Not even a nagging rib-cage injury could derail Mariano Rivera's quest to continue his postseason dominance. He extended his record 39 postseason saves by going 5 for 5 to finish the Yankees 27th championship title. This was after saving 44 games in the regular season, including his historic 500th save against the Metsies. For this, Mo was the landslide choice for Closer of the Year in MLB.com's This Year in Baseball Awards, handily beating Jonathan Papelbon with 47% of the vote compared to Papelbum's 9%.
His good pal Derek Jeter was also recognized by MLB.com for breaking Lou Gehrig's all-time Yankees hits record with the Moment of the Year award. It's just the latest in a series of offseason honors for Jeter. This vote was much closer, but once again the Yankees came out on top with Jeter (24.6%) edging Jacoby Ellsbury (22.7%) of the Red Sox.
Soon to be ex-Yankee Johnny Damon scored the Postseason Moment of the Year award. Despite struggling in the first two rounds of the playoffs, Damon sparked the Yankees to a pivotal victory in Game 4 of the World Series with his feisty at-bat against Brad Lidge and his heads-up double steal. Of course, his departure is not official, but a return does not look promising, with Hal Steinbrenner openly talking about a disagreement over his worth.
Thanks to Anc516 via en.Wikipedia for the photo.
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