Syndergaard dominates, McNeil and Conforto homer against ChiSox

METS 5 - WHITE SOX 2 

Noah Syndergaard delivered a gem, and the Mets overcame another blown save by Edwin Diaz to beat the Chicago White Sox 5-2 Tuesday night, extending their winning streak to five games, and keeping the team in the mix for the last wild card slot as the trade deadline nears.

If this was Syndergaard's last start as a Met, he went out with a ball of fire, delivering his best performance of this season. Syndergaard held the White Sox to just five hits and a walk over 7.1 innings of work. He struck out 11, the most strikeouts he recorded in a game all season.

Syndergaard was so on point Tuesday that he held the ChiSox hitless through the games first four innings, and didn't surrender a run until a throwing error was committed by Todd Fraizer in the bottom of the sixth that cut the Mets lead to 2-1.

Other than that one blip on the radar screen, Syndergaard was flawless, topping 100 mph as late as the eighth inning. His final batter of the night, Thor struck out Leury Garcia swingning to record the first out of the eighth before Manager Mickey Callaway turned the ball over to Seth Lugo.

Was it the final time we will see Syndergaard in a Mets uniform is now the question. After the game, the Mets 6-foot-6 right hander told reporters that he expects to remain with the Mets beyond the 4 p.m. trade deadline, and doesn't believe the Mets should break up a hot team with the playoffs potentially within reach.

It will be an intense morning or afternoon. The Mets have dangled Thor since spring training, with the Padres, Yankees, Astros, and Twins all considered suitors for Syndergaard's services. However word on the street is the Mets are asking for more than teams are willing to give up for him.

Ironically, the Mets couldn't hold onto that 2-1 lead and get Syndergaard his eighth win of the year. The reason why? Edwin Diaz. Would you expect anything less?

Diaz had absolutely no control, walking two, hitting James McCann in the shoulder, and throwing two wild pitches that helped advance the tying run into scoring position. Tim Anderson's sac fly tied it at two forcing extras and dealing Diaz with his fifth blown save of the season.

But the Mets didn't give up. Not this team, at least not since the All Star Break.  Robert Gsellman shutdown the White Sox in the bottom of the 10th inning, setting up the comeback in the 11th.

A single by Amed Rosario and a sacrifice bunt by Tomas Nido set up the stage for Jeff McNeil who crushed a high fastball over the right field wall for a two-run homer to give the Mets a 4-2 lead. Michael Conforto followed with a mammoth homer to right to increase the lead to 5-2.

Gsellman returned for the bottom of the 11th and made quick work of the White Sox, including striking out Eloy Jimenez and McCann to end the ball game.

Yankees Struggles Continue As D'Backs Stun Bombers

D-Backs 4 - Yankees 2 

With less than a day to go before the trade deadline comes and goes, the Yankees dropped their sixth game in their last nine with a disappointing 4-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at the Stadium Tuesday.

The Yankees who are desperate need for pitching, got a decent performance from J.A. Happ, but it was not enough. The veteran lefty gave up three runs on eight hits over six innings of work, certainly an improvement from the schlacking he took his last start in Minnesota.

The problem for New York on Tuesday was the Yankee bats were complete silenced by Taylor Clarke and a bullpen by committee, as New York managed only two hits through the games first five innings.

Meanwhile the D-Backs built a 3-0 lead on a homer by Christian Walker and a RBI single by Nick Ahmad. The Yankees didn't get on the board until Edwin Encarnacion's RBI double in the sixth cut the D-Backs lead to 3-1.

Give the D-Backs credit, their bullpen was phenomenal. Andrew Chafin and Archie Bradley combined to shut down the Yankees over the games final inning and a third to secure the victory for Arizona.

The Yankees maybe secure in their standing toward the playoffs, but this team needs help. They need pitching badly. Bullpen or starter. The Yankees night only got worse as Cleveland's Trevor Bauer was traded to Cincinnati for Yasil Puig and prospects. The Reds could always flip Bauer, but this is the second pitcher the Yankees have lost out on as the deadline fast approaches.

What are the Yankees going to do is the question that faces Brian Cashman over the next few hours.

Is Tonight Noah Syndergaard's Last with the Mets?

Noah Syndergaard has been a fan favorite in Queens since he was called up in 2015 and dazzled fans with his 100 mph fastball, and quick wit.  Fondly nicknamed Thor because of his resemblance to the comic book character, Syndergaard embraced New York as much as the city and its fans embraced him.

He became the star of a once perceived vaunted rotation with Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, and Zach Wheeler. As we all know now that rotation wasn't so vaunted. Harvey is gone, his baseball career in taters. Matz and Wheeler have battled inconsistencies and injury. Even Syndergaard has had his issues with both inconsistency and injury over the past five seasons.

The best of the bunch, deGrom is not going anywhere having inked a five-year deal before the 2019 season started.

But what about Syndergaard -- considered by many to be the Mets second-best starter? His future is in doubt. The Mets have been dangling Syndergaard in trade rumors since spring training, and they the speculation has only intensified the past two weeks.

The Mets sent mixed messages about their true intentions for the rest of the season and next year when they acquired Marcus Stroman from the Blue Jays. Stroman is a win-now type of pitcher, but the Mets are rebuilding, right?

Even with Stroman in the mix it appears the Mets still prefer to trade Syndergaard inspite of continued pleas from the fan base not to do so. If the Mets leave the top of their rotation alone, they would have deGrom, Stroman and Syndergaard at the top. That is not bad at all for a team that still thinks it has a sliver of a chance at the postseason.

Will Thor head to the Yankees or the Padres or the Astros? All three teams have been rumored suitors.

Still there is a belief among baseball insiders that there is a chance Syndergaard may stay in New York. Both Jon Heyman and Jeff Passon say they Mets may keep Syndergaard because the asking price is too high right now for him. Keep in mind the Mets set the market themselves when they sent two minor league pitchers to Toronto that are not considered top 100 talents for the rights to Stroman.

Heyman even said the Mets are more likely to deal Wheeler who is a free agent this winter.

Regardless, tonight when the Mets visit Guaranteed Rate Field (New Comisky Park for you baseball lifers out there) to face the Chicago White Sox, it might be Syndergaard's last start in a Mets uniform.

Syndergaard is 7-5 with a 4.33 ERA this season. A solid outing against the White Sox could accomplish one of two things. 1) A win over the White Sox would better the Mets chances and self-belief that they still have a chance at the playoffs. 2) A solid outing against Chicago could help a team  decide whether to relinquish a top prospect to the Mets for the right-hander.

It's the ultimate double-edged sword, and Thor is in the middle of it.

Pitching Options Shrinking for Yankees

When the New York Mets acquired Marcus Stroman from the Toronto Blue Jays Sunday a collective groan emanated from Yankees fans everywhere.

Long believed to be heading to the Yankees, Stroman was instead coming to New York to pitch for the other team in town, now leaving the Bombers scrambling elsewhere to find pitching.

With less than two days remaining before the MLB trade deadline expires, the Yankees are in dire straits for pitching. They won't admit it, but over their last eight games the Yankees have surrendered 79 runs. They are 3-5 in that span, and have watched their seemingly insurmountable lead on Tampa Bay shrink to 8.5 games.

And the proof is in the starting pitching. James Paxton has given up seven run in each of his last two starts, and has been notorious for having poor outings routinely, i.e. when he gave up six runs to the Mets on June 11.

J.A. Happ has been equally inconsistent. He yielded six runs in three-and-a-third innings against Minnesota last week, and gave up eight runs to Houston on June 23. The Astros and Twins are going to the playoffs, and the Yankees may have to get through both of them to get to the World Series.

New York cannot rely on the inconsistency of Paxton and Happ, the age of CC Sabathia too much longer and put all the pressure on Mashairo Tanaka's shoulders. They need help.

Could the Bombers be play for Mets' Noah Syndergaard? That is a question many are asking this week, but the chances that the Mets and Yankees would make a deal is remote at best. The Mets don't want to see Syndergaard win a World Series in the same town for somebody else, just as much as the Yankees don't want to see Clint Friazer and Miguel Andjuar become superstars in Queens.

Madison Bumgarner: The San Francisco Giants believe they got a shot at the postseason. They are 14-4 since the All-Star Break, and are only 2.5 games out of the wild card spot. They play the Phillies this week which will play a big role in their decision making at the deadline. But chances are they are not going to part with their franchise player, especially now.

Trevor Bauer: The Cleveland Indians are 62-43, lead the AL Wild Card and still have a shot at AL Central title, and yet they want to dumb Bauer. If that doesn't tell you what they think of the temperamental right hander, I don't know what does. Certainly talented, Bauer comes with a big contract and a bad attitude. This is someone the Yankees should avoid, but the market may be pushing Bauer to them.

Mike Minor: Not the biggest name out there, but if the Texas Rangers, who are also in the playoff mix, want to move him he would be an ok piece to add. Nothing special of course. Minor has been shelled his last two starts and is not any better than what the Yankees have. But this is how thin this market is for pitching.

Luis Severino: The Yankees would love nothing more than for their 25-year old ace to return from the Injury List and pitch like the guy we saw a year ago. Severino is expected to throw from a mound for the first time in a couple of weeks, but to realistically expect him to return and be lights out down the stretch and into the playoffs is asking a lot.

Mets Acquire Stroman from Jays, Thor Maybe on Way Out

Brodie Van Wagenen once again has flipped Major League Baseball on its head with a trade that leaves Mets fans wondering what the novice general manager's true intentions really are. 

The Mets stunned the entire baseball world on Sunday by landing Toronto Blue Jays ace Marcus Stroman for pitching prospects Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods-Richardson. Kay and Richardson were ranked fourth and sixth among the Mets top 30 prospects according to MLB.com. 

At the same time rumors are swirling  the Mets will trade their second best pitcher, Noah Syndergaard in a deal by Wednesday, according to Bob Klapish. Klapish added that it doesn't look like the Mets will deal Zach Wheeler who is a free agent. 

On the surface the Mets acquisition of Stroman gives them a solid starting pitcher who has been fairly successful in the toughest division in baseball, the AL East, over the past five and a half years. In fact Stroman's 2.96 ERA this year is ranked fifth in the American League, in spite of a win-loss record of 6-11. At the same time Stroman is a free agent after the 2020 season. That's a risky gamble, especially by a GM who has become infamous for poor deals, i.e. Edwin Diaz and Robby Cano.

It stands to reason that the Mets are sending the message that they intend to contend not only for the rest of this year (as unlikely as it is that this team can make a playoff push in 2019), but contend for 2020. 

Thus lends to the confusion of this move. The Mets are 50-55, six games out of a wild card, and must leap over seven teams to get there. Most of those teams have either a winning record against, or have won the season series against the Mets. The Giants are 4-3 against the Mets. The Phillies 9-4. The Brewers 5-1. The Cardinals are 5-2. The Cubs 2-2. In short even if the Mets were to rally and end up tied with the second wild card team in the National League, they would be on the outside looking in based on head-to-head record. 

As New York Post writer Joel Sherman points out, the last time the Mets did something like this, they dealt Scott Kazmir to the Tampa Bay Rays for Victor Zambrano when the team tried to compete for the 2004 wild card. The Mets didn't make the playoffs. Zambrano was a flameout and Kazmir did okay for himself until the injuries caught up to him. This is not to say that Anthony Kay is a stud in the making, but one can see the point. 

The Mets contender theory would hold a lot of merit if they were to keep Syndergaard in the fold.

Trading him after acquiring Stroman adds more confusion to the Mets thinking. Syndergaard, while he has struggled this season, is on pace to strikeout 175 batters, can still clock a fastball around 95, and has instant star power. One can understand the attraction to other teams. The other attraction to Syndergaard: he has a few more years of control left on his deal and has an affordable contract. It's hard to understand why the Mets would want to part ways with such collateral.

 Add the fact that Wheeler is a free agent after this season, and it would have made more sense to trade him, even if he is one start removed from a right shoulder impingement. Teams are probably balking on Wheeler because of that barking right arm and his inconsistent resume. 

If the Mets keep Syndergaard and Stroman together they could have a formidable rotation with those two and Jacob deGrom.  Then again, the Mets could use Stroman as a trade chip and flip him to a more desperate team for their top prospects. 

That sounds like a pipe dream though. Mets fans will remember this as the week they basically traded Noah Syndergaard for Marcus Stroman. 

Jets Training Camp Recap

The New York Jets held their first open public practice of training camp, Saturday morning as fans finally got a chance to see their boys in their new green helmets for the first time in person. 

While most eyes were on the progression of second year quarterback Sam Darnold, it was the running game that dazzled under the hot summer sun. Le'Veon Bell, Ty Montgomery and Trenton Cannon all had strong showings Saturday with Bell and Montgomery breaking for a couple of big gainers in a 11-on-11 scrimmage. 

As for Darnold he had his good moments and bad moments. For starters, Darnold had a lot of zip on the football, his arm looking stronger than it did a year ago at this time. He completed a nifty pass down the sideline to Robby Anderson on second down to move the chains, and also dumped off a pass to Bell in the flat. Later the scrimmage the Jets quarterback hit a wide open Montgomery streaking across the middle for a nice gain.

 The Jets even tried their luck at their version of the Philly Special, as Darnold slipped out of bounds after catching a pass. 

Still there was some bad. Darold threw a couple of bad interceptions. One that went right into the hands of Trumaine Johnson who was covering Anderson. The other was picked off by Arthur Maulet in a seven-on-seven drill. 

Defensively, the Jets look stout up the middle, and the secondary did a fairly decent job against the starters on what was the third overall day of practice. 

Special teams? Yeah, let's just say they could use some work. Two costly fumbles. One by Tim White and the other by Quadree Henderson on punt returns. Even kicker Chandler Catanzaro missed a couple of long field goals. 

Big Nights from Didi and Hicks Lift Yankees Past Twins

YANKEES 14 - TWINS 12 
10 INNINGS 

If the Yankees do in fact win the World Series later this season, mark down July 23 against the Minnesota Twins as one of the most important games of the season.

Because the Yankees, who trailed 9-5 going into the eighth inning packed a seasons worth of dramatic moments into the span of three innings as they pulled out a miracle 14-12 victory.

And a lot of it can be attributed to the heroics of shortstop Didi Gregorius and center fielder Aaron Hicks.

Gregorius had a career night, going 5-for-5 with seven RBI. His two-run double in the first inning gave the Bronx Bombers a 2-0 lead. And his three-run bomb in the fifth inning brought the Yankees back to within three runs at 8-5.

Yet he delivered the keynote in the midst of a chaotic five-run eighth inning as the Yankees jumped out in front 10-9. The rally started when Mike Tauchman drove in Gleyber Torres on a RBI double to right to slice the Twins lead to 9-6. Two batters later, Aaron Judge plated by Tauchman and Gio Urshela to make it a one-run game.

Finally, Gregorius answered again, doubling to right to score both Judge and D.J. LeMahieu to put the Yankees in front 10-9.

That lead would be short lived as the game quickly turned into a battle of attrition for both ball clubs. A two-run blast by Minnesota's Miguel Sano off Zach Britton in the bottom of the eighth gave the Twins an 11-10 advantage.

The Yankees soon responded when Aaron Hicks crushed the first pitch he saw to left center for a two-run, two-out jack to put the Yankees up again 12-11.

Unfortunately for the Yankees the game didn't end there. Aroldis Chapman who has really struggled with his command of late, walked Ehire Adrianza, Mitch Garver, and Max Kelper in succession to load the bases. With sweat pouring down the brim of his hat like a bucket of water, Chapman surrendered the lead on a sac-fly by Jorge Polonco to tie it up once more at 12 sending everyone into extra innings.

And in the tenth inning, the Yankees wasted no time. Of course Didi Gregorius got the party started with a single to right, only to be followed by a single by Austin Romine that moved Gregorius into scoring position. Finally Gleyber Torres ripped a pitch to right center, scoring Gregorius with the go-ahead run. Romine would later score on a wild pitch to give the Bombers some insurance.

And boy, did they need it.

Reliever Adam Ottovino just couldn't get out of a tight jam, walking the bases loaded with two out and forcing manager Aaron Boone to go into the bullpen to bring in Chad Green.

Little did Boone know that this singular moment set up the greatest play of the entire Major League Baseball season. On a 2-1 pitch to Kelper, the Twins center fielder crushed a pitch towards the gap in left center.

The ball looked destined to sale over the head of Hicks and roll up against the warning track, almost certainly tying the game at 14. But Hicks timed the ball perfectly. He got got underneath it and made a leaping jump for it and caught the ball in mid flight, falling belly-first onto the warning track. Once he realized he has the ball, he pounded his fist against his glove as the Yankees robbed the Twins of a potential walk-off victory.

Call it whatever you want, Hicks' grab is easily the greatest catch of the entire season. It will go down as one of the greatest catches of all time. And if the Yankees do in fact win the World Series this year the legend of Hicks' catch will only grow. What a moment.

Robinson Cano Goes Off in 3-Homer Game

METS 5 - PADRES 3 

To say this season has been a disappointment for one Robinson Cano would be an understatement.

In 74 games since becoming a member of the Mets, Cano had only six homers, 22 RBI and a .243 batting average -- certainly well below the expectations the Mets had for him when they acquired him along with Edwin Diaz in a trade with the Seattle Mariners; a trade that has become infamous in the eyes of the Mets fanbase.

But on one night, Cano gave Mets fans a reason to smile.

Cano went 4-for-4 and was responsible for all five runs the Mets scored Tuesday against the San Diego Padres. All of them came on home runs. Three of them in fact.

Cano became the 13th player in Mets history to have a three-homer game, the last to do it being Yoenis Cespedes in 2017.  Cano's three-homer game was also the third such performance by a Mets hitter at home, joining Lucas Duda and Kirk Nieuwenhuis, both of whom did it in 2015.

"You don't hit three homers in a game if you are declining," embattled Mets manager Mickey Callaway said of Cano, taking a swipe at the critics who have called Cano's short stay in Mets blue and orange a bust.

With each swing, Cano hit the ball harder and the ball traveled further through the air. It was like he was in a timewarp to his Yankees days.  The first homer, a solo shot, bounced off the facade of the second deck in right to give the Mets a 1-0 lead in the fourth. Two innings later Cano's two-run shot dropped into the bullpens in right center.

Finally, he channeled the classic Cano, launching a pitch several rows back in the upper deck to blow the game open at 5-0.

While there is no guarantee Tuesday's effort is a turning point in Cano's season, it is clear that he is feeling more comfortable at the plate, and the bat speed and power that was a trademark of his career is starting to catch up. Don't believe me? Look it up. In the month of July alone, Cano is hitting .316 with five homers and nine RBI, his most productive stretch since coming to New York.

On the hill Jason Vargas evened his record to 5-5 on the season with six shutout innings of one-hit ball. Vargas who could be a trade trip in a week lowered his ERA to 3.96. As a team the Mets pitching has been excellent since the All-Star Break with a combined 2.83 team ERA.

Odell Beckham Proves Giants Were Right to Trade Him

Odell Beckham Jr. just won't let it go.

Like his uncanny ability to haul in and hold onto footballs with one hand, he refuses to let go of the animosity that developed between himself and his former employer the New York Giants, who traded him in March to the Cleveland Browns.

Beckham unloaded on Big Blue in a feature piece in GQ Magazine where he claims the Giants "disrespected him" and the only reason the Giants got any attention during the past six years was because of his talents.

This is me being honest: This team has not been good for the last six years,’’ Beckham said. “Period. Even the year we went to the playoffs and everyone was talking about this and that. And we went there, and I didn’t have a great playoff game. Don’t get me wrong, I had a terrible game. But I left the game with seven targets, and I’m supposed to be your number one receiver. I left the game with seven targets. We lost. They scored 40 points. It’s just all bad."

Funny Beckham should say this considering the majority of those targets he dropped on critical plays. He had only one catch the entire day, and once the game ended, he decided to put his fist through the wall in the locker room. Let us not forget that Beckham's playoff disaster followed a week of partying on a yacht with teammates and Justin Bieber in South Beach. But, hey, whom I to criticize Beckham, A.K.A. Mr. Wonderful? 

Continued Beckham: “I felt disrespected, because I felt like I was a main reason at keeping that brand alive. They were getting prime-time games, still, as a 5-and-11 team. Why? Because people want to see the show. You want to see me play. That’s just real rap. I’m not sitting here like, ‘It’s because of me.’ But let’s just be real. That’s why we’re still getting prime-time games. I felt disrespected they weren’t even man enough to even sit me down to my face and tell me what’s going on.’’

Eh, wrong Mr. Beckham, the Giants were getting prime time games because ... well ... they are the Giants. Certainly people enjoyed watching Beckham play in primetime, most of it based off one catch he had against the Cowboys his rookie year, but the real reason the Giants were in primetime was because of who they are. The Giants have been historically one of the better teams in the sport and they play in a division with perennial playoff contenders in the Cowboys and Eagles. But let's keep the Beckham fantasy going shall we? 

Beckham later praised Giants owner John Mara and lambasted GM Dave Gettleman and head coach Pat Shurmur. 

“I’ll forever have respect for Mr. Mara,’’ Beckham said. “Everything he’s ever done for me, he’s shown nothing but love. But then to be called like that and then be texted by your coach and be like, ‘Oh, yeah, I heard the news.’ Yeah, you heard the news? It happened because of you. The reason I’m gone is because of you. On the other side of it, I was excited about a new start because I had been — honestly, I had been praying to God the season before this season for a change.’’

Beckham said he felt the Giants soured on him soon after he signed the new deal.“I really felt like: Why did we even sign this contract?’’ he said. “Why did we do this deal to not feel long-term. I would be up and down the sidelines saying that, like, ‘Why did you sign me?’ ’’

So let me get this right, Beckham praises the owner but criticizes the GM and head coach? Who does he think gave the final approval to make the trade? Mara did. The owner is always consulted on matters like this.  The last time a delusional wide receiver had this kind of take, Keyshawn Johnson blamed Al Groh for his trade from the Jets to Tampa Bay back in 2000, when the guy who in fact traded him was Bill Parcells. 

Beckham also revealed that he considered retirement when he was 24 years old, and that he was frustrated being a Giant. Well if that is the case, then those frustrations certainly pre-date Gettleman and Shurmur don't they? 

The Giants are better off without this clown around the building. He was a clubhouse cancer in every sense of the word who cared more about himself then the team. Those facts are evident in the comments he made to GQ.  

Now Beckham takes his antics to Cleveland where he gets to be on one of the most highly combustable teams in the sport with other divas like Landry Jones and Baker Mayfield, and a rookie head coach who thinks he is Rex Ryan Redux. And everyone thinks the Browns are going to leapfrog the Steelers and Ravens in the AFC North. I have my doubts. Get your popcorn ready for the three-ring circus in Cleveland. 

Meanwhile the Giants will kick back and focus on getting ready for a new season without any headaches beyond trying to find out if Eli Manning has anything left in his right arm. 

Ex-Jet Bust Mark Sanchez Retires From NFL

Mark Sanchez has retired.

The former New York Jets first round pick from 2009 who turned into a colossal bust with New York before bouncing around the league decided to call it a career, and will begin the next stage of his football life as a studio analyst for college football on ESPN. 

Sanchez will join fellow former Jet Jonathan Vilma on the ABC/ESPN studio set for Saturday afternoon pregame and halftime shows. 

It's a good move for Sanchez who was a successful college quarterback at the University of Southern California before coming out early in 2009. 

Sanchez saw a lot of ups and plenty of downs in his star-crossed NFL career.  He started out strong in his first two years working behind Rex Ryan's malicious defense and the strong running attack of Thomas Jones, Shonn Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson. The Jets went to back-to-back AFC Conference Title games during those two seasons. Sanchez's best season probably came in 2010, when he had three come-from-behind victories against the Lions, Browns and Texans in successive weeks in November of that season. 

He was under center for the Jets 28-21 victory over the Patriots in the AFC Divisional playoffs that season. 

Unfortunately his career took a turn for the worse in 2011 when the interceptions and inconsistent play became too prominent as the Jets spiraled out of control. In 2012 the Jets brought in Tim Tebow to compete with Sanchez, but instead it created the most bizarre and ridiculous quarterback competition in the NFL as the Jets had two bad quarterbacks in the room. 

Sanchez was a disaster in 2012, highlighted by his infamous "buttfumble" moment against the Patriots on Thanksgiving night. The following week he was benched in the midst of a meltdown against the Arizona Cardinals. 

His Jets career ended the following season when he was knocked out of a preseason game against the Giants when Head Coach Rex Ryan inserted Sanchez back into the game in the fourth quarter. Sanchez never played for the Jets again. Ryan lasted only two more seasons before he got the axe. 

Sanchez would spend the next five years bouncing around the league with the Eagles, Cowboys, Bears, and Redskins. 

Yankee Great Mariano Rivera Headlines Class of 2019

For so many years when the strings of Metallica's Enter Sandman started blasting over the loudspeakers at Yankee Stadium, you knew two things: 1) Mariano Rivera was coming into the game. And 2) the game was effectively over.

On Sunday, July 21, Rivera entered into Cooperstown's hallowed halls as one of six new enshrines to baseball's Hall of Fame.  Joined by former Yankees teammate Mike Mussina, Rivera joined a class that included former Mariners designated hitter Edgar Martinez, former Cy Young Award winner, the late Roy Halladay, fellow closer Lee Smith, and Harold Baines. Yet, even with all that talent around him, this was his day.

And in so many ways, and all due respect to the other enshrines in Cooperstown that sizzling hot afternoon, this was a Yankees day. Not only were there throngs of Yankees fans in the fields watching the proceedings, but so too were Rivera's teammates.

Tino Martinez. Jorge Posada. Andy Pettitte. Bernie Williams, who played the national anthem on his guitar, and next year's Hall of Fame inductee Derek Jeter. Former manager Joe Girardi was in the house on MLB Network. Joe Torre was sitting with the other Hall of Famers.

The only thing missing was Yankee Stadium itself.

It was a Yankee day for two former Yankees.  And, yes, Mussina can't be forgotten either -- even if his better years were in Baltimore, and his Hall of Fame credentials are questionable at best.

Heavily overshadowed of course by Rivera, Mussina still won 123 games as a Yankee, and was a respected veteran presence in that starting rotation that went to two World Series' in 2001 and 2003. During his speech Mussina thanked Rivera for saving so many of his games.

Of course this day belonged to the man Yankees fans have affectionately called Mo. Nobody did it better than Rivera. Nobody has come close since, and probably never will. He was the single most dominant closer in a sport where bullpens are meant to implode at the flick of wrist. The All Time leader in saves with 652, and ERA at 2.05, Rivera was at his best in the playoffs, recording an ERA of 0.70 in 141 innings. Astounding!

 Rivera thanked the fans for their support, saying that whenever he came into a game, he carried not only his team, but the 55,000 screaming fans with him pitch by pitch. Cutter by cutter. Swing and a miss, by swing and a miss.

Nobody will ever be this good for that long ever. We were all blessed to see the Sandman.