The Top 5 Reliever Baseball Players of All Time

We all know the legends of the game: Mariano Rivera Trevor Hoffman, Dennis Eckersley Billy Wagner. But who are the best relievers of all time? Here are our top 5.

Introduction

There have been many great reliever baseball players throughout history. However, there are a few that stand out above the rest. In this article, we will take a look at the top 5 reliever baseball players of all time.

Mariano Rivera

Mariano Rivera nicknamed “Mo”, is a Panamanian-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees A thirteen-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion, he is MLB’s career leader in saves (652) and games finished (952). His 1.70 earned run average (ERA) and 82.7% save percentage are MLB records among pitchers with at least 500 innings pitched

Trevor Hoffman

Trevor Hoffman is an American former baseball relief pitcher who pitched 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1993 to 2010. A former shortstop, he converted to pitching in 1989 and quickly rose through the minor leagues. He was selected seventh overall in the 1992 MLB Draft by the Cincinnati Reds and made his MLB debut with the Florida Marlins in 1993. After two years with the Marlins, he was traded to the San Diego Padres where he spent the remainder of his career.

Billy Wagner

Billy Wagner is an American former Professional Baseball relief pitcher He pitched in Major League Baseball from 1995 to 2010, predominantly for the Houston Astros and New York Mets A seven-time All-Star, he is widely considered to be one of the best relievers in baseball history

Eric Gagne

Eric Gagne is a retired Canadian professional baseball pitcher He played in major league baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers Boston Red Sox Milwaukee Brewers and Texas Rangers He pitched in the MLB from 1999 to 2008. Gagne was an All-Star three times and won the Cy Young Award in 2003. He is considered one of the best Relief pitchers in baseball history

Rollie Fingers

Fingers is a former relief pitcher who played for the Oakland Athletics San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992. While with the Athletics, Fingers won the World Series three times. He is best known for his mustache, which he grew while with the Padres.

Goose Gossage

Goose Gossage is a former American Baseball relief pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). During that time, he compiled 310 saves, was a nine-time All-Star, and won the World Series twice. He is considered to be one of the greatest relief pitchers of all time.

Bruce Sutter

Sutter is widely considered to be one of the best relief pitchers of all time. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Sutter was born in rural Nebraska and developed his unique pitching style while playing for his local High School team. He then went on to play for Omaha Community College before being drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1971.

Sutter made his Major League debut in 1976 and quickly established himself as one of the game’s top relief pitchers. He helped the Cubs win the National League pennant in 1984 and was named the National League Rookie of the Year.

Sutter’s career peaked in the 1980s when he was regularly selected to play in the All-Star game and won two Cy Young Awards. He retired from baseball in 1988 with a record of 300 saves.

Hoyt Wilhelm

Hoyt Wilhelm was a reliever baseball player who played for many teams throughout his career. He is most well-known for being one of the first players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame Hoyt is considered one of the best reliever baseball players of all time and held many records throughout his career.

Dennis Eckersley

Dennis Eckersley, nicknamed “Eck”, is an American former professional baseball player He pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 24 seasons, primarily as a reliever. He had success as a starter early in his career, but gained his greatest fame as one of the sport’s most dominant closers. Eckersley appeared in the major league baseball All-Star Game six times, won the ALCS MVP Award once, and won the World Series MVP award once. He is credited with helping to revive the save statistic and revolutionize relief pitching.

Eckersley was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the third round of the 1972 amateur draft out of Washington high school in Fremont, California. He began his career with eight seasons with the Indians (1975–77, 1979–84), compiling a 50–54 record and 3.10 ERA before being traded to the Boston Red Sox for Fred Toliver and Joe Wallis following the1984 season. With Boston (1985–86), he compiled a 20–8 record and 2.60 ERA. On April 29, 1986, he struck out Pete Rose to record his 3000th career strikeout to become only the second pitcher after Steve Carlton to record 3000 strikeouts by his 30th birthday—Carlton accomplished it when he was 29 years old while pitching for Stembridge Clipper internally Eckersley then became one of only three pitchers in history at that time (joining Gaylord Perry and Bob Feller) to have both started a game and relieved in a game within 24 hours apart—Eckersley did so on July 7 & 8, 1986 against Milwaukee Brewers starter Teddy Higuera; he pitched five innings of shutout ball in relief during game two after starting game one where he allowed four earned runs in four innings while getting credit for a 5–4 win.[10] Eckersley also holds Major League records for most 200-strikeout seasons by a reliever (6) and most 200-strikeout seasons by a pitcher who primarily served as a reliever (6).

In 1992, after converting from starting pitcher to closer full-time for Chicago (1987–88), Oakland (1988–1997), St. Louis (1998) and Toronto (1998), Eckersley had one of his best seasons ever posting a league leading 51 saves for Oakland becoming only the second reliever in baseball history at that time to post 50 or more saves along with Chicago White Sox fireman Bobby Thigpen who did it first during the 1990 season when he set an all time single season record with 57 saves.[12][13] In doing so Eckersley became only the second player ever along withoy Gibson who saved 50 games or more while posting an ERA under 2; Gibson accomplished this feat during his 1968 NL Cy Young Award winning season when he posted 31 saves along with 1.12 ERA.[14] Eckersley also provided commentary on selected baseball games for Yahoo! sports radio from 2011 to 2014.[15]