MLB Prime 9: Greatest Closers

[Music] welcome to prime 9 the countdown show that covers the very best in baseball guaranteed to start arguments not in this week it's the 9th greatest closers of all time why 9 that's baseball nine players nine innings Friday nine there are no special ground rules to this show it is specifically about guys who are best epitomized by two words game over [Applause] that's right we're talking closers pitchers and specialize in saving games it's a relatively new rule in fact the same statistic itself wasn't even introduced to the game it's a 1969 since then two men have more than a thousand saves between [Music] but does that put them first and second on our list well we'll have to wait and see so without further ado here are the top nine closers of all time starting with number nine on prime nine [Applause] his motion was so unorthodox but his ball moved so much on to right-handed hitters that he became almost unhittable start up right but he threw underhand like one of those girls softball players he would lean to his right real low as not before be close to the ground and they just throw the ball and let it sink [Applause] [Music] back in late 70s and early 80s there wasn't a lot of submarine type pitchers and Quisenberry closing for the Royals was certainly the best one in the game at that time not only did he have been point control he was just unbelievable Chris led the league in saves five times including a stretch of four straight years she just had a tremendous knack for inducing ground balls we had a nickname for Dan when he pitched for the Royals 30 30 30 30 saves 30 strikeouts in 30 great plays behind him by Frank white Quisenberry set the major league record with 45 saves at 1983 and he did so with what seemed like a rubber arm I just remember him coming out there all the time you know he was just durable some guys just take the ball all the time and damn did just that leading the league in appearances three times the guy was out there you know 6070 times every year just unbelievable and he would never blow and he was like mr. consistency there for about eight or nine years five of those years he won the role AIDS relief awards hole aids never forgets what relief means and that's why we're so proud to recognize the league's top relief pitcher with this award this year Rolaids spells relief Dan Quisenberry and as effective as he was on the mound he was equally affable off it just a little bit out there but a lot of times you'll find their closers lay cups are a little bit quirky it seems to help them be able to take the good with the bad that comes with that wall he was just an all-around good athlete that had an unorthodox style of pitching [Applause] you know when you look at the great closers a major league baseball they come in two categories the guys could have just kind of out craft you or the guys that just scare the living daylights out of you Lee Smith was one of those type of players he's intimidating presence on the mound made him the all-time saves leader from 1993 through 2005 this was one of the biggest men in all of baseball and yet he took his time getting to the mound he wanted everybody to know that this game was over that Lee Smith was about to take the mound love to just go right at you and love his fastball five he wasn't scared he was gonna get it throw it so here it is hit it a seven-time all-star Smith had ten seasons with 30 or more saves the third most ever it was fun to watch he was he with the Cubs and he'd come in lights out doesn't want to make sure that my team depended over and they feel confident when I come into gaming there was really a seven inning ballgame we had the lead after seven you were gonna have to deal with Lee Smith 90% of the time you were gonna go home a loser four times Lee Smith led the league in saves we know it and he knew it and the fans know it and it was just you didn't want to get in that situation where he could close out a game I never dreamed about playing in for hunting let alone saving them back in the day he was at the top of his game and really brought a lot of light on what a closure means to a team and the effectiveness of what closers can do something about that Twitter set without man is just like give me goose both laugh that number seven he had the ability if not only come in the game and put out fires in the ninth inning he'd do it in the eighth or even the seventh closing for the Cubs Cardinals and Braves Hall of Famer roof suitor led the league in saves four straight years and you didn't waste any time he came at you he came at you cool it was something that was very rapid it his wind-up he was outstanding I would wait so he came in the ballgame I'd stand out and watching from a centerfield perspective just to watch and see how that ball moved that movement came from suitors specialty the split fingered fastball watch the bottom fall out of this soon as fingers were so quiet he could spread him and I was sudden that ball went straight down and after that that became the famous splitter suitors spreader revolutionized the game setting the standard for those who would follow that swivel that he had was undulating and that wouldn't very many guys that could sit on that pitch know they knew it was coming but they couldn't hit it super get so many hitters out and pitches out of the strike zone can't lay off this book man people would say if it's waist-high don't swing in the bottom again it just it just never happened it was so much easier said than done in just 12 seasons Bruce saved 300 games won the song award in 79 and won at all in 82 Hall of Fame pitcher rich goose Gossage was a nine-time all-star he racked up 310 saves in 22 seasons for nine different teams and like Souter quiz and Smith Gossage often pitched more than just one inning he was a workhorse reliever because many times he would come in a game and pitch three these ones guys there was no nonsense we struggle by that for the worse swings that scene why don't we model me against you I'm coming at you and he loved that challenge through 96 to 98 miles an hour time you're gonna get it was almost like a cult figure everybody stayed around for the ninth inning because you know goose was coming in from the bullpen goose was the personification of intimidation goose of them all the relievers was the most feared I never really tried to be intimidating it was just kind of the way my presence was out there you would look at him out there and you know they got that food Manchu gone and we had this big barrel chest and you get arms and elbows and knees and legs coming at you it's pretty intimidating he lived inside on you he just was letting you know one part of the plate is mine one part is yours and if you try to go get mine I won't let you know you're just a little bit wild so you can't move your toes he just had this edge that he carried with him and has an opposing hitter you didn't know if he had his good stuff that day he always had the same persona when he came to the mound while jump right over his back is either you eat or you get eaten that intimidation factor was was just surviving out there and I wasn't even in his first 12th big league seasons starter Dennis Eckersley shocked up 151 wins if you're successful starter you can already experienced what it is to get three outs to bring the club in as a winner that's why Tony changed X role once he got him in 87 but the new closer was not pleased I wasn't a happy camper I just thought well this will just be for a maybe month then they're gonna come to know that I need to start they never did all Dennis did was become one of the first and best of the modern-day ninth-inning closers I had what you'd call educated cheese which means I've been around for a long time and I know how to paint it's not necessarily philosophy if you're looking for the fastball you weren't going to hit a slider if you're looking for slider you weren't going to hit his fastball it was just a lethal combination and the fact that he could throw it into a big company or on that dish made it really really tough look at that location from 1988 through 92 Eckersley averaged 44 saves with an incredible 1.90 er AAA and what's surfing best was his uncanny control we interrupt this program to bring you a special report dennis eckersley of the Oakland A's has given up a walk for Eckersley confidence was never a problem when he walked over that white line he believed he can get anybody out and I felt like my games of the game I had to sell the fact that this thing was over he was brash he was cocky he did this when he struck guys out it looked like I was really really cocky but for the most part that wasn't a cocky me for me I was playing off the fear of what was at stake so that made me really intense and I've brought that out to the Malibu decorously saved 390 games won the tsiyon and MVP awards in 92 and was a big part of those dominant A's teams [Music] the best elite relief pitcher in that era and he loved being in that position of I'm here and I'm gonna get you out [Applause] we're the premier relievers in baseball no one in the history of the game has more saves and Trevor Hoffman Trevor Hoffman probably is setting records and may never be broken baseball history and accumulate as many saves as he has it's pretty impressive this guy makes it look like it's a walk in the park and Trevor's tremendous career numbers can be attributed to his devastating fastball changeup combination he's able the throw fastball at anytime and his changeup and when you locate the way Trevor can you're going to have success changeup the change-up is a palm ball grip that allows me to have the same arm speed as my fastball playing on a mess rock him out to try to hit a fastball regardless of the velocity and to back it up with the change if that's like 12 miles an hour is slower is just so difficult to do geez people refer to as a Bugs Bunny changeup know when you're supposed to swing but then it just never gets there consistency has obviously been a Trevor trademark and he's worked hard to maintain his success not just as a closer but as a baseball player in general one of the most impressive guys I've been around obviously his work ethic is a second or not get some blood flow and legs before we start lifting he's relentless and his workout and his routine and that's why I think he said so much longevity such dedication has resulted in at least 40 saves and nine different seasons another big league first and while he's in no hurry to get there he appears destined for Cooperstown when I think about Trevor Hoffman there's no doubt in my mind I think hall-of-famer with the numbers and the longevity and the consistency Trevor Hoffman is my vote until the 50s the closer role as we know it was a bit undefined but the evolution took a big step when hood wilhelmus manager realized he had a diamond in the pen just seemed like drew sure kept bringing in games that meant something so I think there's for the short reliever really started quite may come in in the eighth inning with the bases loaded and work out of that jam and then pitch the night his knuckleball pitching allowed the opposition only three earned runs in his last 45 innings of relief work boy Wilhelm was the greatest knuckleball pitchers I ever saw McGee right out on well hell it's very hard to control the knuckleball and Wilhelm good dica throws a knuckleball for strikes and there weren't many guys that could do that but could also throw his knuckleball every day in his very first season he piled up so many innings he qualified for the ER a title without making us start knuckleball relief ace get into his 1000th big league ball game if he pitched in the game of baseball today the way it's played he can pitch into 162 height retired as the all-time leader in both appearances and saves and became the first ever reliever inducted into the Hall of Fame who's so outstanding the perfect person and a remarkable career we now return to prime 9 for this week we're featuring the top 9 closers in the history of the game power pitchers submarine errs and some of the most intimidating men ever to take the mound have made our list so now it's time for the top two two men we think are the best closers of all time we begin with number two fingers is coming off the MVP and siyoung season of 1981 the ER a of 1.04 and one of the greatest seasons a reliever has ever enjoyed Raleigh was amazing - he was just a tremendous reliever I mean I don't think people ever give him the dude that he deserved well let's try for 12 years fingers is the all-time leader in saves and finished with 341 if the Coopers right fingers covers he just made all the difference in the world knowing that late any games were gonna be secure with him on the mound and a lot different than today's games where all I could go out there and get you five six seven eight outs if you needed to no pitcher in baseball has more multi ending saves than Raleigh which helped making one of just four pitchers ever to have 200 saves and 100 wins that's just the way managers went to me back then they knew that I could throw Oh three or four or five innings at a time and so if there was a jam early in the ballgame I was really gonna be in the ball game ten times Raleigh finished the season with 100 or more innings the most ever for relievers it makes you wonder what might have been if Raleigh was pitching right now and the way they used their relief pitches right now 500 sage would not be out of reach for him with a career 2.35 ER a in just over 57 postseason innings Raleigh had the final word in shaping the Oakland dynasty the team that they did have they had a great offense that came and had good pitching but they had somebody who could set it down at the end there's gonna be volley fingers and no one else in the 74 World Series Raleigh saved two games and won another earning him the Series MVP award and the A's their third title in a row dive was fearless and fair deserving of being one of the few relief pitchers out her that's in the Hall of Fame one of the real pleasures of managers when you know that when you get to the ninth you can just pick up the phone and say bring in Moe and you know that you're going to win the game [Applause] as soon as that first note hits of that song it's almost a feeling of as as if the game is already over Mariano comes in you know it's morning your worst nightmares and got three outs left and you got the best closer in the game coming in that's that being over finish situation where you demands nobody awesome and Lowe has been that man for 15 seasons with at least 40 saves and an ER a under two in six of them what makes Mariano extraordinary or two things number one the longevity what is even more amazing this the guy throws one pitch and everybody goes to the plate knowing what that one pitch is going to be and yet they still can't get him knows he's better than you the head and says here just hit it and most of the time he comes out on top that consistent dominance enable Rivera to become just the second man ever to reach an amazing pitching milestone the 500 se I'm a gadget I love to win but I love to be my job and numbers are just numbers and every year we go through those 15 years and Mariano's right at the top of the list when you talk about the biggest closers and what he's done in the postseason I think is what really separates him from the rest no pitcher has appeared in more postseason games than Moe and there's a wide consensus that the Yankees may not have won all of their last five championships without talking with opposition teams opposition managers who faced him in those October's was that he was the biggest signal difference maker on the New York Yankees the proof is in the numbers for during the Yankees recent dynasty Rivera put together a stretch of shut down baseball that almost defies belief and he went to a short series if you get the ball to Mariano at the end of the game and you had a chance to look another [Applause] [Applause] I think he set the bar extremely high as far as expectations for closers when he's all said and done he's going to go down as the greatest closer of all time we think of Mariano so much as a clutch closer it's easy to forget that he once started 10 major league games back in 1995 the only starts in his brilliant career there are 21 members in the 300 save Club and Rivera is one of 15 who also made at least one start who make the most we're hope you already met the diamond X started 361 games before heading to the pens full-time 100 of them complete games the other 2300 safe club members have just 37 complete games combined so is there a lever in the game today might someday crack our all-time closer lineup Frankie Rodriguez gets another one that is saved number 62 for that we'll have to wait and see that's our prime 9 what's yours

Channel: cacable7

Views: 7,643

Rating: 4.7674417 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: rPAXtSs6iz8

Length: 22min 1sec (1321 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 12 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/stratewylin]

9-2 is probably a great discussion

[u/runoki94]

They need to bring this back, especially after 10 years

[u/BearOnDrums]

I wonder who number 1 is