Mariano Rivera

Enter Sandman by Metallica starts blasting through the Yankee Stadium loud speakers at the top of the ninth inning. If there ever was a song opposing players of any team wished they would never have to listen to, this would be their choice.

The crowd gets up and roars its approval as the inevitable is about to happen. The Yankees have the lead and are about to give the ball to their 39 year old one pitch closer. Just so happens, Mariano Rivera is as dominating as ever.

Both Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera started their careers in 1995 as New York Yankees.

Mariano has stayed put and has been with the Yankees since the start of his career, while Andy has been a Yankee for 12 of his 15 seasons.

Both Yankees have impressive career numbers:

Pettitte has over 2,000 strikeouts, 217 wins, and a career 3.88 ERA.

Rivera sports an impressive hall-of-fame stat line of 485 saves, close to 1,000 strikeouts, and an astonishing 2.28 ERA. These numbers secure a spot as one of the most dominate closers ever.

New Stadium Playing Much Differently Than Planned

Three games have been played at the new Yankee Stadium thus far and 17 HRs have been hit. Add the eight hit in the exhibition games against the Cubs and that's 25 HRs in five games, or for you shellshocked Yankee fans, five HR per game.

The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians by a score of 6-5. They won with a home run by Derek Jeter in the top of the eigtth inning. Joba Chamberlain didn't pitch well. Brian Bruney got the win and Mariano Rivera got his third save.

Derek Jeter had his second game winning hit this season. Whether it's the one spot or two spot, Jeter produces.

There may be no more under-rated or under-appreciated aspect of a baseball team than the bullpen. While few relievers get the glory that they deserve, a collective bullpen as a whole can single- handedly lead to a team's success or demise. Therefore, with the 2009 major league baseball season now under way, I feel it is undoubtedly appropriate to give my assessment of the this year's Yankee bullpen.

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“You have the rest of you life to work.”

In my previous piece, I said I tend to gloss over outfielders. If that's true (and it is), I flat out ignore pitching. Those of you looking for sturdy analysis of more than just the super-elite starters and closers should look elsewhere because I'm just going to hit the aces of the aces.

In other words, these are not the previews you're looking for (with a wave of my hand).

It should hopefully be a fun read though...

THE PITCHERS

According to Joel Sherman of the NY Post, if the Yankees lost closer Mariano Rivera to a lengthy stay on the disabled list, Joba Chamberlain would likely be moved to the pen to replace him as closer.

The last true setup man that the Yankees had was Tom Gordon in the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Since then, the Bombers have had no steady option to hand the ball off to after the seventh inning.

I read an article that said that Brian Bruney was vying for the job. Check out what Bruney himself said:

With all due respect to the Tampa Bay Rays, the two favorites are finally in the building—the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.

I feel a little bad about doing this because it's one of the primary reasons people really hate these two franchises—they get all the hype no matter how recent and thunderous their failures.

Boston lost the American League East and the AL Championship Series to Tampa in 2008. New York failed to even qualify for the playoffs. Yet, here I am, touting both as the kings of the hill with no reason except offseason headlines.