Mariano Rivera (born 1969) is a Panamanian right-handed baseball
pitcher who has spent his entire Major League Baseball career with the
New York Yankees. Rivera has served as a relief pitcher for most of his
career, and since 1997, he has been the Yankees' closer. His presence
in the late innings of games to record the final outs has played an
instrumental role in the Yankees' success, particularly the team's late
1990s dynasty. He has won five World Series championships as a Yankee.
Rivera has become regarded as one of the best closers in baseball
history, and he has achieved his success by primarily throwing one
pitch—a sharp-breaking cut fastball that has been called an all-time
great pitch. Rivera is a ten-time All-Star, a five-time American League
Rolaids Relief Man Award winner, and a three-time saves leader. He has
recorded the second-most saves in Major League history, and in 2009, he
surpassed 500 career saves. Recognized as an exceptional postseason
performer, he holds Major League postseason records for saves and
earned run average, among other records. Baseball writers expect Rivera
will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame upon retirement.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariano_Rivera>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1613:
The original Globe Theatre in London burned to the ground after a
cannon employed for special effects misfired during a performance of
William Shakespeare's Henry VIII and ignited the theatre's roof.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe_Theatre>
1880:
Pomare V, King of Tahiti, was forced to cede the sovereignty of Tahiti
and its dependencies to France.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahiti>
1889:
Hyde Park and several other Illinois townships voted to be annexed by
Chicago, forming the largest United States city in area and second
largest in population.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyde_Park_Township%2C_Cook_County%2C_Illinois>
1967:
Actress Jayne Mansfield, her boyfriend Sam Brody, and their driver were
killed in a car accident outside of New Orleans, while her children
Miklós, Zoltán, and Mariska Hargitay escaped with only minor injuries.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayne_Mansfield>
1995:
Shuttle-Mir Program: During the STS-71 mission, Space Shuttle Atlantis
became the first space shuttle to dock with the Russian space station
Mir .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle-Mir_Program>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
tipple (v):
1. To sell alcoholic liquor by retail.
2. To drink too much alcohol
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tipple>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
What makes the desert beautiful ... is that somewhere it hides a well.
--Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint-Exup%C3%A9ry>