Mariano Rivera: A Hall of Fame Biography
The upcoming BBWAA vote for the Hall of Fame at the end of January means there are new contenders for Cooperstown immortality. For some, the vote is a long shot. For others, a mere formality. For bloggers, it’s a time for reflection; a walk back down memory lane.
*All stats provided by Baseball Reference
Mariano Rivera
Career Review
One day in the spring of 1995, the New York Yankees handed the ball to lanky 25-year old Mariano Rivera, native of a small Panamanian fishing village. The righty struggled, giving up five runs in a little over three innings. This ineffectiveness continued throughout most of the season, in which he bounced between the Bronx and the Yank’s Triple-A team in Columbus. He was close to being dealt. However, Rivera was impressive in that year’s crushing Divisional Series loss to the Mariners, pitching 5 ⅓ scoreless innings in relief, convincing the team to make him a permanent part of the bullpen for the 1996 season. He would never look back.
The next year, Mariano would thrive as the setup man to closer John Wetteland, pitching to a stellar 2.09 ERA and an absurd (for a reliever) 5.0 WAR, a mark that would stand as the highest of his career. In addition, despite an All Star snub, he finished third in that year’s AL Cy Young voting, proving that he had already become one of the game’s elite arms. To cap it off, the Yankees won their first World Series in nearly two decades – the first of five for Rivera. In the postseason, he gave up only one run in over fourteen innings, beginning a historic trend of October dominance.
The following year, New York named the 27-year old Rivera the team’s closer for 1997, a role that he would hold for another sixteen years. In addition, he was named to the first of his thirteen career All Star teams, and would pitch a perfect ninth to get the save for the AL side in that year’s Midsummer Classic.
What really marked that year, though, was the closer’s accidental discovery of a cutter, a pitch that would go on to become his signature, and arguably the greatest of all time, capable of baffling even the greatest hitters of the steroid-era hitters. Despite an early exit from the postseason that year (in part because of a crucial 9th inning homer Rivera gave up to Cleveland’s Sandy Alomar Jr.), the Yankees would go on to close out the 90’s with three straight championships – and four in five years. From 1995 to 2000, Rivera allowed just five runs in over 60 innings of postseason work, making him a tentpole of the new Yankees dynasty. He was named MVP of the 1999 World Series against Atlanta, in which he received both a win and two saves in three scoreless appearances.
In the end, Rivera would go on to pitch for thirteen more seasons as New York’s closer, which included one last World Series win in 2009. He would remain dominant until the end, pitching to an ERA of 2.11 and being named All Star Game MVP for the first and only time.
By the end of his career, Rivera had overtaken Trevor Hoffman as baseball’s all-time saves leader with 652. In a sport with so much history, Rivera may be the only player to be universally recognized as the best ever at his position, and it isn’t even close.
Numbers that Matter
- 1: The number of times Rivera gave up more than a single run in any postseason series (2 in the 2000 World Series vs. the Mets)
- 42: Having been given the number right before MLB retired it for all 30 teams, Rivera was the last player to wear the number 42, made famous by Jackie Robinson.
- 33 ⅓ : The postseason scoreless innings streak record held by Rivera, which ran from 1997 to 2000.
- 204: Rivera’s career ERA+, a record for players with over 1,000 innings pitched
- 0.70: Rivera’s career postseason ERA, another MLB record.
- 2011: The year OTBB published this. The site has come a long way.
Pessimist’s View
It’s pretty hard to find one. With that being said, the moments non-Yankee fans may remember Rivera for best are his failures, which is an accomplishment in its own way. The home run by Alomar Jr., Dave Roberts stealing second in the ‘04 ALCS, and the Luis Gonzalez bloop to win the 2001 World Series were the only real blemishes on an amazingly prolific postseason career. In addition, his 16 blown saves versus the rival Red Sox remain the most by any pitcher against a single opponent.
Verdict
- First-Ballot Election to Hall of Fame
Should He Get In?
- Most definitely
-Bryan Armetta
