Dennis Eckersley
Pitcher
Playing Career
Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics, and St. Louis Cardinals from 1975 to 1998
Career Statistics
1,071 games, 197 wins, 171 losses, 390 saves, 3.50 earned run average, 3,285 innings, 3,076 hits, 738 walks, 2,401 strikeouts
Mo Cred
Eckersley was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2004. He was the American League’s Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Award winner in 1992. He and John Smoltz are the only pitchers in major league baseball history with a 20-win season and a 50-save season in their career.
MARIANO RIVERA HAS just been absolutely automatic ever since he took over closing games [in 1997]. He’s the greatest closer who ever lived. He is going to go out on top. He is just too great.
He has such impeccable control. People talk about Mariano having this one pitch, this phenomenal cutter. It looks like a fastball until it gets ninety percent of the way there, and then, at the last fraction, it moves from right to left. And it’s so hard for the hitters to pick up. And they know it’s coming. That’s the crazy thing. He has such great control with it. He puts it right where he wants to, and he has such a beautiful delivery. He’s just so automatic. The motion looks effortless. It is just that one step and [the ball] is next to his ear. And the repeating [of that motion] is what is incredible.
I was totally different. We couldn’t be further [apart] the way we went about it. He’s very much like the iceman, you know, unemotional. For the long run, that’s probably what you want, is someone to be less affected by it because I think emotionally it would wear you down after a while; it wore me down.
It’s incredible [what he’s done in the postseason]. If you add up all of his postseasons, it’s almost two years’ worth of pitching. And his earned run average is phenomenal, because this is where the money is. That’s what sets him apart from everybody else. You know, I did it in Oakland. And the atmosphere in Oakland, it doesn’t even come close to matching the expectations and the pressure that goes along with pitching for the New York Yankees.
I sat down with him about two years ago for [a television interview on] TBS, and I talked about the few failures that he’s had. He has this inner peace. He’s a very spiritual guy. I walked away from the interview wanting to have what he has, beyond pitching. It’s this inner peace about him that must go into the success that he’s had over this long course of time.
He is a unique guy in every way. First of all, he is gifted. It is beyond all that. He is one of a kind. Not everybody is humble and graceful, to be that type of a player. The thing I like about him more than that is the aura when you are around him. He seems so peaceful and centered. The aura doesn’t change. The velocity is down only a tick, and the consistency is still there.
Most Postseason Saves*
Mariano Rivera 42
Brad Lidge 18
Dennis Eckersley 15
Jason Isringhausen 11
Robb Nen 11
*Since saves became an official statistic in 1969
Tom Gordon
Pitcher
Playing Career
Kansas City Royals, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, and Arizona Diamondbacks from 1988 to 2009
Career Statistics
890 games, 138 wins, 126 losses, 158 saves, 3.96 earned run average, 2,108 innings, 1,889 hits, 977 walks, 1,928 strikeouts
Mo Cred
Gordon spent two seasons in the bullpen with Rivera while playing for the Yankees in 2004 and 2005.
MARIANO IS ONE of the greatest ambassadors that could ever live and be a part of professional sports, so not just baseball itself. What Mariano represents is professionalism, leadership, and character—and all those great things that come with a great man. I was really blessed to be a part of that Yankees organization for the 2004 and ’05 seasons and have him as a guy to look up to.*
I was even older, an older player, having been around the game three or four years more, but Mariano was someone that you can look up to, get advice from, and learn the game from, even as you continue to get into the latter years of your career. For me, to be in the same clubhouse with Mariano, I idolized him as a player, he’s one of my idols today, along with Hank Aaron, Johnny Bench, and the greatest iconic baseball players in our time. Like I said, Mariano is an ambassador, a total professional, in every possible way for major league baseball, and even for young kids of our future.
A lot of guys come up [to bat] thinking that Mariano doesn’t change speeds on that cutter, but he does. What’s been most effective is that Mariano not only changes speeds, he’s pinpoint with his control on that pitch. That’s what gets hitters looking to other areas, and then, bam, they’re beat. He’s defined the great pitch in the game, and he’s been the best in the entire game of baseball at ever possessing a pitch that doesn’t need to be worked with too much, doesn’t need to be tinkered with, doesn’t need to be over analyzed, but at the same time, he’s gotten it down to a science. He does that by his pinpoint control.
His control every single night on that pitch has been phenomenal. I’ve never seen a guy that goes to the bullpen and he throws a change-up, he’ll throw a four-seam fastball, he can show you three major league pitches, but he only works with one. What I was able to learn from that is that Mariano has the same exact mechanics every single day. He worked as hard he can work at becoming one of the best in the game at recognizing his mechanics. He also was able to go out consistently and repeat his arm slot on that pitch, every single day. For a guy to pitch four or five times a week, that’s a really remarkable thing to do. I got a chance to be in a position to close, but I needed all three of my pitches. For him, he was able to change speeds often, but also mix in that 94 to 95 miles an hour cutter. He learned that pitch down to a science.
Mo Respect
Rich “Goose” Gossage
The mustachioed fire baller earned 124 victories and 310 saves during his Hall of Fame career from 1972 to 1994.
It’s a huge psychological advantage when you’ve got a guy like Mariano and a great setup corps, to know that it’s a six-inning ballgame. You’ve got the lead, and it’s over.
He’s the consummate professional. He acts the way guys should act. Kids should take a page out of his book on how to act on the mound, not acting like fools jumping up and down, showing hitters up.
Jason Grimsley
Relief pitcher
Playing Career
Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians, Anaheim Angels, New York Yankees, Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles, and Arizona Diamondbacks from 1989 to 2006
Career Statistics
552 games, 42 wins, 58 losses, 4 saves, 4.77 earned run average, 936 innings, 954 hits, 498 walks, 622 strikeouts
Mo Cred
Grimsley spent two seasons in the bullpen with Rivera while playing for the Yankees and together they helped the team win two World Series titles in 1999 and 2000.
WHEN HE GOT to the ballpark it was almost like he was on a stopwatch. He went about his business in the same manner every day. I learned a lot from watching his routine. He had success with his routine, so he repeated it. He made his day repeatable. This wasn’t a superstition. This wasn’t that he had to tie his shoe a certain way or wear his hat a certain way, or put on a left sock first. This was a consistency with which you approach your job.
He was consistent in the way he worked in the gym, how he did his cardio workout, his throwing program, when he came out to the bullpen, how he warmed up to get ready for a game. It was the same every time. If you experience success doing it one way, repeat it, because it relaxes your mind.
Mariano looked like he was on autopilot the whole time. Some of us in the bullpen called him “The Ghoul” because nothing affected what he did. It didn’t matter if it was a spring training game or the seventh game of the World Series. Mo had the same approach
, the same look, the same demeanor, and the same style. That’s what made him great. The gravity of the game didn’t change Mariano the way it does change some people. I don’t think he got better in the big situation, he just didn’t change the way he approached his job in those big spots.
My lasting memory of Mo was his consistency in the way he treated everybody the same way, whether [the player had] been there for ten years or if it was his first day [with the Yankees]. I think that played a big part in what made him great. He’s not only consistent on the mound, but he’s consistent in his approach as a human being. He treats everybody with the same class and respect that he expects to be treated with. You don’t often see that from a player of his caliber—from the best pitcher to ever put on a baseball uniform.
Mo Respect
David Huff
The left-handed pitcher joined the Yankees in the middle of the 2013 season.
There is one play I’ve seen in person that sticks out for me. I never realized how athletic he was until he was facing Luis Valbuena against us [Cleveland Indians] in 2010. Valbuena hit an inside cutter that broke his bat. The barrel was spinning back up the middle at Mariano and so was the ball. He jumped over the barrel, landed, quickly dropped down and threw the ball to first. I was wowed. He is a really good player. Him winning the World Series [five times] and dominating with one pitch, it’s unbelievable.
Mariano’s greatness was expected, so there was never anything surprising about it. Mariano on his worst day was still amazing. Halfway through the season you look up and he’s got twenty-five or thirty saves. He was as close to automatic and a sure thing as this game has ever seen.
Phil Hughes
Pitcher
Playing Career
New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins since 2007
Career Statistics
182 games, 56 wins, 50 losses, 3 saves, 4.54 earned run average, 780 innings, 787 hits, 245 walks, 656 strikeouts
Mo Cred
Hughes was Rivera’s teammate with the Yankees from 2007 to 2013.
BEING DOWN IN the bullpen with him in 2009 was really an eye-opener. As a starter, you rely on him to come in for the ninth inning and stuff like that, but you don’t really get a feel for what it’s all about until you’re down there [in the bullpen with him]. Those playoff situations where you’re leaning on him to not only get you four outs, but sometimes six or seven [and still] his demeanor out there never changed.
If we’re in a situation where he’s going to have to come in and save the game, you can see [something] click. That fire that you see in his eyes when he starts to do his routine and stretching and all that, you definitely notice when he kind of clicks, and he’s ready to go. When he knew he was going to have to throw two, maybe three innings at times, he always answered the bell.
One moment that stands out I think is the last out of the 2009 World Series. It’s sort of cliché, but just to see his reaction after already having four championships, the way he’s jumping around like a little kid. You can tell at his age, it never gets old, and I’m sure that’s the thing he’ll miss the most—competing on the field, and those moments of celebration. It’s something you don’t often get in the real world.
Mo Respect
Jason Isringhausen
Isringhausen earned 300 career saves while pitching for five teams from 1995 to 2012.
I think there should be a lot more attention given to what Mariano has accomplished. There’s only going to be two guys with 600 saves, and after Rivera, there won’t be anyone more. It will never happen again.
Shawn Kelley
Relief pitcher
Playing Career
Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees since 2009
Career Statistics
177 games, 14 wins, 11 losses, 3.77 earned run average, 181 innings, 168 hits, 62 walks, 193 strikeouts
Mo Cred
Kelley joined the Yankees in the bullpen as Rivera’s teammate in 2013.
COMING FROM ANOTHER organization, you always hear about him being this “great guy, great teammate, an unbelievable person.” You heard everything about him, and when you meet him, he doesn’t disappoint you or let you down.
You meet him and are like, “Wow!” You almost think no one could live up to those expectations. Nobody could be that good, or that unflawed, that people can say that. But when you meet him, he’s the real deal, he’s the full package, and he’s what everyone thinks he is.
One of the things that really showed his character to me was how he takes thirty to forty minutes out of his day during batting practice on the road to stop and sign autographs for guys. He goes down the line and signs for all the guys. He’s not asked to do that. But the fact that he does that, and he deals with the people sticking stuff and throwing stuff at him, and he just sits there and signs for like thirty to forty minutes, is impressive. You don’t see that.
As much as everyone would like to do it, it’s kind of a hassle. You have to get ready for a game. At that time, when batting practice is ending, you have to eat. He says, “I can take thirty minutes out of my schedule and give back to the fans.”
Mo Respect
Pedro Martinez
The three-time Cy Young Award winner pitched for the archrival Boston Red Sox for seven years from 1998 to 2004.
I love Mariano. If I have to actually get in a line and wait for an hour to get Mariano’s autograph, which I thank God I don’t have to do, but if I had to, he would be the guy I would do it for.
Believe it or not, Mariano took me in his truck and drove me around New York to go house shopping [when I signed with the Mets prior to the 2005 season]. He’s the one who introduced me to the area where he lived and that’s where I bought my house.
Not everyone has the luxury to have Mariano as your driver and take you around and then take you to his house to share time with his family. Me and Mariano share the same agent, that made it easier. But at the same time, it’s a mutual respect that we have for each other, and love.
Al Leiter
Pitcher
Playing Career
New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Florida Marlins, and New York Mets from 1987 to 2005
Career Statistics
419 games, 162 wins, 132 losses, 2 saves, 3.80 earned run average, 2,391 innings, 2,152 hits, 1,163 walks, 1,974 strikeouts
Mo Cred
Rivera saved a victory for Leiter in Game 4 of the 2005 American League Division Series against the Los Angeles Angels; it was Leiter’s final major league appearance.
MARIANO IS UNBELIEVABLY consistent. If you look at Mariano’s delivery and compare it from 1995 to today, it’s exactly the same motion. You can look at video and overlay his delivery from his rookie season to now—and we’re talking nineteen years later—and it looks almost identical. His release point, and the flight of the ball, is the same. Repeating your delivery over and over again is really hard to do, because pitching is such an unusual motion. Things happen to your back, your leg, your finish, it’s not ever supposed to be the same, but for Mariano, it still is.
Joe Nathan
Relief pitcher
Playing Career
San Francisco Giants, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, and Detroit Tigers since 1999
Career Statistics
714 games, 57 wins, 30 losses, 2.76 earned run average, 341 saves, 858 innings, 625 hits, 311 walks, 912 strikeouts
Mo Cred
Nathan became major league baseball’s active saves leader following Rivera’s retirement.
I GREW UP IN the New York area as a Mets fans. I never went to Yankee Stadium and experienced Mariano’s entrance as a fan. I’ve only seen it competing against him. It’s always cool to see him come out of the bullpen in New York because the fans stick around. At a lot of other stadiums the people take off early, they leave before the ninth inning, but in New York that’s not the case. In New York, you want to see this guy pitch; you want to hear the song when he comes in.
As a player
on the opposing team, I don’t want to hear the song because that means we’re losing, it’s late in the game, and Mariano is coming in for the save. I think it’s crazy that Mariano [makes his entrance to] a Metallica song. I’m not sure if “Enter Sandman” is a song he picked, or if somebody helped him, but however it came about, it works great.*
I watch the way Mariano goes about his business, the way he handles himself in tough situations. I pay attention to the way he conducts himself. I watch how poised he is. He doesn’t jump around after a save. He just shakes hands and gets off the field and comes back to do it again tomorrow. I’ve always thought he was a good role model for players in the major leagues and for young kids coming up from the minor leagues. He respects his opponents, and doesn’t show anybody up. I try to emulate him. He’s the type of guy that I look up to. I enjoy getting a chance to talk to Mariano when we’re at All-Star Games and when we go into town to face the Yankees.**
Everyone says the postseason is when he’s at his best. His great performances stand out more in the postseason because everyone’s paying closer attention. He doesn’t treat situations any differently by making them bigger or smaller, whether it’s a pick-up game in his backyard or the seventh game of the World Series. He’s not going to get too excited. He’s just going to get outs. Watching him in the postseason is just like watching Mariano as usual. He’s the same guy doing his job whether it’s the regular season or the postseason.***
What Mariano has accomplished is amazing. He has over 600 saves. That’s a ridiculous total. I started closing when I was about thirty years old, so the only way I’m going to reach 600 saves is if I get the opportunity to close games when I’m fifty! His longevity, his endurance, his durability are at an incredibly high level. Getting my 300th save was amazing. But I’m still competing in the middle of my career, so I don’t focus on saves. What matters most is trying to secure wins for my team. When I hang up my spikes, then we’ll see how many saves I got. When people asked me what getting 300 meant, I said, “It’s one save closer to 400.”
Facing Mariano Rivera Page 20