changes, the Mets, down one in the bottom of the ninth, sent Matt Franco to the plate with the bases loaded and two out. Franco laced a single to right scoring Ricky Henderson and Eduardo Alfonso to give the Mets a thrilling 9-8 victory. Rivera pitched two-thirds of an inning allowing two earned runs and two hits as he suffered his first loss against the Mets.
In 2006, the two teams played the opener of the Subway Series at Shea Stadium. It was a typical tense game between the rivals that was tied at six going to the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and Paul Lo Duca on second, a young third baseman named David Wright cracked a Rivera cutter over Johnny Damon‘s head sending Lo Duca home with the winning run.
The third walk-off win came in 2013, Rivera’s final year. It was a game that featured a superb pitching duel between Matt Harvey and Hiroki Kuroda. The Yankees were leading 1-0 as the Mets came to bat in the bottom of the ninth with Rivera on the mound for the save. Daniel Murphy led off with a double and scored on a single by David Wright who went to second on a bad throw. The next batter was Lucas Duda who blooped a single to shallow right to send Wright home with the winning run. Rivera gave up three hits and two earned runs without retiring a batter in the frame. It was the only save he blew in the last year of his career.
Overall, in 34 regular season meetings, the Mets went 4-4 against Mariano with a 3.53 team ERA. They scored 14 earned run against him with 28 strike outs and managed only eight walks in 35.2 innings pitched. Rivera had 20 saves against the Amazins’.
In the 2000 World Series between the Mets and Yankees, Rivera saved two of the four games, games four and five. He gave up two ER to the Mets and pitched to a 3.00 ERA. He struck out eight and walked one in 6.0 innings pitched while allowing four hits.
As far as individual ‘accomplishments’ against Mariano Rivera, only two Mets hit a home run against him: Jay Payton and Damion Easley. Two Mets, Todd Zeile, and David Wright, managed three hits off of Rivera both going three-for-eight. Four other Mets–Paul Lo Duca, Daniel Murphy, Edgardo Alfonso, and Lucas Duda–collected two hits. Rivera allowed only eight doubles and no triples against the Mets in his career.
Mariano Rivera is widely considered the greatest closer of all time. He helped the Yankees win five World Series titles garnering a World Series MVP in 1999 as he closed three games in a sweep of the Atlanta Braves. His sustained excellence over nearly two decades was remarkable.
However, the Mets, a team that certainly did not tear the cover off the ball against Rivera, nevertheless had some wins against him that will remain forever in New York baseball lore. The Mets ERA against Rivera was a full run better than his lifetime 2.21 ERA and they managed a .500 record against him. They battled him hard in many games even in instances when Rivera completed the save.
In the end, though, Mariano Rivera proved time and time again the mark of all great champions: winning and achievement over a sustained period of time. He was humbled upon learning of his impending enshrinement saying in a conference call to reporters, “…this is the pinnacle of every player that plays the game of baseball. To be unanimous…is an honor”.
For true baseball aficionados, Yankees fans or not, it was an honor to watch him pitch.
