In every mention of Mariano Rivera breaking the all time saves record, it seems to be a contractual requirement to also point out that he is ‘The Greatest Reliever of All Time’. Leaving aside the difficulty of comparing a modern, one inning, reliever to their more heavily used forbearers, there is clearly little dispute that Rivera is the best reliever we’ve seen within the current framework of use. What I’m interested in here (as I bring my accidental series on relief pitchers to an end) is that if we accept, as everyone seems happy to, that Rivera is the best, who comes in second place?
I began by looking at the top relief pitchers by bWAR and ERA+ since 1983. Why 1983? Well I had to come up with a year to define the beginning of the modern closer era and in 1983 Dan Quisenberry became the first closer to save 40 games. In every year since then – strike shortened 1994 aside – someone has saved 40 games. It’s as good a year as any to draw a...
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