Two Mo' Saves

Nick Creegan

Love him or hate him, Mariano Rivera is the best closer to ever step foot on the mound.

Period.

The 41-year-old Yankees star picked up his milestone 600th saves on Tuesday.  Rivera needs two more saves to pass Trevor Hoffman, the current record-holder, for most in Major League history. The closest active pitcher to Rivera and Hoffman is Francisco Cordero, who is in his 12th season and has only 323 saves.

Not even close.

Sure, Rivera’s 600th save wasn’t as climatic or as publicized as Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit, but it should have been. For

Rivera has been the most consistent and most dominant closer of the past decade. Since he took his permanent position as the Yankees closer in 1997, he has averaged four blown saves a season; meanwhile, he's averaged 40 saves per season. Rivera has only allowed 65 home runs in the 1,207 innings he has pitched. That means there was a home run for only 5.4 percent of the innings in which Mo was on the mound. These kinds of stats have given him the satisfaction of being selected as the closing American League pitcher in the All-Star Game 12 out of the 17 seasons he’s been in the league.

I don’t want to take anything away from Hoffman, but he floated around the league before he reached 600 saves.  The most satisfying Rivera statistic of them all is that he did his closing all in one uniform. He has been a part of the "Pinstripe Dynasty" since he first came out of the bullpen. That says a lot, especially since the late George Steinbrenner’s favorite slogan was “You’re fired!”  Rivera’s consistency and championship poise has kept him a gem in the eyes of his bosses as well as fans.

But he cemented his spot in the Hall of Fame way before he reached 600 saves. He has a career ERA of 2.22 in the regular season and a 0.71 ERA for the postseason. Those are numbers that will never be seen again. What's amazing about Rivera's dominance is that he did it all with just one devastating pitch -- the cutter. Is Rivera's cutter the best pitch in baseball history?

Yes.

Save 602 will most likely come this weekend in Toronto against the Blue Jays. It would be more fitting, though, to see save No. 602 in the Bronx, see at New Yankee Stadium with Jorge Posada behind the plate.

But the way Mo is throwing, save No. 700 doesn't seem impossible. Fans should have plenty of chances to see more saves as Rivera marches toward 700.