Mariano Rivera pitched for the New York Yankees for 19 years (1995-2013) and was the greatest pitcher ever. This is not an opinion. It is proven: I will explain this later in the article.
Career Overview
Rivera won many awards and honors during his career. He was a 13-time Major League Baseball All-Star. He was a five-time World Series Champion and the Most Valuable Player of the 1999 World Series. He was also the Most Valuable Player of the 2003 American League Championship Series. He is the all-time saves leader in baseball with 652. Rivera was the first baseball player to be unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Indeed, He had many awards and accolades during his career, further supporting his position as the best pitcher of all time.
Adjusted ERA+
If you sort all of the pitchers ever by Adjusted Earned Run Average (ERA+), Mariano leads, and it is not close. Adjusted Earned Run Average is correctly adjusted for the baseball park pitchers pitch in. Some ballparks are better for pitchers than others, and Adjusted Earned Run Average accounts for this. Rivera’s score is 205. The next highest score belongs to Bill Foster, who died in 1978 and pitched for the Chicago American Giants from 1923 to 1937. Foster’s score is 164.
Some modern pitchers on the adjusted earned run average include Clayton Kershaw (#4, 156), and Jacob deGrom (#5, 155). Chris Sale, who is still active pitching for the Atlanta Braves, is number 20 with a score of 140. As mentioned, it was not even close. Rivera’s score of 205 is 41 points higher than the number two pitcher on the list. Two or three points separate the rest of the pitchers on the list. That is dominance.
By the way, if you look at pure Earned Run Average, Mariano ranks thirteenth with an Earned Run Average of 2.21. Ed Walsh ranks first with an Earned Run Average of 1.82. Walsh pitched for the Chicago White Sox from 1903 until 1917, during the so-called dead ball era. Babe Ruth ranks seventeenth with an Earned Run Average of 2.28.
The Closer
After he retired, Mariano wrote a book called The Closer, which contains many insights from his career. The Closer was published in 2014. In the book, Rivera credits God for the success of his career. He also tells a story about how he discovered his famed two-seam fastball playing catch with Jorge Posada in the outfield before a game. That two-seam fastball, which Rivera calls a gift from God, broke many bats during his relieving career. That pitch, by the way, was so devastating that the tally of bats Rivera broke was kept in a local newspaper, the Newark Star Ledger, for all to see.
Conclusion
Mariano Rivera had an outstanding MLB career. As indicated, Rivera still holds several individual and league records, but Yankees fans best remember him as a consummate professional. When he was on the mound, he was both feared and respected. He has left a lasting legacy that will not be dismissed by time.
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