Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.A week ago Sunday night, Mariano Rivera earned his 500th save. Which should make us realize a few things about closers:
• The truly great ones are the those who can sustain it for a long time. Getting 40 saves a year for 12 years would still leave one short of 500.
• Even getting to the second tier isn't easy. Only 18 players have had as many as six 30-save seasons: Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Lee Smith, Billy Wagner, Troy Percival, John Wetteland, Dennis Eckersley, John Franco, Jason Isringhausen, Robb Nen, Jeff Reardon, Todd Jones, Jose Mesa, Roberto Hernandez, Randy Myers, Rick Aguilera, Tom Henke and Todd Worrell.
In other words, the shelf life for a typical closer is a short one. They can burst onto the scene – and flame out quickly (right, Mr. Gagne?)
• But it also means that teams can find short-term solutions for the ninth inning any number of ways.
