facing mariano rivera

Reviewed by G. Louis Heath, Ph.D., Ashford University, Clinton, Iowa

14 march 2014 archive

Facing Mariano Rivera

This book consists of 150 testimonials to the perdurable greatness of the finest relief pitcher ever, Mariano Rivera, number 42 of the Yankees, a number that has been retired. The tributes come from those who faced Rivera. All returned to their dugouts in awe; most all did not reach base. After all, 12 people have walked on the moon; only 11 have scored an earned run against "The Sandman" in postseason play.

The book is divided into six sections, giving voice to MLBers by position: Infielders, Outfielders, Catchers, Designated Hitters, Pitchers, and Management. Forty-two infielders were interviewed, including Roberto Alomar, Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Jeter, and Chipper Jones. Thirty-two outfielders are represented, including Ichiro Suzuki, Gabe Gross, and Torii Hunter. Nineteen catchers speak to the reader, especially Gustavo Molina, Terry Steinbach, and Tom Wilson. Seven designated hitters include David Ortiz and Mike Sweeney. David Cone, Rich Goose Gossage, Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia, Curt Schilling, John Smolz, Rich Sutcliffe are among the best known of the thirty-one pitchers interviewed. Joe Girardi, Jim Leyland, Mike Scioscia, and Joe Torre are among the 19 managers providing a deposition, a term that I use as all the 150 pieces, all about one page long, read much like a deposition-cum-testimonial, mostly compelling but often a bit redundant in their effusive praise. It is almost as if David Fischer had cued them to become breathless in their spoken awe. Yet, the truth is that the short interviews are genuine in their spontaneity and recollection and provide a great encyclopedic-style volume of indelible Rivera impressions in the player or manager's experience with the closer. One might call each piece an impressionistic vignette, usually a bit of angst and dread dredged up from the psychic recesses. On his farewell tour around the league in 2013, the finale to his 19 MLB seasons, the Seattle Mariners did more than plumb the psychic depths; they gathered all the franchise's bats Rivera had splintered with his devilish and insidious cut fastball and had them crafted into a rocking chair for the retiring superstar. That recognition speaks volumes about the historic impact of Rivera who seems almost certain to accede to Cooperstown without a dissenting vote.

Rivera's rise to stardom was a rise out of poverty in Panama where he grew up playing baseball on a beach with a plastic carton for a glove, a mangrove limb for a bat, and wadded-up fishing net for a ball while his father eked out a living as a fisherman. In reading the book, I kept thinking of how long the odds for such lofty success were for him and, perversely I thought, what ever happened to the young boys he played baseball with in Panama? Certainly, a book about them would be most interesting, to point up the Ponzi-like sports scene that now entertains us, where one kid with makeshift equipment makes it big but virtually all the others remain mired in poverty and misery. So, for me, this book is not only a fine book—highly recommend it for all libraries as well as for baseball scholars and fans—but it also speaks to the inequality of a world that presents impossible odds to the global disadvantaged. Did Mariano's childhood friends seek to become the next Manuel Noriega? Or did they end up scrabbling a living in the irregular economy so prevalent in Panama? Or just what? I couldn't help thinking sociologically as I make my living as a sociology prof.

Two short quotes may help you decide on this book. Third baseman Corey Koskie recalled, "You knew what pitch Rivera's going to throw, a cutter … You start to swing at the pitch and the next thing you know, the ball explodes your bat. I tried multiple things hoping to figure out a way to get the barrel of the bat on one of his pitches … Nothing worked." And my favorite from five-time All-Star Mike Sweeney: "When you're at Yankee Stadium and Mariano Rivera is coming in the game, it feels like a horror movie … when you hear the music and you're scared to death, because you know what's going to happen."

Rivera's cut fast ball accrued him 652 regular season and 42 postseason saves, a record that may never be broken. He is one of the greatest professional athletes ever. Facing Mariano Rivera documents that greatness in the best way possible, through the detailed recollections and accolades of the MLB players and managers who knew him best. As a primary source for sports historians in an era of evanescent e-mails and text messages, this book will prove valuable for generations to come. It is also an entertaining read and offers the advantage of being the sort of volume one can sample both for reading pleasure and as a reference. It concludes with Rivera's career statistics and editor David Fischer's comments on his methodology in compiling his treasure trove of MLB candid and most compelling interviews.

I highly recommend Facing Mariano Rivera, yet another fine book from Sports Publishing, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a rising force in the world of sports non-fiction and fiction publishing.

to the top of this page