You’re correct; it was the Pirates against which he played his last game.
You’re not correct in that you claim to offer evidence that Rivera is different.
I enjoyed watching the Cubs bullpen fritter away two leads in the first two games. Nice job, Marmol and Wood! 
“evidence” is your word not mine for the record. I offered a few counter examples and a feeling based on listening to Mo in interviews and reading interviews with him and about him that have to number over a 100 at this point, though the bulk of these were short interviews.
Since I won’t get to say it for much longer; the Dodgers have the best record in the MLB!
Hey, I’ll take what I can get even if it’s just over the Pads. After last night’s game Dee Gordon is looking like he’s going to have a great season as our lead off hitter and Either and Kemp are both hitting every thing that crosses the plate with 12 RBIs in 3 games between them.
Also since I live out in Denver I’m looking forward to the Rockies home opener on Monday. I’ve got season tickets for the first time ever about 20 rows back from home plate. Although I’m donating about half of my tickets to a local little league team I’m still planning on attending 30 odd games this year. The most games I’ve ever attended live before was less than 10 so this will be a good season. Now I just got to hope the Dodgers win the west and the Rox win one of the wild cards.
I feel wrong having hope that this is a better Dodger team than I expected it to be, they were playing the Padres after all, but damned if it doesn’t look like they can hit and get on base a little bit more than last year, and their pitching is only slightly worse than last year (and I think their Pen is better). Couple that with improved run prevention by defense and (knock wood) they might actually contend in the weak NL West.
I am not as discouraged about the Giants’ 0-2 start and bad starting pitching as one might expect. They came back after two very early leads, scored four runs both games. The pitching will right itself, and I think this team is better than last year.
Joe
Speaking of SF. I do wonder about Lincicum and his decreased velocity in conjunction with him abandoning his slider because it was starting to hurt his elbow.
I recognize it’s not going to last, but while it does i’m going to enjoy it. Here are my feelings about the season so far, in graphic form.
Well how about that - the Mariners are scoring runs. Granted, they were playing Oakland, but still.
They couldn’t do that even against Oakland the last couple of years. Montero has been off to a slow start, but Ichiro looks like his old self, and so does Figgins. Ackley has lived up to his billing so far. It’s been a very nice change so far.
Orioles leading 3-0.
Baltimore pitcher Jason Hammel will take a no-hitter into the seventh, and he’s faced the minimum so far, with just 2 walks, each erased by a double play. His pitch count after 6 innings is only 65. He’s looking pretty damn good.
Damn, that’s a strong division…
Joe
I know, right? I mean, imagine the difficulty of playing the mighty Orioles 18 times in a season. The Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, and Jays are also fairly decent teams. 
In Orioles news, Hammel lost his no-hitter and gave up a run in the 8th, but the Birds still lead 3-1. Orioles starting pitchers have given up a total of 1 ER in the first three games. I know that’s unlikely to continue, but it would certainly be nice to have some reliable starting pitching for a change.
I’ve been very happy with Figgins so far. Let’s hope he keeps it up! I’ve spent the last couple seasons just baffled by his poor performance - even when he played for the [del]West Coast Yankees[/del] Angels I admired his style and skill.
Cleveland up 4-3 in the top of the 9th.
Two outs, but the Jays have the bases loaded with Bautista coming to the plate.
ETA: Game over; Indians finally hang on to win one.
…And in the “sour grapes” category we have Jonathan Sanchez, late of my Giants, offering more of the same (3 walks in three innings) for KC…
Joe
and the Yankees start the season getting swept in Tampa.
Tigers start with a sweep over the Red Sox. Good times. Crazy, crazy game, too.
That was crazy! When Boston took the lead in the top of the 11th, i was sure that they finally had it wrapped up, but then the Tigers managed 3 in the bottom of the inning.
That Red Sox bullpen is looking pretty fucking dodgy.
A weekend with 3 wins for the Orioles, 3 losses for the Yankees, and 3 losses for the Red Sox. Baseball doesn’t get any better than that. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen very often.
And, in a shocker, I was completely wrong.