This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/4/2017
When it comes to baseball history, no team has more of it to flash than the vaunted New York Yankees. Hitting, pitching and wins, the Yankees own many different categories in baseball’s record books. “Saves” is yet another of those categories owned by the club that dons pinstripes. By virtue of the tireless and seemingly impenetrable efforts of former star closer Mariano Rivera, all-time saves leader is yet another distinction owned by the
team from The Bronx.
Featured in this lot is the game-used pitching rubber that was embedded in mound on the “main field” at the old Yankee Stadium (not a bullpen rubber) upon which Mariano Rivera collected his 479th career save on the night of Sept. 15, 2008. At the time, the individual save placed him second overall to only San Diego’s Trevor Hoffman. Entering the game in the top half of the ninth inning with the Yankees holding a 4-2 lead over the Chicago White Sox, Rivera collected three quick outs to break Hall of Famer Lee Smith’s runner-up record of 478. The save was Rivera’s 36th in 37 chances of the ’08 season. Rivera went on to set the all-time mark with 652 to his credit.
The surprisingly heavy, 23-pound professional pitching rubber measures 24 inches wide by six inches tall by six inches deep. Usually implanted in the pitcher’s mound, its innards contain a round metal tube that is encased
inside the Schutt-manufactured rectangular rubber. Plenty of dirt remnants and stains from its time on the Yankee Stadium mound remain. A Yankee Stadium SKU # sticker is applied to the outside of the rubber, just below the official MLB logo, which reads: “NYY00002865 31414359.” A larger white sticker is also applied to the surface that reads: “YANKRUU000002 Yankee Game Used Main Field Pitching Rubber 9/15/08.”
Includes LOA from Steiner Sports.