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OK, so maybe that is a little bit dramatic, but hear me out.
If September 13, 2011 was like Sesame Street and sponsored by a number, that number would be two. The main reason is that two old-time (not all-time) greats got to historic levels on that night.
The first was Mariano Rivera who will most likely go down as the greatest closer in baseball history (and maybe even the greatest pitcher ever). On the night of September 13, 2011, Rivera notched his 600th save, which has only been duplicated by one other individual Trevor Hoffman.
For those who don’t know, a “save” in baseball is essentially recording the last few outs in a “close” baseball game. The “save” became an official statistic in 1969 so the history of those recording saves is quite shorter than the rest of baseball statistics.
This is a lot harder to do than what is perceived. The career save percentage (number of saves compared to save opportunities) for Rivera is 89.29%, which would be a B+ in most school systems. Could you imagine a B+ being the best grade in the class?
So why is he so great? Rivera has typically recorded all of his saves…with two pitches (there’s that number…and it may be a stretch). In 1996, he became a setup man to the then closer John Wetteland. He was primarily a fastball pitcher and even recorded five saves that year.
The next year in 1997, he became the full-time closer and that is also the year that he began regularly throwing the pitch he is really known for…the cut fastball. This pitch is thrown with the normal motion of a fastball but has the late movement of a slider.
Essentially, Rivera realized that this pitch was so devastating (even breaking multiple bats) that he only threw that pitch. According to STATS, Inc, Rivera has thrown the cutter more than four out of every five pitches he throws.
The man is machine-like throwing nearly the same pitch every single time and primarily in the same area on the left side of the plate. He is incredibly consistent and reliable as the catcher rarely has to move his glove an inch after setting a target.
Not to be unmatched, Tim Wakefield recorded his 200th victory on the night of September 13, 2011. While this may not be quite as a feat as Rivera (111 pitchers have at least 200 wins as oppose to only 2 pitchers with at least 600 saves), he is the second (yeah!) oldest player to record 200 victories.
Wakefield, like Rivera, is known for throwing one pitch…the knuckleball. This pitch really only moves in the mid-60’s. While this may be fast in a car, compared to the average MLB fastball at 90 mph, it pales in comparison.
The more tantalizing fact is that it took Wakefield eight tries to get his 200th victory, which is the second (yeah!) most starts to achieve that number. (Al Orth took nine tries to get his 200th win.)
So maybe this won’t be the most historic day in baseball history, but this has been a pretty historic season. On August 15, 2011, Jim Thome became just the eighth player in history to record 600 home runs and the first to record #599 and #600 in the same game. On July 9, 2011, Derek Jeter recorded his hit #3,000, which is seen as a feat to get a player into the hall-of-fame. (Only two players who are/were eligible in this club have been denied entry with both being surrounded by a ton of controversy. They are Pete Rose who was caught gambling on baseball and Rafael Palmeiro who was caught using steroids)
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