Relax, Frankie...

Yesterday, Francisco Rodriguez tied the Major League record for saves in a season with 57. I've gone on forever about how unimportant the save statistic is, and furthermore, I've explained how misused the closer role is.



Well, Francisco Rodriguez broke the save record with a barrel of one inning saves. Not one of these 57 saves were over an inning. Four were one-out saves, two were two-out saves. The average amount of outs required for these 57 saves was 2.8947. He averaged less than a full inning per save.



I would say without hesitation that Rodriguez isn't even the best closer in his league THIS YEAR. Among guys with at least five saves, Rodriguez ranks 9th in the AL in ERA. Joe Nathan, who IS the best closer in the American League, has an ERA of less than HALF of Rodriguez, a 1.03 mark. From that same five or more save group, NOBODY has given up more walks than Francisco's 31, roughly a walk every two innings, a very high mark.



Compare Rodriguez with Bobby Thigpen's 57 save season in 1990. Thigpen had a better ERA (1.83 to 2.42), a better WHIP (1.038 to 1.263), and way more innings pitched (88.2 to 63.1).



It's also interesting to take a look at this outs per save statistic I put together.



Compare Rodriguez (2.8947) to Thigpen (3.2982). Then compare Thigpen to Righetti in 1986(4.5435), who held the record before Thigpen. Then compare Righetti to Dan Quisenberry in 1983(5.8000), who held the record before Righetti. We've certainly come a long way in a quarter century. Quisenberry had ELEVEN (11!) three inning saves in that season.

So, before you jump up and down like a jackass (which you did last night after recording your majestic three outs against the pitiful Seattle Mariners with a three run lead), think about how little work you've done to get your record compared to the players of the past.

If anything, I relish any opportunity to discuss how great Dan Quisenberry was. A man with several fine quotes, such as,

"I've seen the future and it's much like the present, only longer." and

"I found a delivery in my flaw."