Simply the best

Ever since their team's heralded draft class of 2006, Yankee fans have been looking forward to the imminent arrival of a bunch of talented young bullpen arms. Besides Joba Chamberlain, there's 9th-round pick Mark Melancon, whose hammer curve has earned him comparisons to Francisco Rodriguez, and the recently-promoted David Robertson, who didn't allow a home run in 136 career minor league innings.

Having seen my team trot the likes of Steve Karsay, Felix Heredia, Tanyon Sturtze, and even Armando Benitez out of the bullpen over the past five seasons, it's certainly exciting to see what could become of the Yankees' bullpen. But before all of us get too wrapped up in the future, let's take a step back and appreciate what we get to witness there now. No, I don't mean Kyle Farnsworth and the 10 home runs he has allowed in 36 innings this season. Or LaTroy Hawkins and his absolutely dazzling ERA of 6.03.

Instead, I'm referring to Mariano Rivera, who is very quietly having one of the best seasons of his first-ballot Hall of Fame career. Mo notched his 22nd save in 22 opportunities Saturday against the Mets, hurling a 1-2-3 9th inning in which he threw just two pitches out of the strike zone -- though that's hardly surprising for someone who has allowed an average of one walk per month this season.

Try to digest these numbers: through June 30, Rivera is sporting a 0.74 ERA, a 0.55 WHIP, a K/BB ratio of 14.0, and a .138 batting average against. By comparison, during Eric Gagne's Cy Young-winning season in 2003, the then-Dodger closer's K/BB ratio was less than half of Rivera's and his ERA was nearly half a run higher.

Mo has actually been on this tear since the beginning of the 2007 season. After a rocky beginning, in which he blew his first two save opportunities and carried a 10.57 ERA into May, Rivera looked, well, like Rivera, recording his 10th season of 30 or more saves in the last 11 years. In his last 95 appearances, a run that dates back to April 23, 2007, the Sandman has blown just 2 saves, walked just 13 batters, and served just 5 home runs.

Yet somehow, despite how brilliant he's been for a full calendar year and despite the fact that he plays in a media market whose athletes are nauseatingly overexposed, Rivera has flown under the radar over the past few seasons. This year, Mo's dominance has been overshadowed by Rodriguez, who is leading baseball with 32 saves and may be on his way to breaking the single season saves record.

Sure, the saves discrepancy (32 vs. 22) is drastic, and K-Rod deserves credit for coming through almost every time for a team that plays a lot of low-scoring games. But otherwise, there is no contest as to who is having the better season. In virtually the same innings pitched, Rivera has struck out 10 more batters, issued 18 fewer walks, surrendered 5 fewer runs, allowed 4 fewer hits, and yielded an astounding 22 fewer baserunners. Still, perhaps because we have all been lulled to sleep by 13 years of startling consistency, Rivera's season has gotten a rather ho-hum reception from baseball writers, who are putting first-half wonders Cliff Lee and Justin Duchscherer ahead of Mo as early-season Cy Young favorites.

None of this is to say that Rivera will -- or even should -- win his first Cy Young award; if Gagne's 2003 season is the standard for relievers, then Rivera hasn't been overpowering enough to earn Cy consideration. Gagne, thanks presumably to the benefit of performance-enhancing drugs, struck out 137 batters in 82.1 innings (or nearly 15 batters per nine innings), while Rivera has never had more than 83 punchouts in a season since 1997. Through 34 appearances in 2008, Mo has 42 strikeouts, a total Gagne needed just 23 appearances to reach back in '03.

But what it does tell you is that, with apologies to K-Rod, Jonathan Papelbon, Joe Nathan, and Billy Wagner, Rivera is still the best at what he does. At 38 years of age, Rivera is more dependable than any reliever in the game, and for my money, it doesn't get any more exciting than seeing the best at his best.

No doubt I'm looking forward to the day where Joba Chamberlain goes 6 shutout innings, hands the ball off to Robertson and J.B. Cox for the seventh and eighth, and Melancon shuts the door in the ninth. But for now, while we have the great fortune of watching a legend at the top of his game, the future can certainly wait.

Cinderella wears cleats

Historically, college baseball hasn't exactly been a sport where parity reigns. From 1995-2007, a span of 13 seasons, only 7 different schools won the College World Series. Compare that to basketball, where 11 different schools have claimed the last 14 titles, and football, where in the 10-year history of the BCS championship, only LSU has more than one title, and it's easy to see that college baseball has been relatively predictable, a sport where the powerhouse programs have ruled.

And then, the Fresno State Bulldogs came along.

I'll admit I didn't watch one pitch of the College World Series -- but boy, I wish I had. Because according to those in the know, Fresno State just put together one of the greatest Cinderella runs in the history of college sports. There are people who say this one one tops George Mason's run to the Final Four in 2006, as well as NC State and Villanova's miracle championship wins of the 80's. And really, when you look at Fresno State's story, those people just might be right.

This was a team that began the season 8-12 and that finished the regular season with 27 losses, just six games over .500. With a putrid RPI of 89, the Bulldogs' only route into the 64-team NCAA Tournament was to win the WAC conference tournament -- which they did, thanks to a come-from-behind effort in the title game.

Then it was on to Long Beach, Calif., where Fresno State drew the fourth seed out of 4 teams (the equivalent of being seeded somewhere between 13th and 16th in a college basketball tournament) in a Regional bracket stacked with three top-17 teams. Right off the bat, the Bulldogs proved they belonged, knocking off the top seed, 11th-ranked Long Beach State, in the tourney opener.

Two days later, however, it looked as though Fresno State had come back to earth. The Bulldogs suffered a 15-1 shellacking at the hands of second-seeded San Diego that represented their worst loss of the season and forced them into a must-win scenario against the same Toreros the next day. But Fresno State responded, upending a team to whom they lost by 14 runs just 24 hours earlier to advance to the Super Regional round.

From there, it was more of the same for Fresno State: first put itself in a precarious position against a powerhouse team, and then overcome the odds. It happened against No. 3 Arizona State in the best-of-three Super Regional, when the Bulldogs dropped the first game by a convincing 12-4 margin only to come back and win the next two games -- both elimination games, both in come-from-behind fashion -- to earn a spot in the College World Series.

It happened again against No. 2 North Carolina, when Fresno State split the first two games of the series, found itself in its fourth do-or-die game of the tournament (there would be more still to come), and pulled off a 6-1 shocker against the best pitching staff in the nation.

And it happened once more against No. 8 Georgia in the championship series. First, Fresno State dropped Game 1 despite having a three-run lead in the eighth inning. Then they found themselves trailing 5-0 through 2.5 innings of Game 2, where a loss would end their Cinderella ride. But once again, as soon as their backs hit the wall, the comeback was on; over the next 7 innings, Fresno State equaled the largest comeback in a College World Series finals game and won 19-10 to force a third and deciding game.

The next night, thanks to a 6-RBI performance from sophomore outfielder Steve Detwiler, who was playing through a torn tendon in his thumb, and an 8-inning gem from junior pitcher Justin Wilson, who found the energy to throw 129 pitches on 3 days' rest, the Bulldogs sealed the deal, becoming the lowest seed in any sport to win an NCAA championship.

In case you lost count, here's the shortened version of Fresno State's run: 6-0 in elimination games, victories over 5 conference champions, and victories over 4 nationally-ranked schools -- all this for a squad that didn't have any first-round draft picks and whose ace, second-round pick Tanner Scheppers, missed the entire tournament with a shoulder injury.

The Bulldogs ended the year with 31 losses, the most by any national champion in NCAA history. By comparison, the previous two Div. I champions had lost a total of 34 games, and this year's Div. II and Div. III champions combined for 7 losses.

Heart and grit are two of the most overused words in sports. But in this particular instance, is there really any other explanation for what happened? I only wish I had seen it for myself.

A tip of the cap

Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling underwent successful shoulder surgery on Monday, a procedure that will not only end his season, but in all likelihood, his career.

That will pose an interesting dilemma for baseball writers come 2013, when Schilling's name will be on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time. As the twilight of Schilling's career has neared, his Hall candidacy has been described as tenuous, mainly because, at quick glance, the numbers simply aren't there.

With a lifetime mark of 216-146, Schilling won 21 fewer games than Jamie Moyer and just one more game than Kenny Rogers. In 20 seasons, Schilling never once won a Cy Young, never once led the league in ERA, and never once threw a no-hitter. He also wasn't exactly what you would call durable, posting just seven seasons of 30 or more starts.

Now, I'm no fan of Schilling's; whether he's campaigning for Bush, offering his unsolicited opinions about everything, or throwing his own colleagues under the bus, his pretentiousness has always been a little tough to take.

But even I have to admit that the debates about his Hall of Fame chances are nonsensical. Take it from someone who has seen Schilling cost her team two World Series crowns: in my lifetime, no starting pitcher has risen to the occasion in a postseason game quite like Curt Schilling. And when you couple those prolific postseason performances with regular season stats that, though hardly awe-inspiring, aren't as pedestrian as others suggest (see below), you have the makings of a slam-dunk Hall of Fame candidate.

First, let's look at where Schilling built his legacy: October. Schilling made 19 playoff starts over his career and posted an 11-2 -- 11-2! -- mark. According to ESPN's Jayson Stark, Schilling's 2.23 lifetime playoff ERA ranks second all-time amongst starters with at least 100 innings pitched -- he trails only the legendary Christy Matthewson. And while he hasn't earned any significant regular-season accolades, his mantle does hold a few postseason honors, most notably the 1993 NLCS MVP and the 2001 World Series Co-MVP awards. In the last 30 years, only five other players have garnered postseason honors in two different seasons: Josh Beckett, Steve Garvey, Orel Hershiser, Mariano Rivera, and Dave Stewart.

Few understand Schilling's postseason brilliance like Yankee fans, who have twice seen title runs stopped by his right arm. In 2001, following a 22-6 campaign for Arizona, Schilling led the D-Backs to their first-ever World Series appearance against a Yankee squad that was seeking its fourth straight championship. After hurling a Game 1 gem (7 innings, 1 run, 3 hits, 8 strikeouts), he took the ball for Games 4 and 7 -- both on just three days rest -- and was dominant. For the series, Schilling allowed just 12 hits and four earned runs in 21.1 innings, and his 26 strikeouts were tied for the fifth most by any pitcher in any playoff series all time.

Three years later, in maybe the most memorable performance of his career, Schilling torched the Yanks again, this time as a member of the Red Sox. With Boston down 3-2 in another ALCS showdown against New York, Schilling took the hill for Game 6 despite having a torn tendon in his ankle. With blood famously seeping through his sock, Schilling yielded just 1 run and 4 hits in 7 superb innings, keying the Red Sox' 4-2 win and forcing a Game 7.

And if that postseason résumé doesn't sway you, it's not like the regular season numbers aren't there for Schilling. It's true that for his first nine seasons (1988-1996), while he was oscillating between the bullpen and the starting rotation for the Orioles, Astros, and Phillies, Schilling was a mediocre pitcher. Case in point: on his 30th birthday, Schilling's win-loss record stood at 52-52.

But dig a little deeper, and you'll realize that from 1997-2007, Schilling was consistently one of the best pitchers in baseball. During that 11-season span, only Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez bested Schilling's 2,316 strikeouts. Only Greg Maddux had more wins amongst righties than Schilling's 164. Only Johnson topped Schilling's 56 complete games -- the Big Unit had 57. And no one posted a better K/BB rate than Schilling's astounding mark of 5.51.

None of this is to say that Schilling is in, say, Bob Gibson's stratosphere, but when you factor those remarkable stats in with his nearly unparalleled October success, you have to believe that Schilling will be enshrined in Cooperstown in the coming years -- like him or not.

Tennis anyone?

If baseball doesn't float your boat, then you've reached a sluggish point in the sports calendar. With the conclusion of the NBA Finals earlier this week, the MLB is the only one of the four major sports leagues in session. NFL teams won't hit training camp for another month, and at least for the forseeable future, you can't even pay any attention to golf, as Tiger Woods' season-ending knee injury has made the sport virtually irrelevant.

That said, how about a little tennis, anyone?

Wimbledon kicks off Monday, and on the men's side the prohibitive favorite is, of course, No. 1 Roger Federer. He's won a whopping 59 consecutive matches on grass and five straight Wimbledon crowns. If Federer can pull off another win at the All-England Club this year, he would become the first man since 1886 -- 1886! -- to win 6 consecutive Wimbledons.

But perhaps for the first time in the last few years, Federer is no shoo-in to win Wimbledon, and there's nothing like a vulernable legend to bring some suspense into a tournament. Federer's troubles this year have been well-documented; he's captured just two of the 10 tournaments in which he has participated, won only three matches against top-1o players, and most importantly, posted an 0-2 mark in major championships.

There are legitimate reasons for Federer's struggles in 2008. He battled an early-season case of mono that apparently sapped him of energy during the Australian Open, where he failed to reach the final of a major for the first time since 2005. By the time he recovered, he was battling through a clay-court schedule that has always been troublesome for him.

But with Federer now on the wrong side of 26, you have to wonder whether or not his best years are behind him, as has so often been the case for tennis' greats. Not including Federer, there are five players who played their entire careers in the Open era (after 1968) and who have won at least eight Grand Slam singles titles: Sampras, Borg, Connors, Lendl, and Agassi. Of the 49 Grand Slams that group has combined to win, only 19 have come after their 26th birthdays.

But it isn't just time that's against Federer's side. Unlike golf, where there is nobody within 10 clublengths of Tiger Woods' stratosphere, Federer has actual competition challenging him, namely No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal. The Spainiard is 3-0 against Federer this year -- all on clay surfaces -- with the latest victory coming in a dominant 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 win in the French Open final on June 8. It was not only Federer's worst loss in 173 career Grand Slam matches, but the worst loss by any No. 1 player EVER in a major final.

The knock on Nadal is that he is strictly a clay-court specialist -- he's never won a major played on any other surface. But it seems Nadal is closer to beating Federer on grass than Federer is to beating Nadal on clay. On Sunday, Nadal claimed his first career grass-court title, beating Djokovic in straight sets in the finals of the Queen's Club, a tournament Federer sat out.

Then there's last year's Wimbledon final, a classic that ranks amongst the most thriling matches ever played at the All-England Club. Nadal challenged Federer to a a 3-hour, 45-minute duel, becoming the first man to ever push Federer to a fifth set in a Grand Slam final. The Swiss star prevailed, but it was clear Nadal had significantly closed the gap on grass.

You'll hardly have to wait for a potential Federer-Nadal showdown to see someone challenge Roger. He could have to contend with France's Gael Monfils, who took a set from Federer in the semifinals of the French Open, in the third round and former Wimbledon champ Lleyton Hewitt in the fourth. In all, there are five former Grand Slam winners that are on Federer's side of the draw, the most prominant of whom is third-seeded Novak Djokovic. The Serbian sensation won his first Grand Slam at Australia in January, when he dispatched a mono-plagued Federer in the semis before taking the title match over Jo-Wilified Tsonga.

All told, it promises to be an exciting two weeks in England. Even this baseball fan will be watching.

While you were sleeping...

In one of the greatest acts of cowardice you'll ever see, the Mets fired manager Willie Randolph and two coaches today. At 3:14 in the morning. After a win, no less.

I never thought I'd see any team botch the firing of its manager worse than the Yankees did during the offseason. If you'll recall, the Bombers offered Joe Torre, a man who guided them to four World Series titles and no worse than a postseason berth every year of his 12-year career, an incentive-laden, one-year contract following the team's first-round exit from the playoffs last October -- as though the greatest Yankee manager since Billy Martin had something to prove.

But somehow, the Mets managed to go even lower than that, insulting the second-winningest manager in their history with a series of missteps that culminated in this morning's utter debacle:

a.) Oct. 2, 2007: After the Mets blow a 7-game NL East lead with 17 games to play and missed the postseason, there is speculation the team may give Randolph the ax right then and there. The Mets wind up keeping Willie on board -- but only after he has to twist in the wind for two whole days before the team makes its decision.

b.) May 26, 2008: With the Mets in fourth place and the "Fire Willie!" chants growing louder at Shea, Randolph emerges from a meeting with GM Omar Minaya and owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon with his job. The front office, however, makes no assurances that it will retain Willie for the remainder of the season, leaving Randolph on thin ice and prolonging the speculation about his job security.

c.) June 17, 2008: After Willie manages the Mets to a doubleheader split against Texas, the team allows him to take a 3,000-mile trip out to the West Coast, where the Mets will begin a series with the AL-West leading Angels. The Mets score an impressive 9-6 win in the series opener, and Randolph returns to the team's hotel assuming his job is safe for at least another day. But shortly after midnight local time, Minaya summons Randolph, pitching coach Rick Peterson, and first base coach Tom Nieto into his hotel room, where he tells them that they have been fired.

No one is arguing that the Mets were wrong to fire Willie. Certainly a manager has to take some heat when his team suffers the greatest September collapse in baseball history. Or when his team, with its $137 million payroll, sits under .500 midway through June.

But the way the team handled Willie's firing seems to suggest the organization has absolutely no clue what it's doing. First and foremost, the move was cowardly, with the Wilpons essentially sending Minaya out to California to do their dirty work for them. Say what you want about George Steinbrenner's ruthlessness, but at least he always had the guts to tell an employee to his face whether or not he was wanted.

Second, the timing was simply incompetent. The Mets had scores of opportunities to fire their manager and decided every time against pulling the trigger. Instead, they waited until after Randolph had to endure a difficult trip to the other side of the country, until after he oversaw the team's third victory in four games, and until after they had the cover of darkness. How disgraceful.

Finally, the way the decision was handled was simply merciless. Randolph is a native New Yorker and a baseball lifer who won a total of six World Series crowns in his days as a player and coach with the Yankees. He is universally-regarded as one of the classiest guys in the sport. Did the Mets really have to humiliate him like this? Did they really have to treat a man who led them to within one win of a trip to the 2006 World Series so poorly?

Only the Mets could turn something as justifiable as firing an underachieving manager into a public relations catastrophe.