Comments on: Mariano Rivera blows save as Carlos Pena plays hero in first game back with Rays

By: cur68

cur68 — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 03:21:24 +0000

This guy gotampabay52 is, I believe, the same commenter (a rays fan) from last season who went by the handle “urteamsux52″. He was a master of illiteracy, trolling, and a trenchant lack of punctuation. He is my new HBT Mission. I will teach this guy to spell, use periods, and be semi-coherent. Can’t do a thing about the trolling but at least I can make it understandable. So far he’s found his shift key, spell checker and right click. Now we must find our period key, Mr. Comma, and Mr. Exclamation Mark. Hoo-rah!

By: 24missed

24missed — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 20:18:53 +0000

You just keep rockin’ away!

urteamsux52 had a different name before right? Bozos?

Is urteamsux52 speaking for all RS and NYY women that live
in those cities only? Or is urteamsux including RS and NYY
female fans that live throughout the world? Female fans live in other
countries, I’m thinking Canada, perhaps. Some of us live in
other cities or small towns in the U.S., some females might even live in
Tampa!

Thanks for doing the right thing as usual, hot stuff.

By: 24missed

24missed — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 20:06:55 +0000

This is why I am so grateful for my HBT boyfriend.

By: 24missed

24missed — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 20:03:12 +0000

See your third sentence. You are looking for hope. I can’t believe I am saying this to you, hittfamily, but I have hope and faith. Counting blessings on having Rivera for a closer would be the equivalent of identifying the reasoning why the RS aquired the players they did in the off-season. Character? Vincente Padilla. Improvement in Right Field? Ryan Sweeny. Bullpen? Ummm. Count the blessings of Rivera.

Walking the bases loaded? Geez, Andrew Miller is awesome at that and they don’t have to be intentional.

Your scenario is interesting and I respect it, though the Bill James thing wasn’t nice.
Just joshing.

By: 24missed

24missed — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 19:45:49 +0000

I hate the intentional walk. Hate. But, that’s me. I hyperventilate when I see the RS put someone on base. The guy that sucks that the Sox always try to get to somehow, somehow manages to make the difference in a tight situation.

The other thing is that this is Rivera. He is there for those tight moments and even this RS fan has faith that Rivera could have struck ‘em all out and then some.

Girardi of little faith and a RS fan of more faith? What is wrong with this picture?

By: jimeejohnson

jimeejohnson — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 16:27:53 +0000

Grammar Police have spoken!

By: cmcgly

cmcgly — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 13:27:40 +0000

I know grabbing a wild card spot is banner worthy for rays fans, I’m happy for you

By: cmcgly

cmcgly — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 13:22:36 +0000

I remember thinking Rivera was done when he blew his first save opportunity of the season like 5 years ago. Coming from a Red Sox fan, this guy is once in a lifetime, I don’t care what anybody says

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 04:44:13 +0000

The Colonel won the jackpot when John Lackey signed for over 100 mil. Oh crap. KC / KFC, I get em confused.

By: shavodog1

shavodog1 — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 04:34:01 +0000

@kcredneck u obviously don’t know much about fla, Miami is little Cuba not Tampa. And judging by your statement your prob a bandwagon Yankees fan from kansas city, but I understand since kc hasn’t won shit in three decades…

By: cur68

cur68 — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 03:24:12 +0000

Oh I’ll bite your…ahem. I mean yes, it is a bit of a pain when that intentional walk happens, 24.

By: cur68

cur68 — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 03:22:22 +0000

urteamsux52! How are you my friend? Well done on the capitals for “Good Friday” & “NY”. I see you are making use of spell check. This is good. Hit that period key now, right at the end of every complete thought. Looks like you could maybe have a go with the exclamation mark (its on the number ’1′ key. Hold ‘shift’ and type ’1′ when you really want to finish a sentence with a bit of fire). Lookin’ better there, buddy.

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 03:09:04 +0000

Oh yeah…. They brought in a fifth infielder, so they only had 2 outfielders.

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 02:16:26 +0000

2 in a row between these teams (going back to last year’s miracle 162), that involved one team taking a huge lead early, blowing a save, hitting a grand slam, losing on a walk off, and the red Sox are 1 game behind the Rays at the end of it.

By: kcredneck

kcredneck — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 02:13:21 +0000

settle down there in cuba,oops, tampa, its only one game papi. lets see who makes the playoffs. thank you sports fans.

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 01:38:49 +0000

Of course you walk the bases loaded in that situation. A bobbled ball can still beat Zobrist to home, but not if a tag is required. You have to hope Rivera can get a ground ball, and if he does, you get to play one more out. If there is no force, you now have to hope for a swipe tag at the plate, or your catcher holding on after being run over.

Even Beill James walks the guys to get to Pena in both situations.

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 01:38:48 +0000

All vapor attacks aside, there does have to be a time when Rivera isn’t flat-out amazing, right? Right?

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 01:34:13 +0000

Let fall? The outfield was in, and it hit off the wall. Not even Carl Lewis was tracking that one down.

By: js20011041

js20011041 — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 01:18:27 +0000

I’m not saying that closers have no value. But given the way they are currently used, they are worth nowhere near the money they are payed. If managers stopped using their relievers to play to the save rule, you might have an argument, but not with their current usage pattern.

By: js20011041

js20011041 — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 01:13:24 +0000

Honestly, in that situation, I’m not really sure the walks do anything to hurt you other than not allow for an unintentional walk. With the winning run on third and no one out, you need a minor miracle to keep that run from scoring. I actually think the intentional walk gets a little bit of a bad rap. Yes, it’s overused and often used incorrectly, but it can be a useful tool in the right situation.

By: phillyphever

phillyphever — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 01:12:12 +0000

Oh really, ask the Braves during their run how many WS they would have won if they had a legit closer. The Phillies wouldn’t have won the WS if Lidge wasn’t closing in 2008.

By: js20011041

js20011041 — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 01:07:30 +0000

And my comment still stands. All closers are overrated. Singling one out to call overrated is kind of silly. It’s like picking on the least athletic kid at a fat camp.

By: phillyphever

phillyphever — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:58:21 +0000

Hoffman’s retired (the guy I called overrated).

By: Gonzo

Gonzo — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:28:57 +0000

Your comma and period keys are broken.

By: brokea$$lovesmesomeme

brokea$$lovesmesomeme — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:13:21 +0000

They should trade him while they can.

By: jason9696

jason9696 — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:10:49 +0000

It’s never a bad day when the Yankees lose.

By: 24missed

24missed — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:08:24 +0000

Congrats to Pena!

This loss really shouldn’t fall on Rivera, it was all about Girardi. I hate intentional walks; they always come back to bite you in the arse.

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 23:55:01 +0000

P.S. Boston and NY are tied for last place in the AL East.

By: js20011041

js20011041 — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 23:54:27 +0000

Says a fan of the team that just gave a closer $50 million.

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 23:53:22 +0000

Rivera is human? Who would have thunk it? Yesterday when Perez blew the save in Cleveland, many including Rotoworld were claiming that it was time for a new closer in Cleveland. However, I assume that Rivera will get well deserved a free pass on this outing.