Mariano Rivera

When someone asks who is one of baseball's best closers, Mariano Rivera is among the first names on that list, and rightfully so. His career ERA is in the top 15 all time, and his ERA-plus is easily the greatest all time, not to mention his save numbers, and World Series rings as a member of the New York Yankees.

So what's left for this dominant relief pitcher to accomplish at 40? How about holding a 0.00 ERA as long as he did.

A review of each season's Most Valuable Player voting typically reveals the best players in the game at that particular time. Although each player's team's regular season success is a factor, the vote tally usually has a strong correlation to statistical leader boards.

Those players have almost always earned this recognition through quantifiable performance from RBI, HRs and batting average to wins and saves. Individual team MVP selections often mirror the same approach.

However, determining which players are most indispensable can often entail a much more complex equation.

The injury bug has been taking out Yankees one at a time. Is the Sports Illustrated cover curse taking its place in the Yankees locker room? The core four appeared on the cover this past week and three of the four have been battling injuries.

Jorge Posada is day-to-day with a calf strain, Mariano Rivera has missed a few games because of stiffness in his arm, and Andy Pettitte had to leave Wednesday's game with stiffness of his own in his left arm.

This is a weekly focus on the hurlers that dominated their adversaries. These pitchers put up nasty numbers and made big league hitters wish they were playing Tee Ball again.

1) SP Ubaldo Jimenez COL

Ubaldo Jimenez is pitching the best baseball of his life. Jimenez gave Colorado their first no-hitter in franchise history. He struck out seven and pitched 128 pitches.

He has a 1.29 ERA after a flawless pitching performance and has a perfect 3-0 record.

Let's start today with a little numbers exercise:

Player A: .333 BA    1 HR    5 RBI    .443 OBP    .471 SLG

Player B: .380 BA    3 HR    9 RBI    .404 OBP    .600 SLG

Player A: 3.57 ERA    0-2 W-L    14 K    1.47 WHIP

Player B: 1.35 ERA    2-0 W-L    14 K    1.20 WHIP

Perfection is a word that must be used cautiously.

And perfection in the sense intended here does not mean always perfect.

Every fan of the New York Yankees can remember a base hit in the bottom half of a ninth inning of a seventh game of a World Series in 2001 when we all felt our team would win because Mo was closing.

We can also remember home runs in crucial games in Fenway Park which we could not believe Number 42 had actually given up.

But Mariano Rivera is perfection.

Mariano Rivera is the perfect closer.

Is that Mariano Rivera?

The Yankees had a special guest on hand for their ring ceremony Tuesday afternoon.  It wasn't Yogi Berra, it wasn't Whitey Ford, and it wasn't George Steinbrenner—although they were all there. 

Hideki Matsui was the true guest of honor in the house that the Core Four built.

Although Matsui wasn't with the likes of Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, or Andy Pettitte back when the group won their first four rings in the 90s, he still feels like a true Yankee who has been there forever.

The primary reason why athletes play the game, any game, is their competitive fire drives them to win. What helps drive the Major League baseball player is to obtain the World Series Championship ring.

This is a weekly focus on the hurlers that dominated their adversaries. These pitchers put up nasty numbers this week and made big league hitters wish they were playing T-Ball again.

SP Jorge De La Rosa (Col)

9 K, 0.00 ERA, Win