FanHouse Bobby Thigpen

It was a pretty odd sight for Angels fans that have grown accustomed to closer Francisco Rodriguez's celebrations. Ever since K-Rod came to the big leagues, he's always capped off a save by pointing to the sky in a salute to his late grandfather. Well, when Rodriguez picked up his 59th save of the season on Thursday, he didn't point to the sky or celebrate. He just shook his catcher's hand, high-fived some teammates, and went to the clubhouse.

The reason for this is because even though he picked up the save and bailed out an Angels bullpen that did their best to blow a six-run lead, he wasn't very happy with the way he threw the ball on Thursday, or on Wednesday when he blew a save chance. In other words, it sounds like K-Rod may be getting a bit tired.

Which is why it's probably time for Mike Scioscia to shut him down for the remaining week and a half. I'm not saying don't use him at all, but use him as little as possible, just enough to keep his arm loose.

I understood why Scioscia was using Rodriguez so much during the season, as he wanted to win a division, and he wanted to help his closer break Bobby Thigpen's record for saves in a season. Well, both of those goals have now been accomplished, Mike. It would probably serve the Angels a lot better to have Frankie rested and ready for the playoffs instead of bringing him in during a meaningless game against the Athletics.

Francisco Rodriguez is, as our own Prez noted recently, going to be very rich after this season. That is, of course, assuming his arm doesn't fall off between now and whenever the Angels finish their season. Actually, I kid -- he's on pace for less innings than in previous years, although he's never had a major injury.

Regardless, neither injury nor a new team nor a lack of arm muscles will be able to take away (at least until next year, I suppose) Rodriguez' single season saves record, which he now holds all to his lonesome.

With fans on their feet, Rodriguez struck out Raul Ibanez swinging with two on for the final out. K-Rod immediately lifted his arms and looked skyward in his traditional salute to his late grandfather, then sank to his knees.

The Angels' No. 57 had a new number: 58.

[...]"It's unbelievable," Rodriguez said. "Finally I did it.

"It's been an amazing year," he said, praising his fellow relievers. "Without them I couldn't have done this."

Truer words have never been spoken -- the very nature of the save statistic depends on getting a ton of help from the rest of your team, much of it lucky. That's not take away from K-Rod's record breaking season, but at least the guy knows it.

The inevitable finally happened, as Francisco Rodriguez has just tied the single season saves record with his 57th save against the Seattle Mariners. Bobby Thigpen had held the saves record alone since 1990, and since then John Smoltz and Eric Gagne had come close in 2002 and 2003, but now Rodriguez has caught Thigpen and is getting ready to pass him with about two and a half weeks to go.

It was a strange save in that the Angels were up 7-0 in the eighth inning, and Frankie was seemingly headed for a rest tonight. But Justin Speier gave up three in the eighth, and Scot Shields let a couple of runners on in the ninth to give Rodriguez the save opportunity. And after inducing Ichiro Suzuki into a double play, the task seemed easy. But K-Rod still had to endure a couple of base hits (the first of which brought in a run) before getting Raul Ibanez to ground out to first to gain a seat at Thigpen's table.

Stat oddity: Rodriguez's 57th save came against the Mariners ... who have 57 wins.

From the Windup is FanHouse's daily, extended look at a particular portion of America's pastime.

Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez is hurtling rapidly toward the single-season saves record. The flashy Los Angeles reliever has 55 saves this year, two short of Bobby Thigpen's record of 57, and with more than two weeks remaining he's a virtual lock to set a new benchmark for relievers.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, Rodriguez will also be a free agent this winter. In the pantheon of contract years, his 2008 season has to rank right up there with the best.

The Angels are not expected to bring back Rodriguez, but at least six teams have already been linked with the closer -- the Cardinals, Rays, Tigers, Indians, Cubs and, with the injury to Billy Wagner, the Mets.

No closer in baseball is more renowned than Mariano Rivera, but Rodriguez has to rank a close second. He arrived on the scene during the Angels' 2002 World Series run, becoming the breakout star from that club despite making his first appearance with it on Sept. 18. He's the fastest player to 200 saves in major league history. And, like any great closer, he has flair -- from his bending, tilting slider to his ostentatious, sky-pointing save celebration.

Things are going really well with the Angels right now. They have the best record in baseball, and a hefty 15 game lead over the Rangers in the AL West. Basically, the last six weeks of the season will be nothing but preparation for the postseason.

The only thing the team really has left to accomplish is Francisco Rodriguez's bid to break Bobby Thigpen's mark for most saves (57) in a season. Since everything is going so smoothly for the Halos, it doesn't give their fans much to complain about, and as we all know, fans always need something to complain about. It makes us feel important. So that's why some Angels fans are grumbling over Mike Scioscia's use of K-Rod, and saying that he's trying to pump up his save stats when he isn't needed.

"I find that to be questioning our integrity," Scioscia said, a hint of ire in his voice. "Everything we do is what's best for the team. If the closer is available, why wouldn't you use him if the situation dictates the game needs to be closed out? Why wouldn't you?

"If there's a save situation and Frankie is available, he's going to get the ball."

On the surface, you'd have to think that Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez is loving life right now. He's already got 43 saves in 46 chances this season, leaving him only 14 shy of tying Bobby Thigpen's record for saves in a season of 57. Then there's the fact that he's playing for a team that's 10.5 games up on it's division, and doesn't look like it's going to get a serious challenge from anybody.

Oh, and he's having this record shattering season of his in his walk year. Yep, he's a free agent this winter, and K-Rod is going to get paid. So everything is perfect, right? No, actually, there is one thing that Francisco's doing a lot of this year that's really bothering him.

But the right-hander has already walked 28, seven shy of his career high, set in 2003. He has struck out only 48, well off the pace of his 99-strikeout average in his first five full seasons. Opponents have reached base at a career-high .302 clip against Rodriguez.

"The walks are kind of high -- that's the only thing that irritates me," said Rodriguez, who is on pace for 67 saves. "I have to give credit to the hitters. They're not chasing pitches as much as they used to. They're working counts.

Back in February, Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez let it be known that the 2008 season would more than likely be his last spent donning an Angels uniform. Neither he or the Angels could work out a long-term deal over the winter, and K-Rod went into the season with every expectation of testing the free agent market after the season.

Well, with every day that passes and every save Rodriguez racks up (38 at the break!), there's a little cha-ching that goes off inside his head. Still, he wouldn't have the chance to get so many saves if he didn't play for a good team, so maybe he's reconsidering leaving the Angels after this season and will take less money to stay there?

Um, no. No he's not.

"I'm going to go out there and explore the market," Rodriguez told the Los Angeles Times. "They had six years. They didn't get anything done with me.

"If I wait six years, why not wait another two and a half months?"

Yeah, even though the Angels are a good team, adding Rodriguez to the back of your bullpen can make a lot of average teams good. So it's kind of hard to argue with his decision to test the market, because he is going to be rich. Considering that he's probably going to obliterate Bobby Thigpen's record of 56 saves in a season, you have to figure he'll break the bank this winter and surpass Mariano Rivera's $15 million a season.

Heading towards the end of what's been a lengthy, and mostly successful career, Roberto Hernandez is conceding the fact that there are some aspects of today's game that he doesn't like. I'm sure having a six ERA is one of those factors. Also on that list, is the attitude of today's young players.

Hernandez said he learned how to pitch because teammates such as Carlton Fisk, Ozzie Guillen and Bobby Thigpen were tough on him early in his career. He recalled how Guillen called timeout during games to scream at him on the mound.

Something like that would never happen today, Hernandez said.
...
He said retirement crossed his mind Saturday night. Ducking for safety to avoid a comebacker in the 14th inning, he found himself turned around and facing center field. He look up at the scoreboard, which told him it was 12:05 a.m. Sunday. It was his wife's birthday.

"I don't know how much longer I can do this," he said.

Funny thing is, I'm not sure how much longer anyone else will want him to do this -- with the exception of opposing batters, of course. Then again, just the fact that Hernandez has hung on this long is impressive. The guy was still an effective pitcher at 41, but he's definitely losing it at 42. Let's hope he calls it quits at the end of the year in order to preserve his legacy.