Closer, continued

The infinitely serene Mariano Rivera following yesterday's unpleasant outing.

There was the game against the Orioles last September when Torre brought Rivera into a 2-0 game and it became 7-0. This wasn't the Orioles. This was the Red Sox on a day when the Yankees had a chance to steal a game and sweep them. Torre brought him in and you know what he wanted the game story to be, he wanted it to be redemption against the Red Sox the very next day after the latest blown save.

Rivera was asked: What did Joe say?

Rivera said, "He told me I was beautiful."

Did he hear the boos?

"I am not deaf."

The ground ball to A-Rod?

"I thought it was over."

Then Rivera, who like Jeter has always been this combination of talent and grace and heart, said this:

"I've been in the World Series, buddy. And lost. That's behind me now."

Lupica concludes that so are his best days as a closer. We'll see. I still want to think that he hasn't shaken the cobwebs off from the winter. We've seen him run into rough patches before. Moreover, he did get Manny Ramirez to hit a weak grounder into what should have been a game ending double play, then got the most feared hitter in the American League to hit a weak grounder back to the mound. But unless he gets some great innings off of the Red Sox when the two teams play in Boston next week, it's going to start to feel real queasy around the Bronx.