After playing shortstop for an amateur team in his home country of Panama, Rivera volunteered to try pitching after his frustrations with the team’s current pitchers. As we all know this offering by Rivera ended up paying dividends for him…. Eventually.

His talents caught the eye of a Yankee scout and the team made him an offer. In 1990, Rivera signed a minor league deal with New York worth $3000. Just $3000 gave the Yankees the rights to obtain the greatest closer in MLB history. Money well spent considering Rivera holds the record for most career appearances with a single team at 1,051. Obviously with that many appearances he must be playing pretty well; from 1997-2011 Rivera had at least 25 saves every single year (could have been a streak of over 30 saves a year if not for the ’02 season) and currently holds the record for most saves ever by a player, 608.

That number 42 comes up again, that currently is the record Rivera holds for post-season saves, that along with his record 0.71 ERA in the post-season. I feel like that stat needs to be stated again, Mariano Rivera has 42 post-season saves. (I am not even sure if my favorite team has 42 post-season saves in the history of their franchise.) The next closest single player behind “Mo,” Brad Lidge has a total of 18 saves. Meaning Lidge would again have to save as many games as he already has, plus another 75% of his current total, to then only be tied with Rivera.

An obvious first ballet Hall of Famer, the 43 year old, said he wants to spend more time with his children and wife which he actually met in elementary school in Panama. As a man who has made a very good career out of making professional baseball players fail, Rivera has always done it in a way without ever seeming to show anyone up. His style of play is successful and dominating, but it is hard to think of a player that had anything similar in terms accomplishments that also always had his level of respect for the game.

The post Rivera to Retire After Season The Last No.42 Leaving With Him appeared first on KRUI Radio.

This round on Monday night ended eerily similar. The game appeared to be in hand for the Cyclones when the wheels fell off. In the final seconds of regulation, the possession after Korie Lucious went one for two from the charity line; there was a no call that had everyone talking on Tuesday. By every rule of the definition a charging foul should have been called, but after two players collided leaving them both on the ground, a charge was not called, instead, while both players were scrambling for the ball, a reach-in foul was called on Iowa State Freshman, Georges Naing. It seems that as of late referees are taking the initiative to not take initiative and basically swallowing the whistles in the final seconds of games. There was a similar play to this a couple weeks ago in a Michigan and Ohio State game where Ohio State guard Aaron Kraft had his shot blocked, and there appeared to be a considerable amount of contact while he was trying to get his shot off in the final possession; that play pales in comparison to the no charge call at Hilton Coliseum.

This is not how Iowa State lost the game, I believe what every coach will say after every win or loss, and that is that a game is not won by one play or one call or even one no call, it is the accumulation of the plays that happen throughout the entire game that gives us the winner and the loser. Perhaps though the players are beginning to understand, that in the final seconds of a game that if they go hard to the hoop the positive outcomes are in their favor over that of the defenders, especially a defender whose plan of attack is to stand still with the hopes of someone running into him.

The post Iowa State Loses Heartbreaker, Self Wins 500th appeared first on KRUI Radio.