Time for a sports post! Been meaning to start putting up moar sports posts because after all, we’re a blog for all forms of entertainment.

I never imagined in my wildest dreams, that the greatest closer of all time, Mariano Rivera, would succumb to such a freak injury like he did last Thursday, May 3rd. To tear your ACL shagging fly balls–a routine Rivera has done in every pre-game warm-up in his career–is as random as it gets.  As sad as this news is for all Yankee fans, there is hope. Rivera, one of the fiercest competitors in all of sports, has vowed to come back. He has vowed not to end his career due to some fluke injury, but to leave on his own terms.  The best never quit.

However, the closer void still needs to be filled. Enter David Robertson. This Alabama native (woot!) has been one of the best relievers in baseball period over the past 1+ seasons. Last year, he had an insane stat line: a 1.08 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 100 K’s to 35 BB’s, all in 66.2 IP.  He gave up ONE home run. This season, in 13 IP, he has a 0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and a 23:5 K to BB ratio. Incredible. He has had two straight appearances where he struck out the side (4/30 vs. Baltimore and 5/4 vs. Kansas City).  Tonight’s outing, in which he recorded his first save of the season, he loaded the bases.  What did he do? He remained calm and poised, and he struck out the final batter, Carlos Pena, on a called strike three.

It is because of the ability to remain calm under pressure which has helped Robertson become one of the most dominant relievers in baseball.  Who also possesses this ultimate calm? You guessed it, Mo himself. Just to further prove this, according the the Elias Sports Bureau, Robertson has held opponents to one hit in their last 25 at-bats with the bases loaded, and he’s retired 16 of those batters via strikeout (tonight’s performance included).  So while he’s no Mo (Robertson even joked tonight saying, “Mo would have probably thrown 12 pitches and broke a bat and we would have been done 20 minutes ago”), Robertson is as close to him as you can get. Not bad at all.