NEW YORK There are very few people in baseball history who are easily comparable to Mariano Rivera, the game's greatest closer, who will retire at the end of this season. When talking about the Yankees' living legend, phrases like "extremely rare" and "one of a kind" come up with no argument. And then there's Babe Ruth.

Ruth was caught stealing to end Game 7 of the 1926 World Series. Rivera blew the save and took the loss in Game 7 of the World Series 75 years later. For mere mortals, those would be lasting memories, defining moments of a career. Not for Ruth, certainly, and not for Rivera.

Baseball revolves around failure. Great hitters make outs in seven out of every 10 at-bats. The very best teams lose more than a third of their games. It is the ability to deal with failure that sets apart the very best, and nobody has done it as well as Rivera.

"I've never seen it affect him, from a personality standpoint, the next day," Joe Girardi, once Rivera's teammate, and now his manager, said on Sunday. "It's really hard to see it affect him from a personality standpoint even that day, because he's the same all the time. I think that's extremely important as a closer because it allows him to bounce back. The next day, the game's over. It's extremely rare. You can talk about starting pitchers, position players, a lot of times guys have a hard time doing that, but that's not something Mo has ever had predator lz football boots 2013."

Rivera is one of 10 pitchers to be on the mound when a run scored to end a World Series, along with Christy Mathewson, Jack Bentley, Pat Malone, Larry French, Clem Labine, Ralph Terry, Alejandro Pe?a, Mitch Williams, and Charles Nagy. Before Luis Gonzalez's bloop single to end the 2001 World Series, Rivera had a career ERA of 2.58 in 533 innings, with a 478-156 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He was 31 years old then, and in the 12 subsequent years, has posted a 1.95 ERA in 747.2 innings, with a 694-130 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and 437 of his 652 career saves.

Of the other pitchers in the World Series walkoff club, only Terry had a lower ERA after his most painful moment 3.87 before, 3.46 after. But it's also important to remember that Terry was not a modern closer. Pe?a had a 2.90 ERA in his career before Gene Larkin's single in 1991, and 4.57 over the remaining 130 innings in his career. Williams had a 3.40 ERA before Joe Carter's home run in 1993, and even though he was only 28 at the time, his career lasted 37.1 more innings, with a 7.96 ERA, 40 strikeouts and 52 walks.

"You put your whole career to get a chance to win a World Series, and (Rivera) was fortunate to have won a couple prior to (2001), but it could ruin a lot of people," Yankees reliever Mike Zagurski told Sporting News. "His numbers have improved since, and that's part of the maturity of him, the execution of a situation he's been in a million times, he knows it better and better, and he didn't let it affect him. How many saves does he have since then KD 6 GS Sale Online? It's got to be several hundred. So, yeah, he's one of a kind. It's hard to compare him to most people because he's pretty special."

Rivera also had a prominent failure in the 2004 ALCS against the Red Sox, failing to close out the series that Boston eventually came back to win after having trailed 3-0 the only time that has happened in baseball history. Since then, Rivera has a 1.92 ERA and 0.916 WHIP in 552.1 innings.

"When I think about Mo, the numbers speak for themselves, what he's done in this game, but the way he's went about his business is something that you wish that everyone could do," Girardi said. "I would tell my son or my kids, this is an example of how you're supposed to go about your work. What I've always said about Mo is he's extremely focused on that day, that week, that month, that year, and never shortchanges himself. He's always prepared. He gives everything that he has on a daily basis, and does not let what happens in the game determine who he is as a person. The game is obviously very important to us, but that's not who you are, it's what you do, and I think Mo reflects that as well as anyone I've ever seen."

It is that even keel that is the standard for all closers before Rivera, and all who will try to follow him. At his position, there are no equals, so who can compare to such a demonstration that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger? The only real candidate is the guy who got thrown out stealing second base to end the World Series one year, then hit 60 home runs the next Cheap 11prosoccercleats