Viewers of the ALDS Game 3 watching from home were subjected
to a bombardment of ads for the new TNT show Men of a Certain Age. The comedy’s
premise involves men in their forties coping with the realities (ear hair?
Viagra? “going” problems?) of middle age.
Undoubtedly, this title could apply to Mariano Rivera as well. Rivera, who is credited with being 39 years
of age with the big birthday in November, apparently never got the message that
life and your body is supposed to slow down as four decades tick away. Since turning 35, Rivera had worked 361.2
innings, struck out 358 and posted an ERA of 1.89 while saving 190 games.
Yet, there he was, bags accumulating under his eyes like
Yankee championships he had helped cultivate in his 15 seasons in pinstripes,
ready to terminate the Minnesota Twins 2009 season and with it, the lights of
the Metrodome that glow upon the baseball field, once and for all. But ...
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