Various outlets are quoting Rivera today as saying he is DEFINITELY coming back in 2013!

(can we fast-forward to February 2013 now?)

Mo bless you, Diane. Best news I've had all day. RIP MCA.

Good...back to baseball. I saw that the Yankees *finally* decided to call up another OF. Unfortunately it's Dewayne Wise. Hm. A quick perusal of the AAA roster: egads, the pickin's are slim.

Mo should close the 1st game of 2013 ... drop his glove, then walk off the mound and retire

.
.
.
Jayson Nix LF
Eduardo Nunez 3B
Chris Stewart C

That makes me sad.

Off to the Mud Hens. But not excited to see a game tonight.

[1] I hope so.

supposedly dr. althchek told mo he can be back in 3-5 months.
i have never heard of that with regard to this injury.
it's not crazy to think mo could play in october of this year though if he wants to play again but not play next year.

anyway let's see what we have going on here - hopefully one of the big hitters will get it going soon.

(1) True! "Yankees closer Mariano Rivera spoke to reporters Friday and took to Twitter to announce he will be back next year after suffering a season-ending knee injury Thursday in Kansas City.

“I’m coming back,” Rivera told reporters, according to the Yankees Twitter account. “Write it down in big letters. I’m not going out like this.”

[7] I'm confused, Ms. O...you mean that he could rehab by October, play in October (Insha'Allah) and then retire? Or that somehow his playing in October would preclude his playing next year, as if it's one or the other?

listen, if Jamie Moyer can START at 49 in Colorado of all places, and have a 3.14 era.

well then I like our 42 year old short reliever's chances of coming back from a non-arm injury.

[9] sorry for not being clear. just saying that it is not crazy to think that if he gets the surgery pretty soon (and from what the 7 million doctors i have gone to have said to me is usually you wait for the swelling to go down some before having surgery, unless there is a meniscus tear as well in which case you have the surgery more quickly and since apparently mo has a meniscus tear too he would probably have the surgery pretty soon) he could rehab and be ready to pitch this october and then retire if he chooses to.
of course if he wanted to play next year he could.
i was just thinking of how he could pitch again but not have to come back next year since in case he did not in fact want to pitch again next year.

[11] Yes.

Yeaaaa. He's coming back!!!

There. Man, the premature paeans to Mo really bothered the hell out of me.

I know writing about the game and searching for the "romantical" in it all go hand in hand, but really, was it too much to ask for people to wait?

I'm saying this about some people whose writing and work I very much enjoy (yes, Alex, I love the silver surfer connection with Mo, but I hated your timing) - why the headlong rush?

I'm sorry, but you have to blow a lot of wind over the embers to build "twisted knee at the base of the wall in crappy Kansas City" into something poignant. Not how he goes out. I told you FUCK NO last night.

And monkeypants, boy do I disagree with your "what's overrated" post from last night, but I probably won't be able to really argue about it for another two months. I've got some second and third level stats, in mind, though, for anyone with a lot of time on his or her hands and a desire to sharpen my ax to grind for me - as I think there are numbers inside the numbers that would expose the fallacy of a shut down back end being overrated.

And since I'm just lashing out blindly today, [4] what on earth is wrong with you? That is the most anti-baseball loving thing you could write. You really would want to pass up another year of getting to watch Mo pitch in service of some silly need for the poetic???

It's about the damn baseball. Mo should throw the LAST PITCH OF THE DAMN WORLD SERIES, then put down his glove, and THEN walk off the mound. And Hal needs to open his damn checkbook to make it happen. Right now he is really striking me as a signature penny wise, pound foolish dunce.

[5] Yikes..that is just not encouraging.

RIP MCA..didn't even know he was sick.

WOWZA!!!!!!!!! Mo will be back!!!!!!!!
I must mosdestly point out I said this in a previous post.

just one thing
do you know
What you think
that the world owes you
What's gonna set you free
Look inside and you'll see
When you got so much to say
It's called gratitude
and that's right.
RIP MCA
Heal soon, Mo!
Go Yankees!

14) I encourage debate and differing opinions but there is no call for belittling anyone's take even if you don't agree. C'mon, be more like Mo: show some control.

[18] That wasn't meant to belittle, more to remonstrate. If I'm too out of control in asking for some self-control, I apologize, but I'm in an anti "too much pretty" mood these days. No disrespect was intended, but yes, strong disagreement. I'm an incredibly cranky optimist, which I think is an uncommon combination, and can lead to unexpectedly caustic crackbacks on the pessimists.

And [16], if I may immodestly point this out, I was way out ahead of you: http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/2012/05/03/dont-get-me-started/#comment-276722

On an unrelated topic, I hadn't really followed Cashman's mess of a personal life this offseason, so I only caught up on the full rundown today. Although it may sound like something strictly off-field, 1) is it crazy to look at what he's been up to and find that his judgment is seriously in question and 2) how can this possibly not be affecting his focus and ability to properly perform his job (the one he gets paid for)? I wouldn't hire someone who made the series of decisions that Cashman has made in his personal life these last few years.

Yo, [16] I did too.

So now I feel a lot better. We have to get through a season without him, but he's not leaving yet. Okay. So this is the Year of the Hamma, let's get it done!

[18] Although maybe you were referring to my shot at Hal. In which case, no, I do not apologize...

Hm, yeah, why Wise rather than C-Dick?
Bobby Abreu went to the Dodgers. But let's face it, he sucked.

I thought this (ESPN, "Red Sox Hope Rivera Will Be Back") was cool, and today on New England sports radio I heard similar sentiments. Not too surprising, but I was gratified at how universal the sentiment was. People sounded genuinely sorry.

Eduardo Nunez is just gonna play every day now huh?

I think Jeter is eight away from Tony Gwynn now

Now we're talking.

This is how it's supposed to be. Jeter gets on all the time, and one of the big guys behind him gets us an early lead. Maybe the baseball gods have accepted The Sacrifice?

This is the game thread, right? All the catharsis bled everyone dry? JJ Merlock scared everybody off?

Seriously. What in the fuck are the Yankees trying to accomplish with Eduardo Nunez? He's not getting better.

What? Oh, lord.

Cripes. What the hell kind of game is this?

[28] Okay, not afraid to start with NunE5

Frenchy gapped one. Come on CC, settle down.

It's a new ballgame!

Why is it that when Nuney does something good bad things happen?

This news about Mo wanting to come back has me feeling optimistic again. He was looking real strong this year, too. I saw him hitting 94 on the radar gun

[34] I think even the baseball gods are trying to tell the Yankees something

Looked inside.

...WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?

Cano is playing in a fog. Coaches?

Yankees running themselves out of the inning.

I seriously want to know who the hell looks at that combination and goes TIME FOR A HIT AND RUN!

One of the worst tactical managers I've ever seen.

On a happier note, I just realized that Jeter has a outside shot to pass Gehrig for the franchise lead in doubles this year

[40] Matt, that's not a hit and run, per se, it's putting the runners in motion on a full count with a contact batter at the plate to stay out of the double play. Counting on Cano to hit the ball if it's a strike. It's a common move. Robby just shit the bed by swinging at a ball and missing it.

DId you see Ed Yost taking a dip of tobacco in full view of the camera? The Red Man pouch is sitting on the bench. I thought MLB ordered the teams to keep chaw out of sight this year. You don't see the round tins anymore in the back pocket of players.

Oh Jesus Christ, its Bruce Chen!

[29] The binder has declared that Nune4567 is awesome and shall play everyday. The binder also says that the bullpen is more complete with both Clay Rapada and Boone Logan, because then Rapada can be the mostly LOOGY and Logan can pitch to anyone, because he can get anyone out.

There's a cynical joke about how the Yanks would've and eventually did trade Montero but Nune4567, he was untradeable! Far too valuable!

/sarcasm
/cynicism

I had to get that out. In the meantime, awfully psyched that Mo isn't going down without a fight! [7] IIRC, Milton Bradley tore his ACL and was back in a little after 6 months. Don't remember if his meniscus was also torn or not. All that said, I'd prefer Mo take it easy. The last thing I'd want is for him to push to come back too soon and injure something else.

I've always liked Nunez.

I've just always liked Derek Jeter more.

YAY!

And Jeter’s current line is: .407 .443 .611 1.054

Derek Jeter is hitting out of his mind! He must be feeling pretty good right now.

Big Fly time.......

[50] Seven away from Gwynn. Eight away from Yount. 18 from Waner, 20 from Brett.

This could be a real fun month for him.

I don't know if I would call it lunging, but ARod seems 'out of position' after he swings. His balance is all fucked up.

I'm back from "The Avengers." Fun movie, btw. I am glad that Mo is resolved to recover and come back.

Derek is hitting everything in sight.

Why pitch Robertson with a 4-run lead in the 9th when he might be needed to protect a 1- or 2-run lead in the next 2 games?

Until Mo returns...amen