Mariano Rivera-The Best Reliever Ever?
Rivera was born in Panama City, Panama on November 29th, 1969. In the Yankee farm system, the six foot two inch tall, 170 pound Rivera was originally a starter, but both his velocity and record was less than impressive. It was not until he unexpectedly upped the speed of his pitches to around 95 miles per hour, seemingly out of the blue, that the Yankees decided he was worth keeping. He came to the club in 1995, and served primarily as a bridge to the closer, who at that time was Wetteland. Yankees brass felt he was able to close on his own, and in 1996, Wetteland went to the Texas Rangers and Rivera was handed the job. After a not so overpowering beginning, one that saw him blow three of his first five save opportunities, he settled in and has recorded at least 36 saves every year except for an injury plagued 2002 campaign. His career ERA is a paltry 2.33, over 2 runs per game less than the league average ERA during his career. He is currently ranked fifth in all time saves with 379, behind Lee Smith, Trevor Hoffman, John Franco and Dennis Eckersley.
In the postseason, Mariano Rivera has pitched in 72 games, sporting an 8-1 won-loss mark. He has pitched 111 innings, allowing only 69 hits and 10 earned runs for a 0.81 ERA. His 34 saves in these key contests are 19 more than the next player, Dennis Eckersley, who recorded 15. His 9 World Series saves are 3 more than Rollie Fingers and his 72 postseason games pitched in is 17 more than the next highest pitcher, Jeff Nelson. The fact that the Yankees, with their deep pockets, put a World Series favorite on the field year after year, must be taken into account as you consider Rivera’s numbers. However, the success or failure of the closer is so often the difference between a contender making it to the World Series or falling by the wayside; the Yankees rarely have been let down by Mariano. His almost unhittable cut fastball, a pitch that often breaks the bats of left handed hitters as it comes in on them as they swing, has made him a feared weapon.
This is not to say that he hasn’t ever failed in the big spots. On the contrary, he has lost a seventh game of a World Series, allowing the Arizona Diamondbacks to come from a one run deficit in 2001 in the bottom of the ninth. A combination of bloop hits and his own catastrophic throwing error on a bunt were the reasons the Yankees didn’t win four world championships in a row. Rivera also gave up a home run in 1997 to Sandy Alomar, Jr. to blow a save against Cleveland in a series that the Yankees were eventually beaten in. And the infamous collapse against the Red Sox was due, in part, to Rivera’s inability to slam the door on Boston in games four and five. He has been less than stellar over the years against the Yankees biggest rival. Also, ironically, because of his cutter, he gives up an inordinate amount of “cheap hits”, as batters barely get a piece of the ball and drop it softly over the infielders’ heads.
In the world of relievers, it is the defeats and failures that stand out more than the 1-2-3 ninth innings and pressure saves. One only need look at Dennis Eckersley to know this is true. Voted into the Hall of Fame recently, Eckersley had 390 career saves, after becoming a closer for the Athletics at the age of 32. In 11 postseason series, he was 1-3 with 15 saves. But it is the home run he surrendered to Kirk Gibson in Game One of the 1988 World Series that will follow him around for the rest of his life. Rivera will most likely pass Eckersley in total saves by this June; however it must be noted that Eckersley had a fine career as a starter as well.
The only relievers that can logically be mentioned in the same breath as Mariano Rivera are Rollie Fingers and Rich “Goose” Goss age. All time save leader Lee Smith rang up 478 saves, but his ERA was over 3.00 and he was the loser in 2 of the 4 postseason games he appeared in. Trevor Hoffman, second in career saves with 436, has a 3.75 ERA and a 1-2 record in 5 postseason series. John Franco pitched well in the two playoff series he played in with the Mets, but he was not the closer at that point in his long career. Franco never saved more than 38 games in a season, while Rivera has been at or over 50 twice and has averaged 38 for his career.
Gossage, who pitched in both the era where the closer routinely pitched two innings or more to garner a save and the one in which the save was a one inning affair, had 310 saves. His ERA was 3.10, but his hits to innings pitched ratio was very good, 1497 to 1809. In the World Series he had a 2.63 EA and 2 saves, to go along with 6 other Champion and Division Series saves. If he was pitching now, only needing to go one inning, two at the most every now and then, to get a save, it would be a close call between himself and Rivera. Gossage had his own disaster as a Yankee, a three run home run to his arch- nemesis George Brett in the 1981 playoffs. Ultimately, it his control that costs him in his comparison to Rivera. Gossage walked an average of 47 batters a season, Mariano only 21.
Rollie Fingers, a Hall of Famer since 1992, had 341 saves and a 2.90 ERA over a 17 year career. His playoff stats cover 9 series, where he posted 10 saves and a 2.35 ERA to go with his 3-4 record. He pitched an average of 118 innings a season to Mariano Rivera’s 82, again showing how the game has changed from the standpoint of relievers. Rollie’s career high in saves was 37, one below Rivera’s average. If you were to project Fingers’ postseason numbers to equate them with Rivera’s, he would fall short with only 25 saves to Mariano’s 34. Fingers’ career ERA is only a little over half a run better than the rest of baseball during his playing days, whereas Rivera’s was the aforementioned over 2 runs better. It is this amazing stat that confirms that Mariano Rivera, indeed, is the best reliever of all time.
