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Rivera saves No. 400

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With the souvenir ball from his 400th save nestled gently in the pocket of his mitt, Mariano Rivera got a warm hug from a grateful Joe Torre and flashed his proudest smile.

The closer by which all closers will soon be judged, Rivera waved to a few fans and disappeared into the dugout, another victory safely secured for the New York Yankees.

And he had an important phone call coming -- owner George Steinbrenner was on the line to offer congratulations.

"It's amazing, amazing to even think about it," Rivera said Sunday after escaping two jams and getting six outs to preserve New York's 6-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox. "I've been blessed."

Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run homer, and Derek Jeter connected for the first time in two months to give New York an early lead against Freddy Garcia (10-6).

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/baseball/mlb/07/16/whitesox.yankees.ap/index.html?cnn=yes
 
the greatest closer ever and has been this great for this long in the "STERIOD ERA" which makes it even more impressive. Not to mention doing it in the expanded playoff format which most of the closers he is compared to never had to play in.
 
a funny side note on Rivera. His biggest blown save ever was Game 7 of the WS vs Arizona. The man most responsible for who Rivera is today is Buck Showalter. He groomed him from AAA and took the time and babied him till he was major league ready never giving up on him (along with Stick Michael)

When Showalter went to Arizona, he wanted the dirt path from home plate to the pitcher for an old-time feel type of deal. That was his idea. He was fired, in came Breenley, obviously they just stayed with the dirt path. Game 7, WS...ball hit to Rivera, takes a funny bump on that dirt path, he rushes his throw to 2nd, ball gets away.......he goes on to blow the save. yadda yadda yadda.

So, if it wasn't for Showalter wanting that dirt path, Rivera probably doesn't blow that save. He has an extra WS ring, and his legend is even greater than what it currently is!

Just a funny side note.....
 
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