Comments on: Mariano Rivera is not worthy of the Cy Young

By: BahstonSuxEternal

BahstonSuxEternal — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:48:24 +0000

One pitches and comes through in the biggest pressure situations, the other is a middle reliever.
NO contest, fool.

By: UB

UB — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:24:46 +0000

Cy Young award= Starting Pitcher.Cy won, what 500+ games.He wasn’t the best pitcher of all time, just played in the earlier years and was good then.The best pitcher of all time was maybe Bob Gibson.Tom Seaver.Nolan Ryan.? It’s hard for the babied athletes of today to pitch 6 innings, but it’s for the starters. To give the Cy Young to a guy with one pitch and gets a lot of strikes called that are balls,is wrong. If this guy pitched more then to 1 or 2 batters in years gone buy he’d be gone by now and nobody would be talking about him. Come in for 1 inning or less,you have got to be kidding when you say he’s the greatest.Still love Ball, but the Athletes make so much and so much of the game is gone. Speed seems to be making a come back, that’s good. the outfielders rarely have an arm that is worth talking about.Where are the Valentines, the Walkers,Lynns,Barfields and so on. Pitchers of years ago were so much better then these guys today and their arms could throw 160+ balls and complete games.The steroids have taken such a toll on today’s players that when you stop using them, you not only lose your power, size and strength, you lose your hair(lots of shaved lids today) and you get hurt a lot.

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:31:23 +0000

That’s a 2.08 ERA with one start to go for Greinke now. And with a good outing today, look at his his start before (W 7 IP 1 ER) against a team that had to win (Twins). He might be the one guy to keep the Twins from the playoffs.

By: DinkyDow

DinkyDow — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:38:10 +0000

Graham – “Jeter- great player,credit to the game but is not in the class of Luis Aparicio,Ernie Banks or Ozzie Smith.”
I’ve watched Luis Aparicio,Ernie Banks and Ozzie Smith. Jeter is better than all but Ernie. If you don’t realize that, watch soap operas because you don’t know anything about baseball.

By: DinkyDow

DinkyDow — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:15:36 +0000

Mo has been the most valuable Yankee for 13 years. The problem is that sports writers are to stupid to realize that. It’s the same anti Yankee crap they have for Jeter. “He’s overrated.” If sports writers actually knew anything about sports, they would have given Mo a Cy Young years ago. They should take all voting, Hall of Fame, Cy Young, MVP away from writers and give it to the players who actually know about the sport they play.

By: Javelin

Javelin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:54:36 +0000

No, a good closer is NOT as valuable as a good starter.
If starters were ineffective, there would be no closing opportunities. (An exaggeration, for sure, but you get the point).
Y’know the old football saying, “A defensive back is a wide receiver that can’t catch”? Well, a closer is a starting pitcher with bad stamina.

By: Toz

Toz — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:47:11 +0000

Ummm…Brad Lidge saved 48 straight games last year. How do we feel about that now?
Mo is great…you, not so much.

By: Me

Me — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 16:41:11 +0000

I think that Greinke and King Felix have done enough this year that it is unlikely that a closer will win the award (and rightfully so). As the numbers stand today, Greinke should win the award without much of a fight. He was been consistantly dominant and has the best ratios. While he might have more starts against a team like Cleveland, he has zero starts against the lowly Royals (for obvious reasons). Meanwhile Sabathia and Beckett (the likely wins leaders in the AL) both have starts against the Royals and got to avoid facing their own teams lineup. As for Mo, he is the best Closer of all time, and should be recognized for that (as he already is).
PS: This is coming from a Yankee fan.

By: graham

graham — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:02:59 +0000

why are there still cy young awards?starting pitchers rarely pitch complete games(six innings and they are gone).closers rarely pitch more than one inning,and are rewarded with saves when the save is not deserved.whwn was the last time a starter pitched into extra innings?the award is named for Cy Young.pitchers today are not in the same league as Young,Mathewson,Babe Ruth,Spahn,Koufax,Gibson,Marichal,Drysdale,Feller,and others.today’s relievers don’t belong with the likes of Elroy Face,or Hoyt Wilhelm.it’s very simple-just compare the innings pitched,and the amount of pitches throw.”joba rules”?baseball has been using “joba rules”for the past 25-30 years,there just wasn’t a word for them.re:Jeter- great player,credit to the game but is not in the class of Luis Aparicio,Ernie Banks or Ozzie Smith.

By: XTrust_No1X

XTrust_No1X — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:14:03 +0000

CC Sabathia is the 2009 AL CYoung winner LOCK!
Derek Jeter is the 2009 AL MVP LOCK!
And the New York Yankees will win their 27th World Series Championship in 2009. LOCK!!!
Mayor Michael Blommberg is already getting the ticker tape cut, and he’s having Keys to New York City made to be handed out after the parade down the Canyon of Heroes to City Hall! LOCK!!!
All this happening in New York, and where are the Mutts? They’re already setting up their Tee-off times for this fall! LOCK!!! Hahaha

By: Craig Calcaterra

Craig Calcaterra — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:36:37 +0000

Chris — “body of work” has nothing to do with a single-season award. All that matters is what happened in 2009, and in 2009, Rivera has not been the best pitcher in the American League, no matter how big a fan you are of his. By the time the season is over, he will have pitched between 25 and 30% of the number of innings that the best starters will have pitched, and he is not 3-4 times better than the starters on an inning-per-inning basis.
He’s almost certainly the best relief pitcher in baseball, both this season and in history. But that doesn’t entitle him to a Cy Young.
As for my facts: please tell me which ones I don’t have straight. And in support of your own arguments, please offer some, as opposed to what seem to be mere fanboy opinions.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:31:22 +0000

Honestly, what do you know? Mariano Rivera is having one of the best seasons of his Hall of Fame career. He is, bar none, the most dominant pitcher in baseball, starter or reliever. Sure, Zach Grienke deserves some recognition, but his stats don’t match up. His body of work is no where close to Rivera’s. I would make an argument for CC Sabathia more than I could for Grienke. But saying Rivera doesn’t deserve it, makes you look like a complete idiot and very uncreditable. Get your facts and your act together before you decide to voice your pathetic opinions.

By: HOTROD

HOTROD — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:44:03 +0000

Dude, go suck a hard one, u idiot POS………
WTF R U ANYWAY ???

By: Greenie

Greenie — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:06:56 +0000

Dave- I’m confused by your logic. How many complete games has Mariano pitched? And are you saying that he should get the Cy Young based on his effectiveness from previous years or this year? I thought that the 2009 award was for play in 2009.

By: NY Dave

NY Dave — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 12:32:07 +0000

How often do these Cy Young award winners regularly pitch complete games? What about any MLB pitcher?
That’s why Mariano deserves it. The Yankees wouldn’t have ANY of those postseason wins in the 90s-00s without him.
You cannot win without a dominant closer in the postseason. Period.

By: Old Man Duggan

Old Man Duggan — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 02:40:35 +0000

ERA isn’t affected by the offense supporting him or the unearned runs allowed, but it is affected by a severely limited defense. The Royals are statistically the worst defense in baseball by nearly every measure. Range, Zone Rating? These things absolutely affect ERA.

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:47:58 +0000

Who are the Rangers?

By: jim

jim — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:29:45 +0000

Mo could also win MVP like that one closer in 1992 did, eckersly?

By: Greenie

Greenie — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:29:59 +0000

Because Rivera is as good as he is he may be considered but he should not win… I personally cannot accept an argument for a closer winning the CY Young unless..?? I’m not sure what those criteria are but he would have to do some seriously insane stuff. I admit that I suffer from acute bias… But compare ’09 MO to ’09 Grienke and I choose Grienke every time.
In the mean time, lets watch Grienke get robbed this year like Santana was in ’05. Somehow CC is gonna win this and it will foster the undying-and-unquenchable-hate-that-bubbles-inside-me for all things Yankee.

By: another Joe

another Joe — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:15:50 +0000

Craig, while I’m sure it’s somewhat true that talking about them does get views, ratings, or whatever the media involved measures, I was being somewhat facetious in that reply. Forgive my NY bred cynicism….

By: Bill@TDS

Bill@TDS — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:53:49 +0000

Huh…does this site not like the “less than” symbol? That said “60 [is less than] 200. It really is that simple.”

By: Bill@TDS

Bill@TDS — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:52:39 +0000

It was 2005, yes, and Santana got absolutely robbed. That he finished behind both Colon AND Rivera just made it that much worse.
No post-1985-or-so closer has ever done enough to be worthy of Cy Young discussion. 60

By: dealdo

dealdo — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:40:41 +0000

Mo should have won it at least once in his career, they’re afraid to vote for a closer for some reason. I think it was 2005 that it went to Colon who had an ERA around 3.5 which IMO is nothing impressive for Cy Young material.

By: JonPeter, Hartford, CT

JonPeter, Hartford, CT — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:26:51 +0000

This article sounds like a bunch of sour grapes. Of course a reliever isn’t going to get the innings of a regular starter. A starter knows in advance when he is going to pitch and starts with a 0-0 game with no one on base. In contrast, relievers, especially closers, get called on short notice, sometimes inherting runners on base and facing team that is ready to score. In a moments notice they are asked to shut down a team, preserve the win.
Sorry, you are way off base, pun intended. of course releivers should be considered for the Cy Young award.

By: Ross

Ross — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:46:50 +0000

“Granted 200 IP with a good ERA is more impressive than 60 IP with a great ERA, but how many of these starters have to come into a game with runners in scoring positions and only up by 1 or 2 runs?”
Inherited runners, should they score, don’t get charged to the reliever on the mound. They get charged to the guy who let them on in the first place.

By: Realitycheck

Realitycheck — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:19:38 +0000

Sabathia supporters should do their homework. Of the nine common opponents both pitchers have faced, Grienke has a lower ERA against all of them except for one. The number in parenthesis is the number of games the pitcher has faced each team this season. If you point to wins, keep in mind that Sabathia has two more starts than Grienke.
Bal 2.63 (4) 2.08 (2)
Cle 2.84 (2) 2.39 (4)
Oak 4.57 (3) 3.86 (1)
Det 2.40 (2) 1.16 (4)
LAA 6.08 (2) 1.13 (1)
Tor 2.25 (1) 5.25 (2)
TB 5.93 (2) 5.25 (2)
Sea 4.61 (2) 0.00 (1)
CWS 4.50 (2) 1.25 (5)

By: Michael Rosano

Michael Rosano — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:15:29 +0000

Maybe he doesn’t warrant the CY Young, but that baseballs fault for taking away the Fireman of the Year award. If you don’t want to fault Grienke for palying for the Royals, then you shouldn’t fault Mariano for being the best closer ever. What is good for the Goose……………. Mariano is deserving of an award and if that is the only award offered to all pitchers than he should be considered.

By: Not the your Father's Yankee's

Not the your Father's Yankee's — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:55:59 +0000

Tim,
Ya Atlanta was high on big Tex also. We aren’t playing the Yankee’s of the early 90′s but today’s Yankee’s and we own you. Sorry. Last I checked we took 2 out of 3 in the Bronx. Oh big Tex, um we got Neftali Feliz, Salty, the best fielding shortstop in the majors (not that no range Derrick Jeter, who I actually like btw :, but Elvis would beat him in fielding in a wheel chair, lol) and Matt Harrison plus future reliever Beau Jones. Harrison was a starter last year and would have been this year if not for injuries. Neftali owns all and will win 20 next year (including several in NY), and Elvis catches all. No we will beat you like a red headed step child.

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:55:33 +0000

I was wrong, you don’t have wax in your ears, it’s in your brain. The Yanks have had the best record in MLB for the last 2/3 weeks. The Rangers are 3 games out of the WILD card and will not even win that. Letting Texiera walk was A TRULY BRILLIANT move. 26 to zero, next.

By: NYguy

NYguy — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:39:44 +0000

Tim, I would not quit your day job. If you start a site, then you better learn something about baseball first. Your lack of insight is horrible.