Relievers in the Baseball Hall of Fame
Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera and teammates celebrate a 4-3 win over the Diamondbacks at Yankee Stadium on April 17, 2013. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke/Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Mariano Rivera is the eighth reliever elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Their statistics (listed in order of enshrinement year):
1985 - Hoyt Wilhelm
228 saves, 143-122 (W-L), 2.52 ERA, 76.0 save percent.
Threw at least 100 innings eight times as a releiver and became the first reliever inducted into the Hall.
1992 - Rollie Fingers
341 saves, 114-118 (W-L), 2.90 ERA, 75.8 save percent.
Led the league three times in saves, threw more than 100 innings in 11 of his 17 seasons and won the 1981 AL Cy Young and MVP awards with Brewers.
2004 - Dennis Eckersley
390 saves, 197-171 (W-L), 3.50 ERA, 84.6 save percent
A starter for his first 12 seasons, then a closer for his last 12. He won the 1992 AL Cy Young and MVP awards for Oakland (51 saves, 7-1, 1.91 ERA). He never threw more than 80 innings as a closer.
2006 - Bruce Sutter
300 saves, 68-71 (W-L), 2.83 ERA, 74.8 save percent
Led the NL in saves four straight seasons and five out of six. He won the 1979 NL Cy Young Award with Cubs.
2008 - Rich "Goose" Gossage
310 saves, 124-107 (W-L), 3.01 ERA, 73.5 save percent.
Led the league three times in saves, and threw 99 innings or more in a season five times as a reliever (once as a starter).
2018 - Trevor Hoffmann
601 saves, 61-75 (W-L), 2.87 ERA, 88.8 save percent
Second to Mariano Rivera on the all-time saves list (652-601), he threw a career-high 90 innings as a rookie in 1993. Twice led NL in saves.
2019 - Lee Smith
478 saves, 71-92 (W-L), 3.03 ERA, 82.3 save percent
Smith led the league in saves four times and threw 97 or more innings three times as a releiver. Smith was voted in by the Today’s Game Era Committee and will be enshrined in 2019.
2019 - Mariano Rivera
652 saves, 82-60, 2.21 ERA, 89.1 career save percentage.
Baseball's all-time saves leader, Rivera was the first player to unanimously be voted into the Hall of fame. He never threw more 80 2/3 innings as a closer. (He threw 107 2/3 innings as a set-up man in 1996). Rivera led the AL three times in saves, had two 50-save seasons, and his 952 games finished is an MLB record. In 96 postseason games, Rivera had 42 saves, an 8-1 record, 0.70 ERA, 0.759 WHIP and 110 strikeouts in 141 innings pitched.
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
