Mariano Rivera save number 500. (Finally a new entry!)

I managed to catch Mariano Rivera's 500th save. By accident really, well, sort of. I went to see if the game was still on, and I tuned in right around the start of the top of the ninth, with the Yankees up 3-2.

Of course it was his 500th save overall, and his 18th of this year. At the time of the save, he was 71 behind Trevor Hoffman who had 571 saves. As of this writing, Mariano has 502, while Trevor has 572.

The next closest in saves is Billy Wagner with 385, and Troy Percival with 358.

So each player with their age, and a bit more:

	Saves	Age (Birth)	MLB Debut	SV %
Trevor Hoffman	572	41 (13 October 1967)	6 April 1993	.9346
Mariano Rivera	502	39 (29 November 1969)	23 May 1995	.9211
Billy Wagner	385	37 (25 July 1971)	13 September 1995	.8912
Troy Percival	358	39 (9 August 1969)	26 April 1995	.8972

The save situation itself was not interesting, but the fact it was an interleague game made it interesting.

Johnny Damon lined out to right to make the second out. Jeter was up next. In the dugout, Rivera was shown with a batting helmet on, then he had it off. Francisco Cervelli was then on the on deck circle, apparently trying to bluff the Mets, to get them to pitch to Jeter. Mariano was due up after Jeter for sure, as they were not going to take him out for a pinch hitter. They (Francisco Rodriguez) pitched one called strike, before pitching two balls, and then intentionally walking Jeter. Mariano earned his first career RBI, driving in Melky Cabrera with a base on balls. He took one good hack, fouling a 2-2 pitch. The next two pitches were balls for the walk.

Yankees and Mets continue spending spree

New York Yankees, CC Sabathia 7 year $161 million = $23 million per year.

New York Mets, Francisco Rodriguez 3 year $37 million = $12.33 million per year.

2008 payroll:

New York Yankees, $209,081,579
New York Mets, $138,293,378

2007 payroll:

New York Yankees, $195,229,045
New York Mets, $117,915,819

2006 payroll:

New York Yankees, $198,662,180
New York Mets, $100,901,085

2005 payroll:

New York Yankees, $208,306,817
New York Mets, $101,305,821

2004 payroll:

New York Yankees, $182,835,513
New York Mets, $100,629,303

2003 payroll:

New York Yankees, $180,322,403
New York Mets, $116,253,927

2002 payroll:

New York Yankees, $138,423,649
New York Mets, $102,863,303

2001 payroll:

New York Yankees, $114,457,768
New York Mets, $93,125,240

2000 payroll:

New York Yankees, $95,285,187
New York Mets, $82,246,383

I think Phil Rizzuto sums it up well, holy cow!