Mariano Rivera

The New York Yankees don't sock the ball the way they did in recent years. Their starting pitchers are older and a little less dominating. They've struggled to find the lights-out eighth-inning reliever so many of their teams in the last decade have had. Ah, but they still have Mariano Rivera, the double-padlock righthander who just might be the best closer ever. "Pick your two favorite superheroes and I'll put Mo up against both of them," Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens said.

Someday in the distant future, somebody is going to pull out a baseball history book and take a quick glance at this latest in a long line of New York Yankees dynasties. That person will probably conclude that the Yankees disposed of the New York Mets in the just-completed World Series almost as easily as they had dispatched the San Diego Padres in 1998 and the Atlanta Braves in 1999. The Padres and Braves were swept in four games, and the Mets extended the 2000 Series only one game beyond that.

When he's catching Mariano Rivera, Jose Molina doesn't really have to put a finger down. "We just put it down for location," the Yankees catcher said yesterday. Even that sign barely seems necessary. Rivera's cut fastball, one of the great pitches in the history of the sport, is back in the World Series, about to bust in on some Phillies hitter's hands. "You hope it's not a cold night because you know a jam shot's coming real soon," said Phillies pinch-hit specialist Matt Stairs, who faced Rivera in his American League days with typically limited success.

Some potential controversy was introduced before last night's Game 4 of the American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels. A video clip from Monday's 5-4, 11-inning Angels win made the rounds on the Internet, showing Yankees closer Mariano Rivera holding the ball and spitting downward. Was he spitting on the ball? Apparently that wasn't the case, at least as far as Major League Baseball is concerned. "After reviewing available video and still photography, we have found no evidence that Mariano Rivera was spitting on the ball," Michael Teevan, MLB's manager of media relations, wrote in an e-mail reply to The Inquirer.

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said closer Mariano Rivera informed him this week that he is unsure if he will play again or retire, according to a report by ESPNNewYork.com. After he crumbled to the turf and tore his anterior cruciate ligament in Kansas City in early May, Rivera vowed he would return in 2013. Now, with his 43d birthday next month and as he has worked very hard during his rehab to return, Rivera has the familiar tug of possibly wanting to stay home with his family and call it a career.

These three long-serving Yankees - Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Andy Pettitte - may finally be facing their last waltz. They won four World Series titles from 1996 to 2000 and a fifth when they beat the Phillies in 2009. (They also appeared in the Series in 2001 and 2003.) This year, however, Jeter is hurt, and Rivera plans to retire at season's end. What the core players did: Nobody has done it better than Jeter, Rivera, and Pettitte. Before 2009, the trio won the Series in 2000, 1999, 1998, and 1996.

These three long-serving Yankees - Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Andy Pettitte - may finally be facing their last waltz. They won four World Series titles from 1996 to 2000 and a fifth when they beat the Phillies in 2009. (They also appeared in the Series in 2001 and 2003.) This year, however, Jeter is hurt, and Rivera plans to retire at season's end. What the core players did: Nobody has done it better than Jeter, Rivera, and Pettitte. Before 2009, the trio won the Series in 2000, 1999, 1998, and 1996.

The great Mariano Rivera is getting set to close his career. The New York Yankees reliever plans to announce this weekend that he will retire after the 2013 season, a person familiar with the decision told the Associated Press on Thursday. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because there was no official statement. A news conference was called for Saturday at the Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa, Fla. The 43-year-old closer is baseball's saves leader with 608. He is regarded as one of the best clutch pitchers in history, posting a record 42 postseason saves with an 0.70 ERA while helping the Yankees win five World Series championships.

NEW YORK - Shane Victorino battled Mariano Rivera for 10 pitches before grounding out to second to end Game 6 of the World Series last night. The Phillies centerfielder walked back to the dugout as the Yankees poured onto the field to celebrate their 27th championship, peeking back to see the opponents' joy. "It was definitely hard to watch," Victorino said. "I can feel what [Eric] Hinske felt last year [when his strikeout lifted the Phillies to the world championship]. I guess I'm going to be on the highlights all offseason watching myself make the last out. I definitely didn't want to be that guy. I wanted to get on base somehow, someway, but it didn't work out that way. " Several Phillies players lingered in the dugout as the Yankees bounced around the infield in a group hug. "Yeah, I took a peek," Ryan Howard said.

Mariano Rivera, Bronx Dreams, Pinstripe Legends, and the Future of the New York Yankees By Charley Rosen Harper. 384 pp. $25.99 Reviewed by Joelle Farrell As a title, Bullpen Diaries isn't bad. The author, Charley Rosen, an analyst for FoxSports.com and author of 11 sports books, spends 2010 watching the Yankees bullpen, using his extensive baseball knowledge to dissect every game from a reliever's point of view. The book reads at times like one big scouting report, explaining who threw what and how the game turned out. The subtitle, on the other hand, seems to offer a promise that the book never keeps.

FOR ATLANTA manager Fredi Gonzalez, there's a lot to like about filling out the lineup card in American League ballparks. Brian McCann hit two home runs, including a solo shot in the 10th inning that lifted the Braves over the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-6, on Tuesday. Freddie Freeman had three hits in the cleanup spot, rookie catcher Evan Gattis homered in the fifth spot and McCann, who started at designated hitter, went deep twice batting in the sixth spot. "That's a pretty big three right there," Gonzalez said.

The Nationals played Monday without Bryce Harper, who has swelling in his left knee. Harper's injury was aggravated in Sunday's 6-1 win over the Phillies and he had an MRI. Team medical director Wiemi Douoguih said the outfielder has inflammation of the bursa sac in front of his knee, which he anticipates "clearing up in a couple of days. " The MRI showed some soft tissue swelling, but no structural damage, Douoguih said.   Farewell tour Mariano Rivera wasn't prepared for the question.

What was already a bad time for umpires got worse Saturday when one of them walked a batter on just three called balls. It happened in Kansas City with two outs in the fifth inning. Royals batter Lorenzo Cain was awarded first base on the seventh pitch of his at-bat after the Yankees' Andy Pettitte buried a pitch in the dirt. Home-plate umpire Mark Wegner called ball four. Yankees manager Joe Girardi disagreed, setting off a controversy. "We thought in the dugout it was 2-2," he said.

ANTONIO HARRIS lives on South Ringgold Street, little more than a mile from Citizens Bank Park, and his favorite sport is baseball. So, maybe he can tell some stories about brushes with famous Phillies. Securing an autograph from Ryan Howard. Being tossed a batting-practice ball by Roy Halladay. Dancing on top of the dugout with the Phillie Phanatic. Um, not quite. "My favorite team is the Yankees," Harris said. Yankees?! Seriously?! Should we end this story now?!

ANDY PETTITTE was a rock on the mound in his latest gritty performance. Mariano Rivera jogged in from the bullpen to nail down a ninth-inning lead. Following two straight duds to start the season, the banged-up New York Yankees finally looked like themselves Thursday night. Pettitte pitched the Yankees to their first win of the year and Rivera made a successful return to the mound in New York's 4-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox. "I was waiting for 11 months," said Rivera, who acknowledged feeling a little anxious before his first regular-season pitch since knee surgery.

1. The Los Angeles Angels already had an unbelievable lineup, which included rising star Mike Trout, from Millville, N.J., and future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols. Now, they have a lineup for the ages with the addition of Josh Hamilton, the prized possession of the offseason. After a disappointing 2012 that included missing a playoff spot, you can bet the Angels are ready to go big. 2. No matter what happens, the New York Yankees will always be the center of attention in baseball.

These three long-serving Yankees - Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Andy Pettitte - may finally be facing their last waltz. They won four World Series titles from 1996 to 2000 and a fifth when they beat the Phillies in 2009. (They also appeared in the Series in 2001 and 2003.) This year, however, Jeter is hurt, and Rivera plans to retire at season's end. What the core players did: Nobody has done it better than Jeter, Rivera, and Pettitte. Before 2009, the trio won the Series in 2000, 1999, 1998, and 1996.

These three long-serving Yankees - Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Andy Pettitte - may finally be facing their last waltz. They won four World Series titles from 1996 to 2000 and a fifth when they beat the Phillies in 2009. (They also appeared in the Series in 2001 and 2003.) This year, however, Jeter is hurt, and Rivera plans to retire at season's end. What the core players did: Nobody has done it better than Jeter, Rivera, and Pettitte. Before 2009, the trio won the Series in 2000, 1999, 1998, and 1996.

Both the infield and outfield of Yankee Stadium are growing on 1,000 acres of green farmland alongside Route 40 in Pilesgrove, Salem County. Drive past and watch the sky widen in the windshield as the pool-table-flat land stretches, with un-Jerseylike drama, toward the horizon. The farm's crop of inch-high Kentucky bluegrass is ultimately cut into 4-by-70-foot rolls of sod and shipped to what is arguably the premier address of Major League Baseball - known to some as the sport's home office.

The great Mariano Rivera is getting set to close his career. The New York Yankees reliever plans to announce this weekend that he will retire after the 2013 season, a person familiar with the decision told the Associated Press on Thursday. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because there was no official statement. A news conference was called for Saturday at the Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa, Fla. The 43-year-old closer is baseball's saves leader with 608. He is regarded as one of the best clutch pitchers in history, posting a record 42 postseason saves with an 0.70 ERA while helping the Yankees win five World Series championships.