There are nine eligible 300+ career-save relievers not currently in the Hall of Fame. Who most deserves a plaque?
| Rick Aguilera |  1 (0.55%) |
| Rich Gossage | 71 (38.80%) |
| Tom Henke | 46 (25.14%) |
| Doug Jones | 0 (0.00%) |
| Jeff Montgomery | 0 (0.00%) |
| Randy Myers | 2 (1.09%) |
| Jeff Reardon | 6 (3.28%) |
| Lee Smith | 34 (18.58%) |
| John Wetteland | 5 (2.73%) |
| None of them! | 18 (9.84%) |
I admit, I voted for Wetteland, and may well be the only one to do so. I was fortunate to live in New York in '96 when he was the WS-MVP for NYY, and then in DFW for the several years after that when he had moved to the Rangers.
Wetteland is the only guy on this list -- though I admit, I don't really remember much about Henke or Montgomery -- who had the "game over" factor when he got the ball. If you got to the ninth with a lead, the game was over -- even moreso than with Gossage. Guys like Jones, Myers and Montgomery, there was always a "oh, crap, let's get through this inning without Evil Twin showing up and throwing a gopher ball" factor. Not with Wetteland.
Some extra info...
Name ERA ERA+ IP Saves Aguilera 3.57 117 1291 318 Gossage 3.01 126 1809 310 Henke 2.67 156 790 311 Jones 3.30 130 1128 303 much better than I remembered Montgomery3.27 134 869 304 replaced Quiz Myers 3.19 122 885 347 Former Nasty Boy Reardon 3.16 121 1132 367 Briefly the all-time save leader Smith 3.03 132 1289 478 #2 all time now Wetteland 2.93 148 765 330
Wow, Henke was better than all of them for ERA+. If only he didn't choose to retire so soon (36 saves his last year 232 ERA+) he might have convinced a few voters. Sadly for him he was between era's thus will not be remembered except by a few Jay fans.
Looking at the stats I suspect saves will be like home runs were, 500 is the level you must reach to get in the hall. 300 appeared to be a standard back in the 80's but with guys like Jose Mesa (102 ERA+) over 300 it won't be. So, 50 saves a year for a decade - seems a good standard to me. We should see Hoffman and Rivera crack it with Wagner (324 at age 34) having a shot and Francisco Rodriguez (106 at age 24) being a candidate for the future.
Btw, 400 has a membership of 4 - Hoffman, Lee Smith, Rivera, and John Franco. Always surprises me when I see Franco up there but he did have a 137 ERA+ over 21 years, was a 'Nasty Boy' and a Met. 6 years as a LOOGY at the end. Never cracked 40 saves.
was a 'Nasty Boy'
Actually, he wasn't. Franco was traded by the Reds to th Mets for (among others) Randy Myers, who with Dibble and Charlton (and to a lesser extent, Tim Birtsas) made up Cincinnati's Nasty Boys.
I am leaning to the view that 1000 innings of 180+ pitching as a closer (or 1500 innings of 160+ pitching as a starter) should qualify. There just aren't that many who've done it. In Goose's case, his failed attempt at starting and his long drawn-out decline make his career statistic seem less impressive.