"The team's mentality is to work hard and not think about what's happened in the past," said Rivera, who recorded his 500th career save in late June. "You can't do anything about that. You simply have to work hard to keep going."There is a confidence in this team that we haven't seen in years, probably since that catastrophic failure in the 2004 ALCS. That confidence cannot be overlooked. It's the same confidence the dynasty Yankees took onto the field everyday for six years, and it, along with a great team obviously, led to four world championships and five world series appearances. This year's Yankees are as close to a great team as we've seen in a while, they've shown it all year and now sit on top of baseball with a 93-53 record. Hopefully they can carry that confidence, that feeling that they're going to win everyday, into October and prove they are a great team.
Rivera attributes the Yankees' success this season to the team's solid makeup and to an intensity that, according to the 39-year-old right-hander, the team had been lacking in previous campaigns.
"We have a more complete team," said Rivera. "We have pitching -- in the bullpen and starters -- as well as depth in the infield and the outfield, which we didn't have in previous years.
"Before, in the seventh and eighth innings, even though we tried, we didn't have that unity and that desire to win games," he added. "That's the reason why we've won so many games in the final innings. We don't give up."
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Mo Looking Forward to a Big October
From Nathalie Alonso:
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5 Comments:
Please, please, please can we cut out all this crap about October until we have actually CLINCHED a post-season berth? I'm sick and tired of hearing Kaye and Co. talking about the post-season rotation while the Yanks slump to another embarrassing home defeat against the Orioles or the Blue Jays? Yes, we're in a good position. Yes, barring a catastrophe, we will make the playoffs. But the beauty of sports is that nothing is certain and the Yanks are doing their best to resurrect a pennant race by trotting out sub-standard starters like Mitre and Gaudin to the mound on a regular basis. I sure hope it doesn't come back to bite them in the bum. Boston, meanwhile, is on a tear and with a three-game series still to play in the Bronx, will still believe they are in with a chance of winning the division. As I have stated before, in my opinion Girardi is taking things a little too easy down the home stretch. And we've all seen jockeys lose races by dropping their hands before the winning post. With a tricky six-game West Coast road trip coming up, they wouldn't want to lose another to the Jays today. Maybe I'm just a pessimist by nature but I've always believed that if you worry about today, tomorrow will take care of itself.
Or you can realize what you have, look into the future, and be better prepared.
-G
yanks just need to go out there and win every day. stay focused on winning like they've done all year and fight their way to victory (i don't mean fight like last night). btw, if he had andy or roger in '04, i believe we would have won 1 more game. eh what can you do.
2004 was Fate hard at work. We had it on our side for a long time. I mean... Boone, Dent, obtaining Ruth & Lyle, DiMag coming off the DL to hit a bazillion HRs in that end of season series vs the Red Sox. I hated how 2004 ended, but something like that was bound to happen eventually.
I 'feel' like the wind has changed direction this season, I hope I'm right.
Bruce your taking a few losses way too hard. If the Yankees go 8-8 Boston has to go 16-3 just to tie.
Anon, I agree, they needed Pettitte in 04. With Pettitte in '04 they probably go all the way. Was it fate like SteveB said? That could of been part of it too, but it was mainly bad starting pitching.
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