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Mariano Rivera is at 500 saves. It doesn’t matter though–we already knew just how great he was. Mariano, always professional, always calm, is the absolute epitome of the perfect closer. Mariano doesn’t need milestones, he’s better than that. It wasn’t like he needed his 500th save to be assured of the Hall of Fame like some home run hitters, no, Mariano will be a first-ballot man into Cooperstown, and should get everyone’s vote. He won’t, but he should.

Mariano is the second pitcher of all-time to reach 500 saves, but to me at least, he should already be enshrined with the title of “Greatest Relief Pitcher of All-Time.” Just to be clear on Mariano’s numbers, lifetime he is 69-51, has 500 saves, a 2.30 career ERA, pitched 1054.1 innings and struck out just under 1000 batters. Let’s take a look at the competition. The obvious first place to look is at the other man who has 500 saves, 571 to be exact, Trevor Hoffman. While I think you can make a good case for Hoffman, because he has two years on Mariano and thus 71 more saves. And while his ERA is an incredible 2.76, it’s nothing compared to Mo’s.

Taking a look at the other relievers in the Hall, I think the best case to rival Mariano can be made for Dennis Eckersley or Rollie Fingers. Eck for me doesn’t count because he gets a lot of his credit from his time as a starting pitcher, so its sort of like an unfair advantage/different category, so I exclude him. Fingers I think you can make a case because while he didn’t have the save totals (341) he threw 1700 innings while maintaining a 2.90 ERA, which is impressive. I still say he falls just short though.

If Billy Wagner keeps going, he might have a chance, I suppose. He won’t though.

Maybe it’s because I am a Red Sox fan and therefore have had to face Mariano too many times when I wish we wouldn’t have to, but he’s always been the ultimate closer to me. So maybe I’m embellishing him a bit much, but I think you will be hard pressed to find evidence that says Mariano isn’t the best reliever of all-time. If you do think there was someone else, by all means share.

“People say we have Mariano’s number. Nobody has Mariano’s number.” –Jason Varitek