Rivera

I'm aware that I'm a few days late and many dollars short on this one but what kind of biased homer would I be if I didn't at least mention that the Red Sox absolutely own the pride and joy of the Yankee pitching staff and one of the greatest closers of all time.

I know we've all been bombarded with stats about Rivera's recent futility against the Sox so I'll spare the repeats, but I can't go without mentioning the ESPN poll which asked who you would rather be in the bottom of the 9th with the score Yankees 4 Red Sox 3, the Red Sox batting or the Yankees with Rivera on the mound. Almost 60% of the the 70,000 people who voted chose the Red Sox batting. I know it's not an overwhelming majority but remember that we're talking about a guy that used to be the most feared pitcher in the game. There are still ex-players that hear "Sandman" in their nightmares (Rivera's entrance music at Yankee stadium which I've only heard once, at the end of game 7 of the ALCS with the Sox up 7 and it was still pretty intimidating).

Perhaps this text message exchange between the Slant and my most pig-headed Yankee loving friend Waddy says it best.

Me: It must be scary for you to realize that the Sox own Rivera.
Waddy: TRUE!

PS: Pictures etc. will return as soon as I get this thing re-configured, which likely won't be until the end of the weekend, fucking bartender's hours.