Its been merely a formality for quite a while now, although its a formality that I as well as many of those that like to nay say the Yankees solely for the fact that they are the Yankees would hold the Yanks closer too. When people would say Mariano Rivera is the greatest closer in baseball history I would say, "Yeah, well Trevor Hoffman is the all-time saves leader." And truthfully, Hoffman was a fantastic closer in his own right, locking down 601 games over the course of 18 seasons. Everything is about to change though. Hoffman is no longer going to be the all-time saves leader. Barring a major catastrophe sometime in the next few days Mariano Rivera will take that title. In fact, Rivera tied Hoffman this afternoon with his 601st save coming in Toronto as the Yanks beat the Blue Jays 7-6. At this point, its a foregone conclusion, much like it practically is every time Rivera steps out of the bullpen and takes the might out of the opposing teams bats.
Now, I'm not, nor will I ever be a Yankees fan. Its not that I hate them, I just don't care for them, at all. I'd rather see the Rays do well to be honest, they're a team with limited resources fighting the big bad giants that are the Yankees (and Red Sox). With all of that said, I have to tip my cap to Rivera. At 41 years old, Rivera is in his 17th season, he's recorded 41 of his 46 saves opportunities and has a fantastic 2.05 ERA. Most remarkably, he's has a WHIP of 0.93 (in 6 of his last 7 seasons his WHIP has been below 1). Clearly, at 41, Rivera is still on top of his game.
And he's had a fantastic career. Rivera was part of the Yankees 90s teams that won 4 World Series Titles and was still with the team for the 2009 title. As a matter of fact, Rivera does some of his best work in the postseason. He has a 0.71 ERA and 0.77 WHIP in October, and has only blown 3 saves (all in 2004) in 45 opportunities. Also, he's only allowed 2 homers in 139 2/3 postseason innings pitched. That's absolutely remarkable.
The craziest thing of all though, is that Rivera has done all of this with for the most part just one pitch. Rivera throws his cut fastball about 85% of the time, according to fangraphs.com (an awesome baseball source, by the way). Its the only pitch he's thrown all 2011 season in a 2-0 count, usually a count where the batter can expect a straight fastball in a good spot to hit. The pitcher's trying to ensure a strike in that scenario. The thing with Rivera is that sure strike is just as nasty as when he's ahead in the count. He has no fear. And here's the thing, the whole baseball world knows that's what he's going to throw. Even with that, they still can't hit it, to the tune of those numbers I stated earlier. I don't know if anyone at any level anywhere has ever mastered a pitch to that level. Just by switching sides of the plate and adding and subtracting speed, Rivera has been the most dominant closer to this point.
Further, at 6 foot 2 and 185 pounds, there's hardly any cloud of suspicion over whether or not Rivera is a product of the steroid era his career began in; the same steroid era of his once-superstar peer Roger Clemens took advantage of. For all intents and purposes, our knowledge is that Rivera has been clean. Yes, he's sustained himself at 41 years old, but all accounts are that he's a very regimented man. A man that takes superior care of his body, and with the lack of a breaking pitch, doesn't have the wear on his arm that comes with snapping the wrist. For all we can see he is also a man of integrity.
And yes, the history of the closer is a short one in relation to the history of the MLB, but even with that said, Rivera is astonishing. He is the face of the closer's role. Toronto Manager and pitching extraordinaire John Farrell said as much in his interview post-game. He's everything you would want in a closer. He's cold-blooded and calculating. He senses the moment and takes the hope from the opposing team just when he needs to. This is the first time I'm willing to say it, but Rivera's the best. Its the truth. No one's ever done it like him, and he's easily destined for Cooperstown.
What's the baseline?
I commend Mariano Rivera for what he is. The best closer in Major League Baseball history. He is the ultimate closer.
(photo courtesy of nydailynews.com)
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