The YES Network Yankees broadcast team of Al Leiter, Ken Singleton, John Flaherty and Michael Kay sat down with Post columnist Steve Serby at Michael Jordan's Steakhouse for some Q&A.
Q: What's your favorite Mariano Rivera anecdote?
Kay: I think the first game that he came up, he was a starting pitcher against the White Sox, and the White Sox had a scouting report that he didn't throw hard, threw a lot of breaking stuff, and don't worry about his fastball. And I think he pitched eight innings, and he was throwing 96, 97 miles an hour. And I remember the White Sock players were screaming at the manager and the scouts: "What kind of scouting report was this?"
Anthony J Causi
Ken Singleton, John Flaherty, Al Leiter and Michael Kay.
Q: If the 2000 Mets had Mariano, how do you think the Subway Series would have turned out?
Leiter: Forget about the 2000 Mets, how about every other team that's ever played, or been in postseason?
Q: Was it a helpless feeling on the other side watching him come in to close a game?
Leiter: The psychological advantage ... to where you just feel like you're defeated already, especially in his prime.
Q: What was it like catching him?
Flaherty: To Al's point, playing against the Yankees when you had Mariano at the end of the game, you always knew he was there, and it was always in your mind that you gotta get on the board early and try to play with a lead. It put so much pressure on your lineup. It's almost like a catcher always knowing where the No. 4 guy in the lineup is. And then, on the flip side, catching him, it was as easy as could be. He would lull you to sleep with his delivery. He would put the ball exactly where you want it. And to call a game, all you'd have to do was, "Is it a cutter away or a cutter in or a sinker in?" It was pretty simple. Maybe elevate. But It was as simple of a guy you could ever want to catch because he's so perfect.
Q: How about hitting against him?
Flaherty: We didn't know a whole lot about him, and I went out to the on-deck circle at the old Yankee Stadium and I'm watching him warm up, and I'm thinking, "This guy's built right in for me." It's all fastballs, it doesn't look overpowering, it looks like it's nice and easy, and I thought, "All right, this is what I'm gonna make my living on." And the first fastball just exploded on me, and I remember the thought like, "What the hell was that?" I struck out on a couple of pitches. He threw me a slider one year and I hit a double and drove in Fred McGriff ,and he told me he's never thrown a slider after that ever again. That was in July of I forget what year. He didn't give up another run the rest of the year into the postseason.
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