[ne12bc12]

I'd have to go with a closer too. Mariano was the best of them but only because he played for the Yankees.

100% agree, "only because he played for the Yankees", put Trevor Hoffman on the Yanks during that time and you have a new best closer of all time.

[bondssf2425]

The only thing I'll say for Rivera is that he became "the best closer ever", for whatever that is worth, with one pitch basically. Every hitter he faced knew exactly what he wanted to throw and they still couldn't hit it. That made things twice as infuriating when he beat the Sox for me. Closers might be the most overrated position on a roster but I would have loved for Rivera to be in a Sox uni for 20 years or so.

[zeprock]

The stats are the stats and his team was his team. You can't discredit (honest) players with what ifs when their careers are over. It's fun to lay out scenarios about players playing elsewhere but the bottom line is Mariano was on the Yankees, involved in countless big games and moments, and more often than not came through for them. The ability to do so is more than nearly all big league pitchers have.

+1

I hated Mo for years for shutting down my Red Sox but I respect the hell out of him because no one else could have done it as well or as long.

Maybe Eck had he been the Yankees closer for his entire career?

100% agree, "only because he played for the Yankees", put Trevor Hoffman on the Yanks during that time and you have a new best closer of all time.

+1

The only thing I'll say for Rivera is that he became "the best closer ever", for whatever that is worth, with one pitch basically. Every hitter he faced knew exactly what he wanted to throw and they still couldn't hit it. That made things twice as infuriating when he beat the Sox for me.

+1

Closers might be the most overrated position on a roster but I would have loved for Rivera to be in a Sox uni for 20 years or so.

+1