Mariano

[z28jd]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

I think there is an argument that Mariano was the greatest pitcher ever. For those who think he was a one inning pitcher go back and look at the box score of the Aaron Boone playoff home run game. As importantly, if not more, Mariano is a better human being that he was a ball player. He will be a credit to the HOF and will now always be remembered as the first unanimous inductee.

I can safely say that in all of the years I have known you Jay, I have never disagreed more. I can't imagine anyone thinking a failed starter who ended up pitching 1,200 innings is even in the same company as any of the best all-time starters, who actually closed their own games. You can make a better argument against him not being the best reliever ever because so many of his outings were marginal one inning save opportunities, while closers before his era constantly went multiple innings, facing the entire lineup. I call him the best one inning reliever ever. I don't think highly of any one inning pitcher, they're all over-rated.