Todd:

 

I read that Peter Gammons has decided that Mariano Rivera is the dominant player of this era if you take Bonds out of the equation because of steroids.  To start with I think a bunch of guys used illicit chemistry to inflate their numbers and still none have come close to Bonds.  Beyond that I cannot see any way to name a relief pitcher the best player of any era.  Or even of a single season.  They simply do not participate often enough to make that large an impact.  I think Mariano is fantastic, a HOF'er and lights out in the post season.  BUT - even without Bonds - I can think of more than a few players that I would rank ahead of Rivera.  Griffey, Bagwell, Biggio, Kent, Clemens, Maddux to name a few.  What are your thoughts?

 

Keith:

 

I mostly agree with you here.  When talking about the most dominant relief seasons of all time, I believe the top five to be Eckersley 1990, Sutter 1977, Hiller 1973, Kern 1979, and Eichorn 1986.  Of those five seasons, only Eck's was under 100 IP.  Rivera, of course, has only pitched over 100 IP once.  And I wouldn't rank any of them as the best players of their respective seasons.

 

But what Rivera has done is unique.  He's sustained a 10-year period of dominance for a closer unparalleled in history.  Most people have never heard of Kern and Hiller, because they could not really maintain their success. 

 

Do you have Gammons' exact quote?  Because if you define "this era" as 1996-2006, then I would indeed take Rivera over all of the players you mentioned, save Bonds.  I would, however, rank Pedro, A-Rod, Randy Johnson, and Mike Piazza ahead of Rivera over that span (maybe Manny, Sheffield, Chipper & Thome too).

 

But if Gammons is trying to equate dominance with being the best at your position over a 10-year stretch, his argument is defensible.  If he's trying to argue that Rivera is the most valuable player in baseball over that span, he's probably just overvaluing Rivera's playoff performances.  Yes, they are great and should be factored in, but not every relief pitcher gets an opportunity to pitch 100+ postseason innings, you know?