The Saver

In modern day Major League Baseball, it is the closer who has an entire game put on his shoulders.
The closer – a true specialist who comes in only to literally save a win for his team – stands alone on the mound. The team game of baseball boils down to a battle between two men – a pitcher and a batter.
The ‘hill’ is no spot for the weak of heart or the weak of mind. It is a chess match played out with a man holding a leather ball against a man holding wooden bat. Armed with a fastball, a changeup and maybe a curve, it is the closer who declares war, fought 60 feet and 6 inches apart.
Last night, it was one of the game’s best closer who threw out the first and last pitch.
Fresh off his 500th save, Mariano Rivera had the honor of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the Yankee - Mariner game. Rivera, afterall, became only the second closer (Padre-now-Brewer Trevor Hoffman being the other) to achieve 500 saves.
The game, played in the new Yankee Stadium in front of more than 46,000 fans, was a close one. The Yankees took the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning. It was a lead of three runs or less. It was a save situation.
So Rivera was called upon once again to save the win for his team. Eleven pitches and three outs later, that is just what Rivera did. Save number 501 is in the books.

Analysis: I like Tyler Kepner's lead. He points out the irony of Rivera throwing the first pitch in front of the mound like most guest pitchers do. He uses amount of quotes from the players and their opinions on the pitcher. He ties in Rivera's success at the mound with the teams success over the last few games. Instead of focusing on the series and past games, I wanted to focus on the importance of Rivera and his accomplishment last night.