My Favorite Mariano Rivera Memory

On June 6, 2003 the New York Yankees played at Wrigley Field since the 1938 World Series.  I attended that game and had seats about ten rows behind the Yankees bullpen.  I was seated behind a boy who was about seven years old.  During the early innings, the boy walked down to the Yankees bullpen with a disposable camera.  Mariano River noticed him and stopped to smile for him and said hello.

When he got back to his seat, the boy's father handed him a ball and told him to go ask Mariano for an autograph.  When he got up there, Mo politely declined.  "I can't during the game.  It's not allowed.  But I'll sign it after the game."  The boy was disappointed but his dad did a good job of explaining it all to him.

As the game progressed, the Yankees took the lead and Mariano wound up having to pitch the top of the ninth inning.  Mariano got the Cubs out for the save.  As the game ended, the Yankees bench emptied and everyone lined up for high-fives.  Then all the Yankees started to head back into the dugout.  At this point, the dad tried to explain to his son that Mr. Rivera didn't know he would be pitching when the game ended. So he probably won't be coming back out to sign the ball.

But I soon noticed that Mariano was not walking in the same direction as the other Yankees.  He turned out towards right field, back toward the bullpen.  His lanky frame walked all the way back out to the bullpen at a calm, casual pace.

When he got out there, he pointed to the point and gestured for him to come down.  He signed his ball, smiled and turned away back towards the dugout.  A few other people started shoving things in his face to sign, but he demurred.  A few cursed him for not signing their stuff.  But Mo didn't seem to mind.  He just kept walking at that same deliberate speed.

A grown up can never appreciate an athlete in quite the same way a child does.  So no one will ever replace Don Mattingly as my favorite Yankee.  But this story is why Mariano Rivera is my favorite Yankee of this generation.

Breaking Bad, What Do We Know

This was written about an hour and half before the premier of the penultimate Breaking Bad episode.  If you're not caught up, then this contains spoilers.  And you have bad taste.


There are only two episodes left of Breaking Bad.  For the past several months I have been under the assumption that the last episode will begin, more or less, where the cold opening of the season premiere opened, at a Denny's on Walt's 52nd birthday.

So with only one episode to get us to that point.  Let's consider what we know, and what has to happen to get us there.

What We Know From the First Cold Open.

1. About 3 more months have to pass.  In the first episode of season one, Skyler is about 7 months pregnant.  Last week, the Amber Alert described Holly White as 18 months old.  That means about 21 months have passed since Walt's 50th birthday, which was the day the show started.  

2.   Walt is still sick but he is not on chemo.  His hair has grown back and he has a pretty full beard.  He coughs and pops some pills in the Dennny's bathroom.

3.  He still has some significant money.  He pays what must be 10 to 20K for the machine gun in his trunk.  He also leaves $100 for Lucy as a tip on his free breakfast.  The tip is fairly ostentatious.

4. Walt doesn't seem to plan on being around very long.  He tells the gun dealer that the gun will never "leave town".  He is not worried, particularly, about getting caught.  He has a fake ID and has changed his appearance but leaving the $100 tip is the kind of thing that could get him remembered.  

5.  He has a very big machine gun.

What We Know From the Second Cold Open.

1.  The home is abandoned and has been vandalized.  Kids ride skate boards in the pool and there is some kind of police warning up on the house.  The home has been stripped bare.  No furniture and not much trash.  There is a visible gash in the kitchen floor, like someone was trying to dig for money (or meth).  The name Heisenburg is written in large letters on the living room floor.

2.  He goes back for the ricin.  So he must be expecting a need to poison someone.  Either he thinks the gun will not be sufficient for all of his murdering needs or he thinks ricin will make a good suicide alternative, should he find himself pinned down.  

3.  Some specific memory makes him wince in the bed room mirror.  I'm not sure what that might be, but it's very noticeable and dramatic.  Before re-watching it I thought maybe he was thinking of last week's knife fight with Schyler.  But he's in a different room.  Not sure what this one means but Gilligan is pretty famous for not putting anything on the screen that doesn't have some plot purpose.

4.  There is no sign of Walt's family.  Sure they would have likely been relocated by the DEA after the craziness, but it certainly seems ominous.  

So What Has to Happen Tonight.

So we know that Walt makes it successfully away to his new life as Mr. Lambert, in New Hampshire. Tonight's episode is called The Granite State, which suggests that we'll be seeing Walt's new life in upper New England.  But I suspect that tonight's episode will have more to do with Jesse, Lydia, the Nazis and Schyler.  Something has to happen to give Walt an incentive to throw away his live up North and to come back for revenge.  Some thoughts.

1.  He's dying, so he might not have much to leave behind.

2.  He's spending a little freely, so that might suggest that he's given up the hope of getting the money to Schyler and the kids.  Maybe they are just under police protection, but it certainly seems possible that they are dead.

3.  He has to have a reason to want revenge.  I know he's been through a lot but he can't really feel too burned by the Nazis.  Sure they killed Hank but Walt is smart enough to realize that they were left with little choice once Walt called them to that spot.  

So who is the source of Walt's need for revenge?  When last we saw Walt, he was assenting to Jesse being tortured and even twisted the knife personally by telling him the truth about Jane.  So it seems unlikely that he's coming back to avenge the torture (or death) of Jesse Pinkman.  It's also a little hard to imagine why the Nazis would kill Schyler or the kids at this point.  They are no threat to them, and they have $70 million dollars and a blossoming fortune maker as Meth Dealers to the Czech Republic.  

Here's my best theory.  Jesse acts up or escapes.  So the Nazis kill Brock and/or his mother.  This news gets back to Walt, and he realizes that he is responsible for that kid being killed.  That's the one thing he can't forgive himself for.  So he loads up the Volvo and drives out west stopping only for gas.  Thirty hours later, he's breaking his bacon into the number 52.

The best thing about this prediction is that I am almost certainly wrong.  Breaking Bad is not as important as the Wire or as emotionally engaging as the Sopranos'.  But it is superb story telling, that may push the bounds with some implausible developments but never plays cheap with the emotions of the audience.  I can't wait to see how it all ends.