14 years ago today: Mariano Rivera finishes off save No. 602, passing Trevor Hoffman to become MLB’s all-time saves leader.

14 years ago today: Mariano Rivera finishes off save No. 602, passing Trevor Hoffman to become MLB's all-time saves leader.
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16 comments

  2. The greatest closer of all time, not even a debate. Not a lot of athletes can say that regarding their respective positions.

  3. I always wondered with how good hitters now and how good the stuff they’re seeing is now how effective Rivera would be with that cutter today.

  8. To eclipse Rivera pretty much you have to be a top tier closer by one’s early 20s and stay at the top of your game for 20 years.

  10. I’m honestly surprised he broke the record in 2011 – seems late. With how dominant he was I would have guessed he broke the record *then* pitched for another 4 or 5 years. Seems wrong that only like 6 or 7% of his career (in terms of appearances) occurred after owning the record.

  11. Relievers are so volatile, man. This guy, though? Elite from the minute he stepped into the bullpen until the day he left it.

    I rarely, if ever, say that there will “never be another like him” when it comes to a baseball player. But when it comes to Mo, I seriously doubt that we’ll ever a see a closer do what he did, for how long he did it, all while being as dominant as he was the entire way through. 11 seasons with an ERA under two. 14 seasons with an ERA 2.3 or lower. 11 ER given up in 141 playoff innings.

    One of the good things about being an old guy is that I was able to see his first pitch to his last. The GOAT, without any shadow of a doubt.

  12. I miss having a guaranteed save in the bullpen so much man. Nothing compared to the level of safety I felt seeing Mo on the mound.

  13. Mariano Rivera is arguably the greatest ***pitcher*** of all time, not just the greatest closer.

    Look at the career leaders in ERA+:

    1. Mariano Rivera 205
    2. Bill Foster 164
    3. Bullet Rogan 161
    4. Clayton Kershaw 154
    5. Pedro Martinez 154
    6. Jacob deGrom 151
    7. Jim Devlin 150
    8. Satchel Paige 150
    9. Lefty Gomez 148
    10. Ray Brown 147
    11. Walter Johnson 147
    12. Hoyt Wilhelm 147

    It is difficult to compare starters and relievers in many pitching categories. However, in a category like ERA+, which adjusts for parks and run-scoring during a player’s era, over a long stretch, we see that Rivera is the best ever.

    If you are not familiar with Foster and Rogan, you need to brush up on your Negro Leagues history.

    Of course, Rivera doesn’t have the number of innings pitched a starter would have with a career as long as his. However, when we think about how many years Rivera closed and how ridiculously better his ERA+ is than anyone else in the history of the game, it is difficult to argue that anyone has ever been a better pitcher.

    For those who think it is simply easier to be a closer, why don’t we see other elite modern closers in the top 12? I would argue that this particular statistic is more difficult for a reliever to dominate than a starters, because if the reliever gives up a run, it takes several outings to accumulate innings to bring his ERA back down.

    Modern closers ranking high on the list include no. 13 Dan Quisenberry 146, no. 20 Trevor Hoffman 141, no. 23 John Franco 138, no. 26 Bruce Sutter 136, no. 37 Lee Smith 132 and no. 37 Kent Tekulve 132. Guys my age remember all those guys and how absolutely nasty they were. But Rivera was so much better than **all** of them.

  16. The sense of absolute calm I would feel when Mo stepped on the mound, no matter the moment. First week of the season or trying to close out ALCS or WS.

    (Damn you Luis Gonzalez, I was speechless for about an hour. Sandy Alomar to a lesser extent)

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