A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be closing, always be closing.
So, I was going to talk about the ineptness of the Mets
today. Y’know, how they really put the SUB in subway series, starting such
perennial all stars as Alex Cora, Fernando Tatis, Fernando Martinez, Jeremy
Reed, Argenis Reyes, Nick Evans…you get the idea.
I was gonna write about the Mets, but this picture says it all.
But there’s something much more important that happened last
night. The Mets are a .500 team and I will pillory them no further. What I want
to discuss is the great Mariano Rivera. Is he the greatest closer in baseball history?
Mo.
Yes. See you all tomorrow.
Who put this thing together? Me, that's who! Who do I trust? Me!
Ah. Well. My pesky editor over there insists I write a more
detailed analysis. Is Rivera the best closer ever?
And that’s really the question, isn’t it? I am an unabashed
Yankee fan, so it’s hard to argue that I’m objective. But I am going to give it
a try. In my opinion, Mo is the greatest closer ever. Do the facts back me up?
More importantly, do they even tell the entire story?
On Sunday, Rivera netted his 500th career save.
He became the 2nd closer in baseball history to save 500 or more
games. The first is Trevor Hoffman, who holds the major league record at 571.
The term closer is a relatively new specialty position.
Before the 1980’s, closers were really just considered relievers. Of course,
you did have certain relievers you used exclusively in the late innings to
finish games. Guys like Sparky Lyle, Goose Gossage, Hoyt Wilhelm, Roy Face and Rollie
Fingers were some of the early pioneers in closing games. Wilhelm is perhaps
the earliest ‘true’ closer, as he used his knuckleball to close a whopping 227
games decades before the closer was in vogue. He's generally considered to have the best knuckleball ever. Even he didn't know where it was going. Wilhelm is also in the first
closer to be elected to baseball’s hall of fame – in 1985. But while a pioneer, Wilhelm is not even close
to the greatest closer ever. He was a starter for part of his career. His
career ERA was a sterling 2.52, but the most saves he ever had in a single
season was 27 for the 1964 Chicago White Sox. A hall of famer, yes. A pioneer,
yes. But not the best closer ever by a long shot.
Sorry Hoyt.
The next guy I want to look at is another Hall of Famer.
Probably the first guy to come to mind when we talk about either premiere closers or ridiculously cool mustaches.
Rollie Fingers. Fingers was a dominating closer for the A’s, Padres and Brewers
for pretty much his entire career. He took over as a full time closer in 1972
and was a major part of three Athletics World Championships in 1972, 73 and 74.
Fingers let the league in saves three times, with totals of 35, 37 and 28. His
career ERA was 2.90. He also won the Cy Young and MVP awards in 1981, a strike
shortened season. However, his post season stats are somewhat spotty. While he
netted 10 saves and a 2.35 ERA, he had a record of just 3-4 and was definitely
not as dominating as he usually was in the regular season. Fingers finished with 341 career saves over 17
ML seasons. Again, Hall of Famer to be sure. But not the best all-time. But we’re
getting closer.
Greatest mustache ever? Yes. Greatest closer? No.
Next up is Bruce Sutter. Sutter is a tough guy to judge
since he’s one of those players that racked up a ton of impressive stats in a
relatively short period of time. He’s the Sandy Koufax of closers. Dominant for
a few years. But man, when he was good, he was really really good. From 1977
until 1984, Sutter, being the first pitcher to truly throw the split fingered
fastball with precision effectiveness, ripped through the National league as
closer for the Cardinals, Cubs and Braves. (Note: Sutter did not invent the
splitter, as is widely believed. It was taught to him by Cubs pitching coach
Fred Martin as a way to compensate for decreased velocity related to an arm
injury.) Sutter won the Cy Young in 1979,
and between 77 and 84 he saved 264 games (he finished his career with an even
300.), leading the league in saves for 4 straight years and 5 out of 6 seasons.
He saved 45 games in 1984, which was his career best. He was inducted into the
Hall of Fame in 2006 as baseball began to pay more attention to closers. He also had this interesting thing to say about being a closer in today's day and age, “That may have been true in the '50s. But if I'm playing against the Yankees and they say, 'You can take one guy off their team so he can't play against you,' well, then, it's going to be Mariano Rivera who won't play." Thanks Bruce.
Closer and civil war recreationist, Bruce Sutter.
Then there’s Rich Gossage. The Goose. Gossage had an
interesting career. He began as a starting pitcher for the White Sox. Then in 1975,
Chicago
utilized him primarily to finish games and he excelled with a 1.84 ERA and a
league leading 26 saves. But, since it was 1975 and this is the White Sox, they
moved him back into the starting rotation in 76, and he went 9-17. Quickly
traded to the Pirates, he was just as quickly moved back into the back end of
games and responded by becoming a dominating closer for the next 12 seasons or
so, even winning the World Series with the 1978 Yankees. Goose had seasons of 26,
27, 33 and 30 saves, but he never had that truly dominating season that many
other elite closers had. Sure he had ‘dominating’ seasons – mainly in 77 and
78, when he went 11-9 with a 1.62 ERA and 26 saves for the Pirates and then 10-11
with a 2.01 ERA and 27 saves for the Yankees. He also went 13-5 with a 2.27 ERA
and 22 saves for the Yankees in 1983, but this really epitomizes the way Goose
was used. He blew a lot of games. He won a lot of games. He lost a lot of
games. He is a hall of famer, and a great pitcher…but not the greatest closer.
Not of all time.
Uh, what exactly are you planning to with that goose, Goose?
Finally, we come to the last of our Hall of Fame closers –
Dennis Eckersley. The Eck. The Eck finished his career with a whopping 390
saves, which is downright impressive when you consider he was a starter for
over half his career. In fact, Eckersley really had two careers. The first was
as a starter from 1974 until 1986, going 151-128 with a 20-8 season in 1978 for
the Red Sox as his high water mark. But in the early 1980’s Eckersley lost some
zip on his fastball. He developed a devastating slider to compensate, but it
wasn’t enough. He also developed a raging case of alcoholism. After faltering
to 6-11 with the Cubs in 86, he seemed well on his way out of baseball. But he
checked himself into rehab and latched on with A’s and Tony LaRussa. LaRussa
intended to use him as a middle reliever, but an injury to closer Jay Howell
forced Eckersley into the closers role, and in a Wally Pipesque scenario, he
never looked back, saving 16 games in 87 for the A’s, he soon became a fixture
as the A’s closer. He saved games by the truckload for LaRussa from 1988 until 1997
for the A’s and Cardinals. His totals: 45, 33, 48, 43, 51, 36, 19, 29, 30 and 36.
In 1990, he had one of the single greatest seasons for a closer, ever, going
4-2 with an insane 0.61 ERA and 48 saves. Until recently, you have to consider
Eck as the greatest closer of all time. As I said, until recently.
Ok, so I'm not a huge Red Sox fan. Sue me.
Recently a new crop of elite closers have emerged thru the
1980’s, 90’s and into the 21st century. Lee Smith, Jeff Reardon,
John Franco and many others stake their claim to best closer ever. Can Rivera
top them all? Find out tomorrow, when we wrap up this piece and answer once and
for all, who the best closer ever truly is. (Hint: It’s Rivera)
