Exit Sandman

Exit light.  

Enter night 

Take my hand.  

We're off to never never-land

When the lyrics to Metallica's Enter Sandman blared through the speakers at Yankee Stadium it was lights out for the opposing team.  The entrance music accompanied the arrival of Mariano Rivera - the greatest closer that ever lived.

Rivera's career began with the Yankees nearly two decades ago, back in 1995.  After failing through 10 unimpressive starts in the rotation, he was moved to the bullpen where he flourished.  After serving as the setup man to John Wetteland on the Yankees championship team in '96, Rivera moved into the closer role the following season and started a run of dominance that had never been seen in that role before.

Starting pitchers generally need several quality pitches to keep hitters off balance over the course of an outing, where they are likely to see the same hitters multiple times.  Rivera only really has one great pitch.  As a reliever, that's all he ever needed.  That devastating cut fastball has haunted the dreams of many hitters over the years and you could build a cabin out of the spare wood that remains from the number of bats he's broken over the years.  With a sharp break similar to a slider, but the speed of a fastball, the cutter can be a very effective pitch, but nobody has thrown it as effectively as Rivera.  It's often been suggested that Mo's cutter is one of the most unhittable pitches the game of baseball has ever seen.

The greatness of Rivera can only begin to be explained by his 652 career saves, which is a record that may never be touched.  Dig deeper and you'll be amazed at how dominant he was when closing the door in the 9th inning.  Take a look at the career numbers Rivera compiled over his 19 year career:  1283.2 innings, 2.21 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 8.23 K/9.  That would be a pretty great season for any closer, but for Rivera it was an entire career.  He converted 652 saves with only 46 career blown saves for an outstanding 93% save percentage. None of the other relievers that are even near the top 10 on the career saves list cracked the 90% mark. Atlanta's Craig Kimbrel, considered to be the best young closer in the game today, barely passes the 90% save percentage mark, but he's done so with over 500 less opportunities than Rivera.  The extent that he managed to limit base runners with that 1.00 WHIP is almost unfathomable.  No pitcher with a minimum of 1,000 career innings has had a lower WHIP than Rivera's in nearly a century!  Yes, the game of baseball has been around a long time, but throughout it's long history we've never before seen anything like this.  

Think those numbers are impressive?  He's been even better in the postseason!  When the bright lights shine over October baseball, Rivera has been nearly untouchable.  42 career postseason saves with only 3 blown saves (for a 93% save percentage that is nearly identical to his regular season percentage).  Now for the truly amazing part.  In 141 postseason innings, Rivera has allowed a grand total of only 11 earned runs for a jaw dropping 0.70 ERA.  

All three of those postseason blown saves came in 2004.  Red Sox fans will fondly remember the back-to-back blown saves in Game's 4 and 5 of the ALCS.  It started with Dave Roberts stealing second base and culminated with a historic series comeback that saw Boston rally from down three games to none to beat the Yankees and launch them to the first World Series title in 86 years.  Red Sox Nation will never forget that. Nor will they forget the smile on Mo's face as he tipped his cap to the crowd on Opening Day 2005, as the Fenway faithful gave him a good natured cheer in his first appearance in Boston since that epic ALCS. Mariano Rivera is one of the most respected and one of the classiest players to ever put on any uniform. Even die hard Red Sox fans recognize that.  You can hate the Yankee pinstripes, but it's impossible not to respect Rivera.

At the age of 43, Rivera wrapped up his final season on the mound at Yankee Stadium last Thursday.  In an emotional moment, teammates Andy Pettitte and Derek Jeter came out to relieve Rivera with two outs in the 9th inning so they could make their tearful on field good-byes.  The 2013 season was a disappointment for the Yankees, who missed the playoffs for only the second time in Rivera's career, but it will always be remembered for his farewell tour.  Teams all around the league paid tribute to Rivera when he came to town to visit for the very last time by recognizing his accomplished career in a pre-game ceremony and showering him with gifts.  It's not the sort of thing you see very often, but Rivera is one of a kind and worthy of the attention.

Regardless of your opinion on whether or not the save statistic is overrated (it is, but that's a story for another time), it's still a tremendous accomplishment to be considered the best there has ever been in your role.  Mariano Rivera is without a doubt the best closer there has ever been.  His impressive numbers and four World Series rings show how indispensable he has been for the Yankees.  He's a lock for the Hall of Fame and may even be the first unanimous choice to be voted in.

It's been one fantastic career for Mariano Rivera, but it's time for the Sandman to make his exit.  Mo's off to never never-land.