Joe, good post on Posada.  I can see Girardi saying that to the pitchers, but does Jorge take Girardi seriously?  I don’t know maybe he does.  Winning streaks will certainly help a  manager say things to players.

Now, on to “A Day to be thankful.”  July 4 is a day in which we much to be thankful for: liberties, our country, rights, clearance sales, etc.  But this July 4th marks the 14th anniversary of Rivera starting a game against the White Sox and blanking them to only allow 2 hits while striking out 11.  His previous starts were unspectacular, but after the game against the White Sox, the Yankees thought twice about what they had.

Then about three years ago (July 17, 2006) I wrote the following:

“Today seemed like a good day to put this in perspective. I’ve been walking around saying that Mariano Rivera, forget relievers, is one of the top 20 or 25 pitcher of all time, period. It seems like I’ve been short-changing the Great Mariano. I’ve been racking my brain and here’s what I come up with. The first list are pitchers I can definitely say are better than Mariano. The next list are pitchers who, Mariano doesn’t take a back seat to. If you add up the guys who are better. You will find that you can possibly make a case that Mariano is the 11th greatest pitcher of all time and we are seeing him play right now in front of our eyes. Tell me if you agree with this analysis, or if you think I made any great oversights.

Pitchers who are better than Mariano:

Lefty Grove, Carl Hubbell, Walter Johnson, Sandy Koufax, Christy Mathewson, Warren Spahn, Cy Young, Rube Waddell, Eddie Plank, Joe McGinnity and Grover Cleveland Alexander.

Pitchers on the same level, or I’m having trouble saying they are better:

Roger Clemens, Steve Carlton, Juan Marichal, Fegie Jenkins, Greg Maddux, Jim Palmer, Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson, Bob Feller, Whitey Ford, Jim Bunning, Lefty Gomez and Red Ruffing.”

I just thought I would recall this after he recorded his 500th save, because I’ve been reading alot of praise on MO (deservedly so), it’s just good that everyone finally joined this party.  Check out Joe Posananski’s column on SI.com entitled: “Mariano’s a true Yankee”.