Mariano Rivera Gets His 602 Save
Mariano Rivera notched his 602 save today in a Yankees 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins
The familiar sound of “Enter Sandman” made way through Yankee Stadium in the top of the 9th inning. Mariano Rivera was coming. When Yankees fans hear Mariano is coming, it’s a blessing to see him come in and notch the save for your team. Today was no different. The Yankees had a 6-4 lead going into the 9th and needed Mo’s services once again. But this save was a little different than any other save that Mariano needed to get. This save was the save that was going to mount him at the top, making him the best closer of all-time. This save…was save 602.
Mariano easily glided through the 9th inning and got a huge hand from Yankees fans everywhere. One of the first players out of the dugout was the man who caught Mariano for 15 years, Jorge Posada. Posada led the barrage of Yankees towards the mound, each of them giving him a hug. His family who was in the stands looked the most proud, seeing that Mo did something no one else might be able to do, which is get 602+ saves in his career. After the Yankees gave Mo their hugs Posada forced Rivera to stay on the mound while they went back to the dugout, leaving him to take in the sound of the crowds cheer. Mo then took off his cap and waved it to the fans who erupted in cheer.
Reporters talked to Joe Girardi after the game, who had nothing but nice words about his closer.
“He really burst into the scene in 1996, and were talking about a lot of seasons later and he’s still doing it at a high level.” Girardi beamed with pride.
This was win for the Yankees in the books, but for the record books this game was special and it was all because of a man named Mariano Rivera.
Congratulations Mariano Rivera. Let there be many more saves to come…please, because we really like to hear Enter Sandman at Yankee Stadium to give us closure that you’re coming in.
Posted on September 19, 2011, in Milestones & Records and tagged Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees. Bookmark the permalink. 20 Comments.
Brian D.
fishjam25
jimmytoucan
Matthew B
Delia E.
Dan H.
Matthew S.
Michael P.
Mike D.
Good for him. He handled it all with class today.
Even though the save is an overrated stat, Mariano is still an all-time great pitcher. His numbers aside from saves are remarkable. He also has broken the all-time record while still currently the best at his position. The only guy I know that did that was Jerry Rice when he broke the all-time receiving yards record.
http://theresastatforthat.blogspot.com/2011/09/602-and-mariano-shows-no-signs-of.html
Great points Deron.
Saves are definitely an imperfect stat. Mariano has other accomplishments that are even more impressive:
1) 2.22 Career ERA (13th best All-Time, best in last 40 yrs)
2) 0.99 WHIP (2nd best All-Time)
3) Hits per 9ip = 6.95 (6th best All-Time)
4) Strikeout to Walk Rate = 4.04 (4th best All-Time)
5) Adjusted ERA+ = 206 (Best All-Time)
6) WPA = 53.9 (5th All-Time)
7) 11 seasons with ERA under 2.00
8) 0.71 Post-Season ERA
9) 0.76 Post Season WHIP
10) 5.19 K/BB rate Post-Season
11) 42 Post-Season Saves (Best All-Time)
Mind you, those All-Time Ranks are of ALL pitchers – not just relievers. As amazing as his numbers were, they were even better in the post-season. And in the playoffs, he is always used more like an old-time closer who pitches multiple innings and comes into tie games. A 0.71 ERA & 0.76 WHIP is absolutely unreal.
We have truly seen an all-time great. For me, it has been an absolute pleasure. His dominance mixed with his class, humility, sense of humor & poise under pressure are what I will always remember Mo for.
There will ever be another like him and I feel blessed to watch him all these years.
Hey Fish when you make your all time Yankees list do you include pitchers with hitters? I do so Mariano Rivera is tied with Whitey Ford for 5th on mine!
Whats up Dan?
Yeah, I would definitely include pitchers and I’d say that Mariano is probably the best pitcher in Yankees history!
I always find it difficult to rate players from other eras who I never saw play. And the other difficult thing to do is how do you rank all-time great players who played most or a good part of their careers on other teams?
For instance, ARod is a better player than Jeter but is he a better Yankee considering Jeter played his whole career in NY? This means DJs ranked so much higher on Yankee career lists. And what about guys like Rickey henderson, Reggie, Maris, etc. who played only a small percentage of their careers in pinstripes but made huge impacts.
My list is heavy on “career yankees” but that is just my criteria/opinion and I only took about 15 minutes to research it so I’m sure I made some mistakes:
1) Babe
2) Gehrig
3) Mantle
4) DiMaggio
5) Mariano
6) Whitey
7) Jeter
8) Yogi
9) Bernie
10) ARod
11) Reggie
12) Guidry
13) Pettitte
14) Dickey
15) Goose
16) Mattingly
17) Winfield
18)Combs
19)Posada
20)Nettles
Munson??????????
Mickey Rivers???????
both over nettles
I’ll agree on Munson but Mickey’s another one of those guys who only played a fraction of their careers with the Yanks. He played for 3 and a half yrs so if you include him you have to include Rickey henderson too and Henderson would probably be higher.
I put Nettles on because he played 11 yrs and was high on Yankee all-time lists. He is 6th in Defensive WAR & 9th in HRs. He had 250 HRs and 5 All-Star games but his slash of 253/.329/.433 isn’t great.
Paulie O’Neill could be ahead of Nettles also….in 9 yrs he hit .303/377/.492 with 185 HRS and 4 All-Star games.
Bobby Murcer? 13 yrs, .278/,349/.453 with 175 HRs & 4 AS games. Probably not
Robinson Cano will climb this list. So far he’s at:
7 yrs, .308/.347/.496, 142 HRs & 3 AS games
If anyone does it better then you have Fishjam…I just gotta read it! Very well done!!!
I have never been a big fan of the Save stat but, (save) stats aside, one needs only to look at his other stats to see just how great he really was/is. Now, that is a true HOF player! Yes, as you said;….
“There will never be another like him and I feel blessed to have watched him all these years.”
Amen to all that!
Thank you Ken!
Who is the best Yankees pitcher ever in your opinion?
Steve Hamilton
Pitchers
1. Whitey Ford
2. Red Ruffing
3. Ron Guidry
Mo—-This great guy could be any place (1 thru 3)
5. Lefty Grove
6. Eddie Lopat
7. Mel Stottemyre
8. Allie Reynolds
9. Vic Raschi
All time Yankees list must include:
Horace Clarke
Celerino Sanchez
JerryKenney
Ron Woods
Jake Gibbs
Stick Michaels
Danny Cater
Joe Pepitone
Ron Blomberg
Joe Pepitone….first guy to bring a hair dryer into a clubhouse
Twasp, that’s the all time bench!
This is the good guys…Again let me point out, this as well as other lists are all subjective. Because of ones age, any list is different, six of these guys have never been seen by me…and most if not all of you. The talk and stories of these players were still fresh with those that had seen them play when I was young. Like Mickey stealing 2-3 and home after bunting to get on base, to win a tie game! Part of it is true; bunt, stealing 2 and 3, came home on a single!
1) Babe
2) Gehrig
3) Mantle
4) DiMaggio
5) Whitey
6) Mariano
7) ARod
9) Yogi
10) Dickey
11) Jeter
12) Nettles
13) Combs
14) Mattingly
15) Crosetti
16) Rizzuto
17) Roy White
18) Lazzeri
19) Bernie
20) Cano
I would have both Combs and Ruffing ahead of Jeter. Combs is 3rd behind just Ruth and Gehrig in runs scored per plate appearance for their careers. Ruffing won 20 games for 4 years in a row.
Dan, truth be told…I didn’t want to put Jeter down to far…a lot of fans think I am a Jeter hater as it is. I only added two pitchers to that 20 man line-up…just because they were the best of the best…my opinion!
These are my pick of pitchers;
Whitey Ford
Mo
Red Ruffing
Jack Chesbro
Ron Guidry
Mek Stottlemyre
Eddie Lopat
Lefty Gomez
The rest of them are by your opinion only!
The Forgotten man Don Larsen
Any Yankee list of pitchers without Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich is BOGUS!
Sorry Twasp! They had their fun? Talk about being pals, they went a bit far with their other half didn’t they? I still wonder who’s idea it was!
Ken – What about HGH Clemens??????? to go along with the Boliman!
Not a chance at all, he used when he was with the Yankees! He had a 2nd chance and a 3rd chance…now it is , NO chance!
Andy and A-Rod quit on there own, and never (as far as we know, by the testing) used again. by the way, I looked up the facts on both of them;
Andy quit, was tested as Neg.
A-Rod quit the year before he came to the Yankees, tested often showing Neg!
Everyone needs one do over once in a while!
There are one heck of a lot of fans out there that used Drugs at least once, most of them got off and got a do over! Maybe, you were one of them, I hope not!
And no, I never even tried any drugs!