By the Numbers: Wagner creeping up on career save list

July

347: Career saves for “Billy Wagner,”:http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=5536 which he registered tonight, tying him for seventh on the all-time list with “Randy Myers.”:http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/myersra01.shtml

I spoke with Billy the other day about statistical goals and he said 400 saves is the milestone he really wants. We were talking about the Hall of Fame entry numbers: 3,000 hits, 300 wins, 500 homers. He thinks 400 should be the number of saves for a reliever to get in.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 25th, 2007 at 10:52 pm by John Delcos.
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4 Responses to “By the Numbers: Wagner creeping up on career save list”

Tasan July 25th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
just found out Mark Grudzielanek was scratched from lineup last min….suspicious?
Ben July 25th, 2007 at 11:57 pm
No Tasan, it was a minor injury. No deal yet.

Re: 400 saves—I’d like to agree, but I can’t. Lee Smith is just not a Hall-of-Famer. The difference between 3,000 hits, 300 wins, 500 homers, and 400 saves is you can’t “fake” hits or homers, and you’ll only get a couple of lucky wins in your career. Meantime, you can come in 250-300 times to pitch one inning up 2 or 3 runs, and get a save. That doesn’t make you one of the greatest players of your generation. That said, when you are one of the greats (see: Rivera, Mariano) or pretty darn close (Hoffman, Trevor) you don’t need a magic number to pad the resume, though it doesn’t hurt. Wagner doesn’t strike me as a future HoF’er. Unless he throws 4 or 5 more years like this one!

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To Ben: You’re not the only one who balks at Lee Smith. You’re right about saves being a gray stat when it comes to the Hall of Fame. I never looked at Wagner in that light, either. He could finish with 400, but I think he really needs to do something in October. That’s what Rivera did and Eckersley. I see Rivera and Hoffman getting in. Also, John Smoltz, who was dominant both as a starter and closer. Personally, I think Goose Gossage should be in the Hall of Fame. As far as automatic numbers go, 3,000 hits and 300 wins does it for me. Not so sure on 500 homers anymore. Steroids have cheapened that milestone.-JD
Dan Gurney July 26th, 2007 at 7:36 am
The HOF marker for a closer is post season success.
Brett July 26th, 2007 at 10:14 am
I agree about Gossage. There’s no respect for the greats of the 70s and 80s in the HOF.

Amazing how we’re still trying to quantify greatness for relief pitchers after all these years. It’s such a weird position. We knew what a great slugger was 30 years into the power era or a great tight end 30 years after tha tposition appeared but we still argue and argue over relievers.

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