After nearly four-month of silence, it was hard to find the precise topic worth discussing in my first column of the new school year; however, the recent personal milestones of two childhood heroes ultimately rendered me incapable of selecting anything else.
In a clubhouse saturated in a history of tradition and excellence, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera now stand out as two of the best all-time ball players to ever wear the classic Yankee pinstripes; moreover, they are two of the top fifteen players to ever have played baseball.
Jeter, or “the captain” as he is known in New York, is the epitome of “living legend” after becoming the 28th member of the 3,000 hits club this summer, clinching the milestone in epic fashion with a home run.
Not since Michael Jordan has there been an athlete so consistently dominant in regular season and postseason alike.
Although many will not welcome the comparisons, I contest that Jeter is without question the second most prominent athlete of my lifetime behind Jordan. The pair shares not only postseason success, but also an unflinching competitiveness and a rare ability to perform when the spotlight is glaring on them.
Former Yankee manager Joe Torre once said of Jeter, “the tougher the situation, the more fire he gets in his eyes. You don’t teach that.”
He’s absolutely right.
As for Rivera, there isn’t a pitcher in the past twenty years that will leave a more lasting legacy on the game.
After yesterday’s perfect ninth inning save against the Twins, “Mo” now holds the MLB record for saves and he won’t be relinquishing it anytime in the foreseeable future.
Critics could refute Rivera’s place among some of the all-time greats, considering he isn’t an everyday ball player and averages less than 80 innings pitched per season in his career; however, they would be overlooking the one fact that sets Rivera above the rest—at a position that rarely sees a player peak beyond five seasons, Rivera has been peaking for fifteen consecutive years.
Besides Rivera, only Pedro Martinez and Joe Nathan have had five seasons of 50 or more innings pitched with an adjusted ERA of 200. Rivera has had 11 such seasons.
Jeter and Rivera have been teammates for seventeen consecutive seasons alongside catcher Jorge Posada, capturing five World Season titles and cementing themselves as the best ever at their respective positions (shortstop and relief pitcher).
Since joining the Yankees in May of 1995, Jeter and Rivera have been the keystones to arguably the greatest dynasty in any professional sport. As the Yankees prepare to clinch a playoff bid this week, Jeter and Rivera will enter their sixteenth postseason together.
In the final stages of their careers, Jeter and Rivera have done the unthinkable—maintained their greatness over a three decade stretch, outlasting every other player that could be listed next to them in the “Best Player of Our Generation” debate.
The way I see it—and this is biased coming from a lifelong Yankees fan—Jeter and Rivera are simply No. 1 and No. 2 when it comes to talking about baseball players since 1990.
The next two on the list are unarguably Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr., and between the two of them they don’t have a single championship ring. Jeter and Rivera have ten combined, which is by no means a definite number with the 2011 postseason looming.
