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12/23/17

Reese Kaplan -- Firemen Worthy of Cooperstown


Early chatter has started about the possible induction of a former Met into the Hall of Fame as ballots are submitted this year.  Billy Wagner was one of the free agent contracts that actually paid handsome dividends for the first three years.  Signed for four years and $43 million, the diminutive lefty provided the club with a 5-5 record, a 2.41 ERA and 101 saves during that period.  He missed his final year due to Tommy John Surgery, but given the team’s record of Oliver Perez, Michael Cuddyer and other dubious free agent contracts, count this one as a big win.


When you look at his career record it’s pretty darned impressive.  He finished his 16 years in the majors with a modest 47-40 won/lost record but his ERA for his entire career was just 2.31.  In 903 IP he struck out nearly 1200 batters and maintained a WHIP of under 1.00.  He notched 422 saves and was a 7-time All Star.


Surprisingly, the often maligned John Franco was not that far off from Wagner’s numbers.  In his career he had a 90-87 won/lost record, but recorded 424 saves with a 2.89 ERA over 1245 IP.  He was not the flamethrower that Wagner was and often battled his control as evidenced by his rather pedestrian 1.333 WHIP, but he also earned 4 All Star berths. 


Another candidate who overlapped these two dominant relievers was the Padres’ Trevor Hoffman who lasted 18 years as a shutdown reliever.  He earned 7 All Star nods with a career record of 61-75 with a 2.87 ERA, 601 saves (wow!), and struck out 1133 over 1089 IP.  His WHIP was a tidy 1.058.  That saves total only trails Mariano Rivera on the all-time list.

Interestingly, of the pitchers on the top 10 list of career saves, the Mets enjoyed time with four of them.  In addition to the aforementioned Wagner and Franco, Jeff Reardon and (surprisingly) Frankie Rodriguez are on that list.  Other active hurlers in the top 50 include Huston Street, Fernando Rodney, Craig Kimbrel, Jose Valverde, Kenley Jansen, Aroldis Chapman and Joakim Soria.  At their current ages and roles the only ones who look possible to hit that rarified 400 plateau (to say nothing of the 600 plateau) would be the 29 year old trio of Kimbrel, Jansen and Chapman.  (For Mets reference, current pitchers Jeurys Familia has 106 saves and A.J. Ramos has 99). 

Getting back to the HOF possibilities, if I had the ballot in my hand, all three of these great relievers would get my vote.  You don’t see that type of dominance that often and they (along with Mariano Rivera) truly represented the best of their era.  They all exceeded what was done by Goose Gossage as a reliever and more dominant than other recent inductees like Jack Morris, Bert Blyleven and Tom Glavine.      

9 comments:

  1. To me, Billy Wagner should be a no-brainer. Hoffman's 600+ saves? Ditto for HOF.

    Franco? Less impressive numbers, I would vote "close but no cigar."

    It does not help Franco's cause that Mariano Rivera was so much better, as are (for shorter durations to date) Kimbrel and Jensen.

    John Franco feels to be on the same level as a Keith Hernandez to me, HOF-wise: that is, somewhat short of Hall caliber...but if he gets in, great.

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  2. Morning.

    I would love to see Franco in the Hall someday.

    On a side note, our negotiations with Fred and Jeffy went well, when we convinced them that Reese would be leaving Mack's Mets if he didn't have Alderson around to kick down the street each day. They agreed to give Alderson an extension and through in Omar as a bonus.

    On an even more lighter note, we're getting ready for Christmas here. The tradition here has always been for my daughter and her family to come to our house on Xmas Eve, track Santa on the internet for the kids, eat ham and scalloped potatoes (I have to peel and slice those suckers), and open all the presents from each of us to each of us.

    We were going to 86 it this year due to Mrs. Mack's illness, but she decided to give it one more season.

    Let me take this opportunity to wish to all of you, whether you recognize Christmas, the warmest of days come Monday.

    I have a blistering post tomorrow morning against Wilpon ownership and the site will be closed on Monday.

    Mack

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  3. Mac, so you're going to stir all the creatures (including the mice) on Christmas eve? Tsk, tsk.

    Merry Christmas to all.

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  4. First off, Merry Christmas to all.

    Second, I hope all is well with you and yours, Mack.

    Third, I am amazed that John Franco was as successful as he was, considering he didn't throw particularly hard. He did have that crazy screwball he threw to righties that would fade just out of reach. I will admit that I was always nervous when he came on to close out a game, but he usually took care of business. As far as Cooperstown is concerned, I agree that John Franco was a very good closer, but I am not sure if he was a "Hall of Famer".

    Billy Wagner is much closer in that regard and I think Trevor Hoffman should be in without a doubt.

    Personal preference here, but give me a flamethrower at the back of my bullpen, over a "soft tosser".

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  5. Merry Christmas to all, with a happy holidays thrown in for good measure.

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  6. Merry Christmas to all and hopes for Mrs Mack's health (Mr, too😏).

    You didn't have to save Sandy's job so Reese could retain a punching bag, though. Terry is gone, but Reese still kicks his ghost, and the Wilpons aren't going anywhere.

    Couldn't you wait for the day AFTER Christmas to post your rant, though? You don't want to piss off Santa, do you? 😌

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  7. Rant?

    The piece was about closers who deserve HOF consideration. Nowhere does it say anything about the idiocracy of the Mets front office.

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  8. I'm sorry Reese.

    I should have kept my answer on this post and not turn down a tributary that led to Bill's response.

    Merry Christmas to all and to all good night...

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  9. Hey, if Blyleven and Morris and even Sutton can get a HOF nod, then Franco deserves it, too. If you want to save the Hall for the truly elite, then there are some retroactive bad decisions that need to be corrected.

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