One of the things that is great about sports is that every game you have the chance of seeing something you have never seen before. In that sense, it is the ultimate reality TV. The other night, while watching the Yankees-Mets game (apologies to Mets fan Bob Howard), we witnessed such a moment. With the Yankees leading by a run, they put in the best closer of all-time, Mariano Rivera. He got the last out of the bottom of the 8th. In the top of the 9th, with the bases loaded and 2 outs, Rivera’s turn to bat came up. This was only the third time in his career (since 1995) that he batted in a major league game. The Mets closer, Francisco Rodriguez (no slouch himself), fell behind 2-0. Rivera worked the count to 3-2, and then Rodriguez delivered ball 4. Not only had Rivera walked, but he got credit for a run batted in, since the runner from 3rd scored on the walk.
This got me wondering…has a closer ever earned an RBI in an MLB game. A quick google search yielded….nothing. My hunch is that the issue is “no.” Closers generally enter the game in the 9th inning (or later) and if/when their time to bat comes up, they are generally pinch-hit for since the game is tight and ABs are valuable. Moreover, there was no such thing as a “closer” until the 1970s–it is a modern development of the game. Certainly, pitchers who have served as both starters and closers have RBIs (Derek Lowe, Ryan Dempster, etc.) But….has a pitcher serving as a closer ever received an RBI?
If not, then Rivera’s Hall of Fame career just got even better.
1 response so far ↓
bonneau // June 30, 2009 at 1:08 pm |
Eric Lawrence informs me that Trevor Hoffman has 5 RBI’s in his career, including 2 in 1995.
I still have Rivera > Hoffman even though Hoffman has more career saves …and more RBI’s. But it is fitting that if anyone would have more than Mo, it is Hoffman.
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