Rivera: End of an era?

[George H Ruth]

If this is the end for Rivera, there have been very few Baseball Hall of Famers whose careers ended so suddenly:

1. Lou Gehrig (diagnosed with ALS)
2. Roberto Clemente (died in an offseason plane crash)
3. Roy Campanella (paralyzed in an offseason car accident)
4. Kirby Puckett (suddenly went blind in one eye during spring training)
5. Ed Delahanty (died in a drunken accident/suicide when he fell/jumped from a bridge at Niagara Falls)

That's about it. Nolan Ryan retired suddenly after tearing a ligament while pitching in September 1993, but he was going to retire at the end of that season anyway.

There were a few others, like Babe Ruth, Mike Schmidt and Sandy Koufax, who retired abruptly in midseason or in the offseason, but they probably could have continued had they chosen to.

Anybody I'm missing?

[Joe33]

No offense, but comparing a torn ACL to death, blindness and terminal illnesses is a stretch.

Let this play out, let him have the surgery and see where he stands in a few months.

[EdTarbusz]

Mickey Cochrane never played again after he was almost killed when he was beaned by Bump Hadley.

[redban]

Ralph Kiner had to retire at age 32 because of a back injury.

[ipitch]

No offense, but comparing a torn ACL to death, blindness and terminal illnesses is a stretch.

When did he compare them?

[DaaBoTownSox]

No offense, but comparing a torn ACL to death, blindness and terminal illnesses is a stretch.

Let this play out, let him have the surgery and see where he stands in a few months.

It's hard to fathom Mo' letting his career end like this. He'll be back I think.

[Joe33]

When did he compare them?

By listing careers that ended suddenly for those reasons. A torn ACL is hardly the bad news those fellas received. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it's not like Mo got the sort of news that makes a return to baseball all but impossible. If the desire is there to rehab, he should be back.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

If this is the end for Rivera, there have been very few Baseball Hall of Famers whose careers ended so suddenly:

1. Lou Gehrig (diagnosed with ALS)
2. Roberto Clemente (died in an offseason plane crash)
3. Roy Campanella (paralyzed in an offseason car accident)
4. Kirby Puckett (suddenly went blind in one eye during spring training)
5. Ed Delahanty (died in a drunken accident/suicide when he fell/jumped from a bridge at Niagara Falls)

That's about it. Nolan Ryan retired suddenly after tearing a ligament while pitching in September 1993, but he was going to retire at the end of that season anyway.

There were a few others, like Babe Ruth, Mike Schmidt and Sandy Koufax, who retired abruptly in midseason or in the offseason, but they probably could have continued had they chosen to.

Anybody I'm missing?

Interesting bit of history on Big Ed, because of where I live, Buffalo NY.

Ed's body was found down river at Niagara Falls but the point where he fell, jumped or was pushed ( not intentional) by a train conductor was 20 miles from Niagara Falls.

This took place on the International Bridge from Buffalo NY to Fort Erie Canada. Not a very long railroad bridge 500-800 feet, as young kids we would walk accross it. Not so anymore not after 911, no more walking the bridge.

Ed was acting up on the train and was removed near the Fort Erie side. To this day it is not known if he was in a confrontation with some on the train, or he jumped or he accidently fell.

Some real history on that bridge, as we know Ed was a superstar in those days. I actually got a sense of history, standing right on the spot in Fort Erie where he was removed from the train. His body made it down the Niagara River to Niagara Falls.

[George H Ruth]

Interesting bit of history on Big Ed, because of where I live, Buffalo NY.

Ed's body was found down river at Niagara Falls but the point where he fell, jumped or was pushed ( not intentional) by a train conductor was 20 miles from Niagara Falls.

This took place on the International Bridge from Buffalo NY to Fort Erie Canada. Not a very long railroad bridge 500-800 feet, as young kids we would walk accross it. Not so anymore not after 911, no more walking the bridge.

Ed was acting up on the train and was removed near the Fort Erie side. To this day it is not known if he was in a confrontation with some on the train, or he jumped or he accidently fell.

Some real history on that bridge, as we know Ed was a superstar in those days. I actually got a sense of history, standing right on the spot in Fort Erie where he was removed from the train. His body made it down the Niagara River to Niagara Falls.

There's an excellent book by Mike Sowell on Delahanty and the incident called July 2, 1903.

A couple of the interesting things surrouding that incident was that Delahanty had money problems (from gambling and too much spending), and was also a pretty heavy drinker. The AL and NL had just agreed to stop raiding other players, but Ed wasn't too happy with his contract. If I remember the book right, the train he had jumped the Senators, and was heading to New York, where John McGraw still was interested in him despite the peace agreement.

Not to mention, imagine if A-Rod or Pujols got drunk a bunch of times, was told to sit out until they sobered up, left the team, got kicked off the train (or plane), and ended up missing for two weeks before their body was found. The media would be all over it 24-7.

[brett]

Is he the greatest player per unit of play ever? Except for that guy who went 3-3 of course.

Get this, he has pitched and equivalent of 135 games worth of innings. He has only played 1 side of the ball during that period, so he's played equivalently to 67.5 GAMES worth of play and he has 58 WAR, plus a replacement pitcher would have been worth abot 2.4 wins in that amount of playing time. That is over 60 WINS worth of value in only 67.5 games worth of innings (an inning being 3 outs on the offensive AND defensive side). It works though, because if you give up half the average number of runs you should win 80% of those games. He is virtually a 100% winning percentage player for the time he played.

[csh19792001]

Is he the greatest player per unit of play ever?

Yes.

Also the greatest postseason performer I could ever imagine.

Pitched through the entire Steroid Era, pitching against the best of the American League with the DH intact, he pitches 96 games and puts up a 0.70 ERA!! TWO HOMERUNS ALLOWED IN 141 INNINGS PITCHED. 527 batters faced!!!

What he did was kind of like a deadball player setting the World Series record for home runs (or something like that). I.e., Seemingly impossible numbers given the conditions and context....

[bluesky5]

He is intent on coming back from what I've heard.

[Joe33]

He is intent on coming back from what I've heard.

He should be back, but latest news from the doctors is that it's unlikely he does so in 2012.

Funny that we know more about Rivera's plans injured than when he was healthy.

[bluesky5]

He should be back, but latest news from the doctors is that it's unlikely he does so in 2012.

Funny that we know more about Rivera's plans injured than when he was healthy.

Haha true. At least Yankee fans know he'll be back. Whats his limit? He could go to 45-46 easy, in my opinion.

[Joe33]

Haha true. At least Yankee fans know he'll be back. Whats his limit? He could go to 45-46 easy, in my opinion.

He's in tremendous shape, I agree, I think he could go at least 5 more years with ease. I just don't think he plans on it, probably wants to spend more time with his family.