Opening Day not as we hoped?

Since October, fans all over the country have been awaiting the day when the Yankees start off their official season.  It has been a long time and at 3:10 yesterday, we were excited to see the first pitch thrown and the first game commence.  The Yankees were down 4-0 in the first.  The second inning, Ibanez had an RBI scoring Alex Rodriguez making the score 4-1.   After than New York scored 2 more runs, making it a closer game.  But then, at his next at bat, Raul Ibanez stepped up to the plate a contributed a 3 run home run giving the Yanks a lead of 6-4.  In the 8th inning, when the score was 6-5 Yanks, Daivd Robertson ahd an excellent outting of having a runner on 1st and 3rd with no outs then striking out the next 3 batters.  Houdini much?  The 9th inning, just when we thought it would be over and the victory would be ours.  Mo steps on to the mound and we could have sworn that it would be the end.  He let in the tying run, then Carlos Pena hit a walk-off single, making the Rays victorious in the bottom of the 9th.

The concern I have is not with Mo, it is with the fans.  We all know that not too long ago, Mariano was named the All Time Saves Leader and that he had a successful spring trainging season.  He proves he is not perfect by one game and all of a sudden, fans are losing faith.  They say quote, “Mo is done,” “This is the end.” It is most certainly not the end.  It’s the first game of the season and fans are already giving up on him? Did we forget who Mariano Rivera is? I sure didn’t.  Mo is the guy that if he blew a save, the next day he can shut them out.  How can one talk so much smack after ONE game without thinking about all he’s done? We all know, he doesn’t hit a rough patch.  Even the best fall down sometimes.  All pitchers have their days.  Even Mo. What kind of fans would you be if we just worried when he got on the mound? He’s still the same.  There is no Young Mo, Old Mo, Good Mo.  Mo is just Mo, he’ll never change and we like it that way.  Sure, we would have loved to win the opener, but wouldn’t you guys rather make it into the post season?  In 2009, the Yanks lost their first 2 openers and won the championship.  Which sounds better? It’s not about the first its about the last.  So before the 9th inning of tonight’s game comes on, think about yesterday, and SHAKE IT OFF! That negative energy whether you’re there or not, could effect the game.  If fans don’t have faith in Mo, who will? He’s not done.  We still have 161 games left, and he will shut out almost every single one.

“That’s bad — you don’t want to start the season this way,” said Rivera, who converted 44 of 49 save chances last year and owns a career total of 603. “But at the same time, thank God it’s only one game. We’ll come back tomorrow and play hard again.” (Yankees.com)

As a pitcher, things like this don’t get to our heads, even if it does for the fans.  If he can shake it off so can you.  So when you watch the game tonight, have the same faith in Mo that you always did.