BOSTON – Mariano Rivera is expected to announce today that he will undergo surgery on his right shoulder.
“I will tell you before [today’s] game,” Rivera said when asked if he was going to be operated on or use cortisone injections to battle a calcification problem on top of the AC joint in the shoulder.
The surgery isn’t expected to keep Rivera, who has converted 38 of 39 save chances, from being ready for spring training. With Mike Mussina chasing 20 wins today, Rivera is available to save it.
“I expect to have Mo,” Girardi said.
Rivera hasn’t pitched since Tuesday when the Yankees were eliminated from the wild-card race. He underwent an MRI Thursday and was examined by Dr. Chris Ahmad. On Friday, the shoulder was looked at by Dr. David Altchek.
According to manager Joe Girardi, Derek Jeter won’t be at shortstop today when Mike Mussina attempts to become a 20-game winner for the first time.
“I saw him in the trainer’s room [Friday night] and he said he is done,” Girardi said of Jeter, who started Friday despite a sore left hand that kept him out of the starting lineup for three games in Toronto.
“It boils down to if you can’t do it, it’s not fair to anyone else,” said Jeter, who was hit on the hand last Saturday but still played in the Yankee Stadium finale the next day and was a defensive replacement Tuesday night. “Moose is approaching something he has never done and I would be the last one to want to mess it up.”
Humberto Sanchez (sailor), Francisco Cervelli (biker), Juan Miranda (cop), Brett Gardner (contractor), David Robertson (cowboy) and Alfredo Aceves (indian) donned “Village People” outfits as part of the rookie hazing ritual put together by equipment manager Rob Cucuzza. Players had to walk from the Yankees’ clubhouse to the team bus in front of Red Sox fans and then into the high-end team hotel.
Players posed for photos, one that included Girardi, and danced to “YMCA.” Phil Coke missed out on the ritual because a fireman’s outfit couldn’t be located.
Jeter and Girardi vowed not be glued to the TV watching the postseason games.
“None, zero interest,” Jeter said. “I might see the highlights but I am not sitting down [to watch it].”
“It’s hard for me to watch playoff baseball,” Girardi said. “I am not going to make a conscious effort to sit in front of a TV and watch the games.”