It has to be the strangest phenomena in all of sports. Stranger than professional basketball players missing free throws regularly. Stranger than curling...all of it. The situation is either a tie ball game or a blowout game. The manager brings in the closer to pitch the ninth in order to maintain the tie or simply to get work in. Normally the closer is automatic in the ninth. In these situations however closers seem to forget who they are and struggle mightily. Proof enough is Mariano Rivera in yesterday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays. The score was tied and Mariano came in to preserve the tie in the ninth. However he ended up surrendering 4 runs in only 2/3 of an inning pitched.
When Mariano makes the jog in from the bullpen Metallica's "Enter Sandman" plays over the loudspeaker. Why? Because he puts the game to bed in save situations. It is not just Mariano. Almost every closer has is these situations. Closers claim that the mindset is completely different coming into a game where the game is not on the line. Something about the closer changes when it is not a save situation. Two years ago the Yankees visited Shea Stadium and were down by 4. Not a save situation but the Mets brought in then closer Billy Wagner to finish the game. Not only did he blow the lead but he also blew the game as the Yankees came back to win the game. These instances are hard to explain and make for one of the most confusing phenomena in sports.
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