[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

I obviously meant it as a generality, but let's do some logical thinking then regarding the human element. If the Mets had the Rivera bullet in the chamber, who knows what other aspects of their game would have improved? Think of the confidence the Yankees had all of those years knowing the door would be slammed shut in the ninth with Rivera. (Yes, they had other fine players, but so did the Mets many, many times.) We all saw it. It happened with us watching, unlike theorizing about games from the 20's where cold stats alone have to tell the entire story. Uber confidence. Contrast that with the Mets. Each and every game they're in with a lead has us slump-shouldered fans (and I'm sure the entire team) thinking, "My God. What reliever is going to come in now and blow it??!!!" (Yes, I know, you'd have to get middle relievers who can actually get someone out.) Having Mariano as your go-to guy would have eliminated so much of that.

You may have felt better but you would have generally had the same season outcomes. See David Smith's research paper on closers linked in my post below.