Clay Holmes blew a one-run lead in the ninth inning as the Yankees couldn’t complete the four-game sweep of the Royals on Thursday, and many Yankee fans responded by calling out their closer for not having what it takes to take the ball in the ninth for a World Series team.
Evan couldn’t help but laugh at that response, convinced that Yankee fans will never be happy with their closer thanks to the heavy shadow of Mariano Rivera.
“Clay Holmes is good. Clay Holmes doesn’t stink, but he’s not Mariano Rivera,” Evan said. “He’s just not, and that’s okay.
“Yes, he blew a save today. It happened. There were things that led up to it…but the bottom line is, yes, Clay Holmes is human…he’s good, but he’s not Mariano Rivera.”
Rivera set an impossible precedent for a generation of Yankee fans who were used to the game being over as long as the Yanks had a lead after the eighth inning, and now, and closer that is human will simply not be good enough in their eyes. Evan doesn’t think that’s fair to Holmes.
“Any time any closer blows a game, it seems like in their brains, they go ‘Son of a bitch, he ain’t Mariano,’” Evan said. “Of course he’s not Mariano! Nobody is Mariano!
“It drives me nuts sometimes, and I think it’s because of Mariano.”