The 2008 season was a banner year for relief pitchers. We saw a plethora of amazing performances. The most heralded of course came from Francisco Rodriguez setting the new all-time record for saves with 62. We also saw a new record for the most consecutive scoreless innings to begin a career by Oakland reliever Brad Ziegler. Ziegler also posted the lowest ERA of all relief pitchers posting a 1.06 ERA. Philadelphia closer Brad Lidge went a perfect 41/41 in save opportunities while posting a 1.95 ERA. As an encore he led his team to a World Series Championship while remaining a perfect 7/7 in playoff saves with a 0.96 ERA. We also saw the emergence of Kansas City closer Joakim Soria who posted 42 saves with a 1.60 ERA and the continued excellence of Minnesota’s Joe Nathan with 39 saves and a 1.33 ERA. With all these amazing performances it’s easy to overlook the year of Mariano Rivera. Arguably the greatest closer in baseball history, Rivera goes about his business quietly getting the job done year in and year out. He’s not the most flashy player, he’s a quiet, soft spoken guy who doesn’t throw the hardest and who doesn’t strike out the most batters. The loudest part of his game is when ‘Enter Sandman’ blares from the Yankee Stadium PA as he takes the mound. What did all these things cause though? I believe it caused most to overlook Mariano’s 2008 season, which I believe is possibly the 2nd greatest season ever by a closer.
For starters lets first take a look at Mo’s 2008 season. He was 39/40 in save opportunities. In 70.2 innings pitched he allowed 41 hits while amazingly only walking 6 batters. He also struck out 77 hitters while posting a 1.40 ERA and a 0.67 WHIP. Rivera ranked first in the majors among relief pitchers in WHIP (0.67), OBP Against (.190) and Tough Saves with 5. His 1.40 ERA ranked 3rd among all relievers.
Now to stack Rivera’s ‘08 season up against arguably the best season by a closer of all-time. The 1990 season of Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley.
Clearly Eck had the more dominant year. Now lets match up Rivera’s ‘08 season with the best seasons from the great closers of the past and present.
I think the number that clearly sets Mo apart is the WHIP, or his Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched. Rivera’s ‘08 WHIP was .11 points lower than the next closest of 0.78 by Billy Wagner in 1999.
Why is WHIP such an important number? Well basically because it judges how many base runners have been allowed. As we all know, especially late in the game the more base runners you allow the less successful you are going to be. Looking at Rivera’s ERA of 1.40 it is the lowest of any of the closers of his era. Of all the closers his ERA in 2008 only trails Bruce Sutter’s 1977 season and Rollie Fingers 1981 season. Now without going into the pros and cons of comparing players from different eras of the game, the ERA differences can possibly be attributed to the drastic difference of the game from the late 70s to today. Clearly the parks are much more hitter friendly and without citing steroids, the players are more physically gifted than they were 30 years ago.
I think matched up against all these numbers Mariano Rivera’s 2008 season does stand out as the 2nd greatest season by a closer we’ve ever seen. Was his season overshadowed by K-Rods 62 saves? Certainly. Was Mo’s greatness, dwarfed by the Yankees failure to make the playoffs for the first time in 12 years? Of course. Will we ever here Mo speak out or look for praise for his historic 2008 performance? Absolutely not, and that’s quite possibly the greatest thing about him.
For starters lets first take a look at Mo’s 2008 season. He was 39/40 in save opportunities. In 70.2 innings pitched he allowed 41 hits while amazingly only walking 6 batters. He also struck out 77 hitters while posting a 1.40 ERA and a 0.67 WHIP. Rivera ranked first in the majors among relief pitchers in WHIP (0.67), OBP Against (.190) and Tough Saves with 5. His 1.40 ERA ranked 3rd among all relievers.
Now to stack Rivera’s ‘08 season up against arguably the best season by a closer of all-time. The 1990 season of Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley.
Clearly Eck had the more dominant year. Now lets match up Rivera’s ‘08 season with the best seasons from the great closers of the past and present.
I think the number that clearly sets Mo apart is the WHIP, or his Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched. Rivera’s ‘08 WHIP was .11 points lower than the next closest of 0.78 by Billy Wagner in 1999.
Why is WHIP such an important number? Well basically because it judges how many base runners have been allowed. As we all know, especially late in the game the more base runners you allow the less successful you are going to be. Looking at Rivera’s ERA of 1.40 it is the lowest of any of the closers of his era. Of all the closers his ERA in 2008 only trails Bruce Sutter’s 1977 season and Rollie Fingers 1981 season. Now without going into the pros and cons of comparing players from different eras of the game, the ERA differences can possibly be attributed to the drastic difference of the game from the late 70s to today. Clearly the parks are much more hitter friendly and without citing steroids, the players are more physically gifted than they were 30 years ago.
I think matched up against all these numbers Mariano Rivera’s 2008 season does stand out as the 2nd greatest season by a closer we’ve ever seen. Was his season overshadowed by K-Rods 62 saves? Certainly. Was Mo’s greatness, dwarfed by the Yankees failure to make the playoffs for the first time in 12 years? Of course. Will we ever here Mo speak out or look for praise for his historic 2008 performance? Absolutely not, and that’s quite possibly the greatest thing about him.
-Robb Lennahan
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