Mariano Rivera, Gum-Thrower Extraordinaire

Yankees pitcher David Robertson, heir apparent to Mariano Rivera as Yankee closer, on Rivera’s proclivity for bullpen pranks:

I tell you what: people don’t realize Mo’s gum-throwing skills. He’s exceptional at it. He has great aim. I want to say maybe it was 2009 and we were sitting in the bullpen here in New York, just watching the game. I think it was in September. I was sitting on one side of the bullpen and he was sitting on the other side at this point. And he takes a piece of gum that he’d been chewing on for a while, and tosses it at me, and manages to stick it directly in my ear, like right in the side of my ear.

So like a 20-foot throw, just lands perfectly. [The gum] is all nasty and gooey and in my earhole and I couldn’t believe he did it. Of course he was laughing, and I was laughing because I couldn’t believe he actually made that shot, but it was hysterical. It’s funny, when I think of Mo, I think of him throwing gum at me all the time. And now I throw it back at him all the time, so it’s a constant war.

★ Tuesday, 17 September 2013