The game was a disaster. The Angels won, 10-0. The Yankee starter, making his major league debut, didn't get out of the 4th inning, allowing 5 runs, all earned, on 8 hits and 3 walks – though he did strike out 5. Three Yankee relievers -- Bob MacDonald, Joe Ausanio and Scott Bankhead, all ultimately nonentites -- also allowed runs.
Meanwhile, Chuck Finley, a lefthander then known as a Yankee-killer but now more remembered as a guy who got beaten up by his pill-addicted wife, actress Tawny Kitaen, threw a 2-hit shutout. (The 2 hits were a triple by Russ Davis and a single by Randy Velarde.) He threw 144 pitches, and his manager, Marcel Lachemann, left him in despite the huge lead. As you can see, this was a long time ago.
A 1st big-league start like that could scar a pitcher for life. Nevertheless, the rookie Yankee starter pitched 5 days later in Oakland, and beat the Athletics, 4-1. He remained a starter until August, and then went to the bullpen. After 10 starts that season, he never started another game…
But as a reliever...
He was a 26-year-old righthander from Panama named Mariano Rivera.
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I was 7 years old when I first saw the Yankees play on TV. I've seen the Yankees send Albert "Sparky" Lyle, Rich "Goose" Gossage, Dave Righetti, Steve Farr, Steve Howe, John Wetteland and Mariano Rivera to close games down. I've seen legendary relievers like Rollie Fingers, Tug McGraw, Mike Marshall, Kent Tekulve, Bruce Sutter, Jeff Reardon, Lee Smith, John Franco and Trevor Hoffman. None of them were a match for Mariano.
If a fan born in 1988 saw his 1st Yankee game on TV in 1995, then that fan has now reached the age of 24 without knowing a Yankee team that couldn't count on Mariano Rivera coming out of the bullpen (for more than a short Disabled List stint, anyway).
Now, that fan will have to – for, at the very least, most of the rest of this season. Possibly all of it. Possibly forever.
It wasn't always like this. There was a time before Mariano Rivera. And Derek Jeter, who debuted on May 29. And Andy Pettitte, who debuted on April 29. And Jorge Posada, who debuted on September 4.
Mo debuted on May 23, 1995. How long has it been?
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The Yankees have replaced Yankee Stadium. The Mets have replaced Shea Stadium. Games on what used to be known as "free TV" were still common, but are now rare.
The defending World Champions were… well, officially, the Toronto Blue Jays, but technically nobody, since there was no 1994 World Series. The other Canadian-based team, the Montreal Expos, should have been a contender for that Series, but have since moved.
So have the NFL's Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Raiders, Cleveland Browns (restored) and Houston Oilers. The NBA's Toronto Raptors, Vancouver Grizzlies and Charlotte Bobcats began play, but the Grizzlies moved to Memphis, and the Bobcats replaced the Charlotte Hornets, who moved to New Orleans. The Seattle SuperSonics moved to become the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the New Jersey Nets have just become the Brooklyn Nets. In the NHL, the Quebec Nordiques became the Colorado Avalanche, the old Winnipeg Jets became the Phoenix Coyotes, and the Hartford Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes. The Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers, Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets began play, but the Thrashers became the new Winnipeg Jets.
The other titleholders were the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL, the Houston Rockets in the NBA, and the... gag me... New York Rangers in the NHL. George Foreman was in his improbable 2nd reign as Heavyweight Champion of the World.
Most Clevelanders hadn't yet realized what a jackass Art Modell is, nor had most of them heard of LeBron James.
The Atlanta Braves, the Florida Marlins, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the team currently known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have since won their 1st World Series. In other sports, winning their 1st World Championship since then have been the Denver Broncos, the New England Patriots, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the New Orleans Saints, the San Antonio Spurs, the Miami Heat, the Dallas Mavericks, the New Jersey Devils (32 days after Mariano’s debut), the Avalanche, the Dallas Stars, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Carolina Hurricanes and the Anaheim Ducks.
The Marlins, the Diamondbacks, the Houston Astros, the Colorado Rockies, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers each won their 1st Pennant. The Tennessee Titans (who hadn't done so as the Houston Oilers), the Baltimore Ravens (who hadn't done so as the old Browns since before the Super Bowl era), the Bucs, the Saints, the Carolina Panthers, the Seattle Seahawks and the Arizona Cardinals (who never got that far in St. Louis) advanced to their 1st Super Bowl. The Orlando Magic, the Utah Jazz, the Nets, the Heat, the Mavericks, and the Cleveland Cavaliers reached their 1st NBA Finals. The Devils, the Avalanche, the Florida Panthers, the Washington Capitals, the Stars (who had done so twice as the Minnesota North Stars), the Hurricanes, the Ducks and the Lightning advanced to their 1st Stanley Cup Finals.
The Braves won their 1st World Series in 29 years (since they were in Milwaukee), the Boston Red Sox won their 1st in 86 years, the Chicago White Sox their 1st in 88, and the Giants their 1st in 56, or their 1st since moving to San Francisco. The Rams won their 1st NFL Championship in 49 years, or their 1st since moving to St. Louis. The Colts won their 1st Super Bowl in 36 years, or their 1st since moving to Indianapolis. The Chicago Blackhawks won their 1st Stanley Cup in 49 years, the Detroit Red Wings their 1st in 42, and the Boston Bruins their 1st in 39.
On May 23, 1995, Joe DiMaggio, Bob Feller, Ted Williams, Pee Wee Reese and Warren Spahn were all still alive. So was Mickey Mantle, but not for much longer. Dave Winfield, Dennis Eckersley, Eddie Murray, Andre Dawson, Ozzie Smith, Paul Molitor, Rickey Henderson, Cal Ripken, Ryan Sandberg, Wade Boggs, Tony Gwynn, Kirby Puckett, Barry Larkin and Roberto Alomar were active players who are now in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Of the 28 teams then in existence, more than half, 16, have replaced their ballparks: The Yankees, the Mets, the Atlanta Braves, the Cincinnati Reds, the Detroit Tigers, the Houston Astros, the Miami Marlins, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Minnesota Twins, the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals franchise, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the St. Louis Cardinals, the San Diego Padres, the San Francisco Giants and the Seattle Mariners.
Current Yankee manager Joe Girardi was playing for the Colorado Rockies. Terry Collins of the Mets was the manager of the Houston Astros. Tom Coughlin of the Giants was about to debut as the 1st head coach of the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars. Rex Ryan of the Jets was the defensive line and linebackers coach of the Arizona Cardinals, while his father Buddy Ryan was their head coach. Mike D'Antoni of the Knicks was coaching Bennetton Treviso in the Italian basketball league. Avery Johnson of the Nets was playing for the San Antonio Spurs. John Tortorella of the Rangers was coaching the minor-league Rochester Americans. Jack Capuano of the Islanders was an assistant coach with the minor-league Tallahassee Tiger Sharks. And Peter DeBoer of the Devils was an assistant coach with the Detroit Junior Red Wings.
The Olympic Games have been held in America (twice), Japan, Australia, Greece, Italy, China and Canada. The World Cup has been held in France, Japan, Korea, Germany and South Africa -- and had never previously been held in Asia and Africa, or in a joint venture (2002 in Japan and Korea).
The European Cup/Champions League soccer tournament has been won by Ajax Amsterdam, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid (3 times), Manchester United (twice), Bayern Munich (who are in this year’s final as well, against London’s Chelsea), AC Milan (twice), Porto, Liverpool, Barcelona (3 times) and Internazionale Milano.
Bill Clinton was in his 1st term as President. George W. Bush had just been inaugurated as Governor of Texas. George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and their wives, and Lady Bird Johnson were all still alive. (Reagan, Mrs. Johnson, and Mr. and Mrs. Ford have since died.) Barack Obama was teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago, and Mitt Romney had just lost his first race for public office, for the U.S. Senate seat of Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts.
The Governor of New York was George Pataki. The Mayor of New York City was Rudy Giuliani, and the Governor of New Jersey was Christine Todd Whitman. Five Justices then on the U.S. Supreme Court are still on it: Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.
The holders of the Nobel Peace Prize were Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat -- and now we know how that worked out. The Pope was John Paul II. The current Pope, Benedict XVI, then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, was the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The Prime Minister of Canada was Jean Chretien, and of Britain John Major. The monarch was Queen Elizabeth II -- that hasn't changed. Blackburn Rovers had just won an improbable Premier League title, and Everton had just won the FA Cup. There have since been 3 Presidents of the United States, 3 Prime Ministers of Britain and 2 Popes.
Major novels of 1995 included The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans, Independence Day by Richard Ford, The Rainmaker by John Grisham, High Fidelity by Nick Hornby and Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. Timothy Findley published a novel titled The Piano Man's Daughter. It was not about Alexa Ray Joel.
None of the Harry Potter, A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones, Bridget Jones, Twilight or Hunger Games novels had yet been published. And no one had yet heard of Robert Langdon or Lisbeth Salander.
Major films of the spring of 1995 included Outbreak, Bad Boys, While You Were Sleeping, New Jersey Drive (about carjacking, not the Devils' drive for the Stanley Cup), Crimson Tide (not about the University of Alabama football team), the Scottish-themed historical epics Braveheart and Rob Roy, the film version of The Bridges of Madison County, Batman Forever, and The American President, starring 51-year-old Michael Douglas, playing a widowed President dating an environmental activist played by 37-year-old Annette Bening, who was married to 58-year-old Warren Beatty. Douglas was not yet married to Catherine Zeta-Jones, who was then 25 and starring in Catherine the Great. Not an autobiography.
Pierce Brosnan's 1st outing as James Bond, Goldeneye, would premiere the following November. Dean Cain was playing Superman on TV, but Val Kilmer's turn as Batman on film would be a pathetic mess. And Sylvester McCoy was still the last man to play The Doctor.
Television shows that were about to air their final first-run episodes were Empty Nest, Blossom, Full House, Matlock and Northern Exposure. Newly-debuted were NewsRadio, Sliders and the entire WB and UPN networks (eventually to merge), including Star Trek: Voyager. Soon to debut were Ned & Stacey (the 1st series to star Debra Messing), Caroline in the City, JAG, MADtv, The Drew Carey Show, and a show only slightly more cartoonish than that one, Pinky and the Brain. And yet, it was the Yankees who ended up taking over the world.
The Number 1 song in America was "This Is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan. The surviving members of the Beatles were finishing The Beatles Anthology. Michael Jackson released HIStory. Tupac Shakur got married in prison.
Kourtney Kardashian and Pink were 16. Michelle Williams (both of them), Ben Savage, Kim Kardahsian, Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, Kelly Rowland, Hayden Christensen and Jessica Alba were 14. Natalie Portman, Beyonce Knowles, Britney Spears, Sienna Miller and Kirsten Dunst were 13. Prince William, Matt Smith and Anne Hathaway were 12. Prince Harry and Khloe Kardashian were 10.
Lady Gaga was 9, Rob Kardashian Jr. 8, Kevin Jonas and Rihanna 7, 7, Joe Jonas 5, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson 4. So was Sarah Hyland, and the rest of the Modern Family kids had not yet been born. Nor had Kendall and Kylie Jenner. Louis Tomlinson was 3. Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, Miley Cyrus and Zayn Malik were 2. The other One Direction singers, Liam Payne, Nial Horan and Harry Styles, had yet to reach a 2nd birthday. Justin Bieber had just had his 1st, so he wasn't a "Boyfriend," he was a "Baby."
Inflation has been such that what $1.00 bought then, $1.51 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp was 32 cents. A New York Subway token was $1.25. The average price of a gallon of gas was $1.20, a cup of coffee $1.74, a McDonald's meal $5.29, a movie ticket $4.35, a new car $17,900, and a new house $158,900. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed that day at 4,436.43.
The tallest building in the world was the Sears Tower in Chicago. The Internet was still new to most of us. Most of us had never heard of Microsoft or Netscape or America Online. There was no Facebook, no YouTube, no Twitter, no Instagram and no Pinterest. VHS videotapes were still the dominant way of recording and playing back movies and TV shows. Mobile phones were still roughly the size of the communicators on Star Trek. The birth control pill was long-established, but there was, as yet, no Viagra.
Howard Cosell, and Ginger Rogers, and Jonas Salk died. Not many famous people, who would now be 17 years old, were born, but when Mariano first toed the rubber in a major league game, Saoirse Ronan was 13 months old, Justin Bieber was 14 months old and Dakota Fanning was 15 months old.
UPDATE: We now know that the Spring of 1995 included the births of supermodel Gigi Hadid, and soccer stars Adrien Rabiot and Divock Origi, and swimmer Missy Franklin.
May 23, 1995. Mariano Rivera made a very awkward major league debut. He went on to become the greatest relief pitcher who has ever lived.
Will we ever see him pitch again? Outside of Old-Timers' Day, that is? He says he'll be back. Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Mariano returned for the 2013 season, and retired after it. His Number 42 was retired, he was awarded a Plaque in Monument Park, and in 2019, he became the 1st player unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
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