TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays celebrated the career of Mariano Rivera on Thursday night, and while there was great admiration for the classy New York Yankees closer, his hosts will be more than happy to have seen the last of him on a pitcher’s mound.
Like he’s done against many other teams, Rivera has had his way with the Blue Jays during his 19-year career, appearing in 94 games against them before Thursday, posting a 1.81 ERA, collecting 54 saves, winning eight times, blowing only six save chances, and losing just twice, once at Yankee Stadium, once at Rogers Centre.
Among American League teams, only the Detroit Tigers have fewer victories against Rivera.
With highlights against the Sandman so few and far between, standing out is Vernon Wells’ walk-off homer in the 11th inning of a 5-4 victory against the Yankees on July 20, 2006.
The Blue Jays were in contention that summer, sitting 5.5 games back of the division-leading Boston Red Sox and four behind of the second place New York when the Yankees checked in for the start of a four-game series.
Roy Halladay outduelled Mike Mussina for 7.2 innings in the opener and handed a 4-3 lead over to closer B.J. Ryan, who promptly gave it up with two outs in the eighth inning. Things remained deadlocked until the 11th, when with one out Wells sent a 1-0 cutter over the wall in left-centre.
The centre-fielder raised his arm to the sky, index finger pointing upwards, as he circled the bases, a crowd of 42,336 exploding.
“With him my approach was always to look in for his cutter and force myself to swing at it,” says Wells, whose memory of the game is remarkably vivid. “I remember I got ball one, a cutter away, and then I was thinking, all right, if he comes in with the cutter, force yourself to swing at it. He started it in, I went to swing and I hit it. I hit it pretty high, it was either going to get caught, or go out, and as soon as it went out, I remember thinking to myself, ‘I just hit a walk-off home run against the greatest closer of all-time.’ I had goose-bumps from that moment on.
“Just knowing what kind of feat that is, and what Mariano stands for, it was pretty cool moment.”
The Blue Jays went on to take three of four in the series, but ultimately finished a distant second in the AL East to the Yankees at 87-75, their highest win total this century.
Their only other win against Rivera came on July 21, 2001, when Rivera entered a tie game in the ninth and surrendered an RBI single to Chris Latham and a run-scoring fielder’s choice to Tony Fernandez in a 5-3 victory. Billy Koch stranded two runners in the bottom of the ninth to seal the win.
Wells’ home run is one of only four the Blue Jays have managed off Rivera, with Mike Stanley and Ed Sprague in 1998 and Edwin Encarnacion in 2011 hitting the others.
Now Rivera’s teammate on the Yankees, Wells has actually fared far better against him than most, posting a .316/.381/.632 slash line in 19 at-bats.
What was his secret?
“Look for the cutter in, because when he throws it away, it’s going to end up being a ball,” says Wells. “So see it in, force yourself to get there, because eventually it’s going to get to the barrel, it’s just a matter of you’ve got to swing.
“It cuts late, so when he throws it inside to right-handed hitters, you have a tendency to think it’s going to be a ball, but then it cuts back over the plate. You have to force yourself to swing at it when you realize it’s coming inside.”
Thursday’s feting in Toronto will be the second-last road ceremony on Rivera’s farewell tour. The Yankees return home afterwards for series against the San Francisco Giants and Tampa Bay Rays before closing out the season at the Houston Astros.
During each road stop, Rivera has met with behind-the-scenes employees from each club, and during the Yankees’ previous trip to Toronto, he spent time with 20 long-time Blue Jays employees ranging from grounds-crew members to finance department staff.
The visits have made an impact on Rivera.
“How people appreciate the game, those you don’t even see, the ones you don’t even know,” he says of what he’s taken from the meetings. “At the same time, they do something for the game, appreciate the game and appreciate what you do. …
“Just being able to say thank you, I have learned so much from them.”
Each rival team has also presented Rivera with a parting gift, ranging from a chair made from bats he’s broken from the Minnesota Twins to a sand sculpture from the Rays.
Jose Bautista, Darren Oliver and Casey Janssen presented Rivera with a $10,000 cheque for his charity and an Inuit sculpture entitled Kiviuq’s Journey — The Angakok and the Eqalookpuk by contemporary sculptor David Ruben Piqtoukun.
Very rarely are opposing players honoured in such fashion, speaking to the respect Rivera has within the game.
“All I tried to do is do my job and respect the game of baseball, I believe that when you do that, things and players will respect that, and that’s the way I’ve done it my whole career,” he says. “I appreciate that, not that I’m asking for that, but I do appreciate that. It’s humbling and makes me feel good, knowing that the league or the teams recognize what you do and appreciate what you do.”
Even the Red Sox went all out in celebrating his career, having a cello quartet play “Enter Sandman” before the entire team presented him with a portrait from 2005 opening day in Boston. Rivera was also given the No. 42 placard from the Green Monster signed by the club, a blue 1934 Fenway Park seat and the pitching rubber from the visiting bullpen.
Each ceremony, however, is another reminder of how close the end is.
“I haven’t been thinking about it because I’ve been so caught up in trying to win to take a place in the playoffs so that I haven’t even paid attention,” says Rivera. “The (Red Sox) ceremony was kind of something. It was special. It was great. But even that, I thought for a moment and by the fifth or sixth inning, I was right back to what do we need to win, to get to the playoffs.”
That seems unlikely, even though it would have made for a fitting end to Rivera’s career. Either way, the Blue Jays will watch him make his exit with a deep respect for all he’s done, and a sigh of relief that he’s gone.