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Writing a column entry that sings the praises of Mariano Rivera kind of falls into the "water is wet" category.
 As in "duh, tell me something I don't know."
But Mariano is a pitcher many Yankee fans take for granted, despite his greatness. In fact, Mariano might have been the greatest pitcher of all time, if he stayed a starter. We will never know about that. But what we do know is astonishing:
For all Pitchers in the modern era (since 1920) with 950 innings or more, Rivera has the best ERA by far:
CAREER 1920-2007
ERA
1 Mariano Rivera 2.35
2 Hoyt Wilhelm 2.52
3 Whitey Ford 2.74
4 Sandy Koufax 2.76
5 Dan Quisenberry 2.76
6 Ron Perranoski 2.79
7 Pedro Martinez 2.80
8 Bruce Sutter 2.83
9 John Hiller 2.83
10 Spud Chandler 2.84
Granted, most of those guys listed above are relievers, and Mariano's ERA wouldn't be that low if he started...but still, it shows his greatness.
CAREER 1920-2007
Baserunners/9 IP
1 Pedro Martinez 9.71
2 Mariano Rivera 9.75
3 Juan Marichal 10.02
4 Sandy Koufax 10.02
5 Johan Santana 10.03
6 Dick Hall 10.05
7 Tom Seaver 10.23
8 Catfish Hunter 10.34
9 Bruce Sutter 10.37
10 Hoyt Wilhelm 10.37
Ah...there's Mariano is the same ballpark as Pedro and Marichal...and without the cock fighting.
CAREER 1920-2007
SO/BB Ratio
1 Curt Schilling 4.38
2 Pedro Martinez 4.28
3 Ben Sheets 3.94
4 Johan Santana 3.79
5 Doug Jones 3.68
6 Jon Lieber 3.67
7 Bret Saberhagen 3.64
8 Roy Oswalt 3.62
9 Mariano Rivera 3.60
10 Mike Mussina 3.53
What the hell is Schilling doing at #1?
Also consider Mariano's career ERA + of 194 and a postseason line of 117.1 IP and 0.77 ERA. Too bad he is used one inning at a time…he could have given Koufax, Seaver or Walter Johnson a run for their money if was a starter.
And then in the for-every-action-there-is-an-opposite-and-equal-reaction department, there is Sean Henn.
Is Sean Henn the worst pitcher in Yankee history? Maybe not THE worse, but he is certainly within shouting distance.
It's really a shame that's he's a lefty. If he were right-handed, the Yanks would have lost interest in him long ago.
But if believe Joe Girardi, he and Dave Eiland are impressed with the embattled southpaw so far in camp. Let's just hope nothing comes of this. With all the talent the Yanks have vying for a bullpen spot, it would be a vicious crime to allow Henn to make the team simply because he's s southpaw. The truth is he can't get anyone out.
Thankfully, Sean is out of options and he should be a distant memory come April.
Just look at his major league line:
IP: 57.3 innings
ERA: 7.53
ERA+ 59
WHIP: 2.02
Hits: 73
Walks: 43
HBP: 4
That's 120 base runners in 57.3 innings.
In the history of the New York Yankees, for pitchers with more than 55 innings of service, Henn is dead last in base runners allowed per 9 innings. Yes, Henn is worse than Cuddles Marshall and Stinky Beall:
BR/9 IP
1 Sean Henn 18.84
2 Alex Ferguson 18.21
3 Lou McEvoy 17.86
4 Al Lyons 17.39
5 Cuddles Marshall 17.38
6 Bob Wiesler 16.73
7 Walter "Stinky" Beall 16.54
8 Alan Mills 16.45
9 Randy Keisler 16.14
10 Art Schallock 16.08
For Yankee pitchers with ate least 55 innings, Henn is 2nd worse in lifetime ERA:
ERA
1 Lou McEvoy 7.88
2 Sean Henn 7.53
3 Randy Keisler 7.19
4 Alex Ferguson 6.85
5 Terry Mulholland 6.49
6 Jeff Johnson 6.47
7 Wade Taylor 6.27
8 Kei Igawa 6.25
9 George Uhle 6.19
10 Denny Neagle 5.81
Hey look, Henn is 9th worse for hits per 9, and that quick healer Carl
Pavano is 10th
H/9 IP
1 Paul Quantrill 12.16
2 Alex Ferguson 12.01
3 Jeff Johnson 11.80
4 Jimmy Jones 11.76
5 Ed Whitson 11.73
6 Lou McEvoy 11.67
7 Al Shealy 11.63
8 Don Johnson 11.50
9 Sean Henn 11.46
10 Carl Pavano 11.40
Coming out of the bullpen, it's important no to walk anyone. It's even more important not to bring in Henn:
BB/9 IP
1 Bob Wiesler 8.80
2 Walter 'Stinky" Beall 8.00
3 Cuddles Marshall 7.35
4 Tommy Byrne 6.91
5 Charlie Devens 6.80
6 Sean Henn 6.75
7 Marshall Bridges 6.69
8 Brian Bruney 6.62
9 Sam McDowell 6.56
10 Bill Burbach 6.48 |
