Greatest Living Players - Top 5

[Scott Garner]

Hi Doug,
I can relate to both of your posts.
Although not an everyday player as you mentioned, IMHO Mariano Rivera was the most efficient example of modern specialized pitching.
The two things that stand out in my mind as far as what made him special are:

1) How much he appeared in the postseason (your point) and how effective he really was at slamming the door on opposing hitters & ending the chance for a late inning rally.

2) The fact that he had essentially one pitch, that every hitter knew was coming, & yet they couldn't hit it, much to their frustration...

One interesting factoid that perhaps some of you don't know about is that Mariano Rivera was actually drafted by the Yankees as a shortstop, not a pitcher.
At one of his early stops in the minors a coach noticed the natural cut in his throws across the diamond and suggested the switch to pitching.

[doug.goodman]

In regards to Mariano slamming the door on the opposition...

https://www.retrosheet.org/Research/...fTheCloser.pdf


He was really good at what he was asked to do, I get it, but so was Eddie Gaedel.

Roy Gleason's average at bat produced a WAR of .1. If Mike Trout had a similar average WAR per at bat his career number would be 387 instead of 64.2

Just saying...

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

In regards to Mariano slamming the door on the opposition...

https://www.retrosheet.org/Research/...fTheCloser.pdf


He was really good at what he was asked to do, I get it, but so was Eddie Gaedel.

Roy Gleason's average at bat produced a WAR of .1. If Mike Trout had a similar average WAR per at bat his career number would be 387 instead of 64.2

Just saying...

Hi Doug,
Interesting read there that I have not seen. Thanks.
Your Eddie Gaedel comment cracked me up, BTW. Funny!