When was the last time the Dodgers were in the playoffs? You're talking about a streak that encompassed three seasons so those 84 games didn't have a dramatic effect on their win/loss records.
Yeah but it was 84 games over 2 years. I'm sure Baltimore won that many in that period of time as well. To equate Cal's streak to this one is saying the O's would've had to win 2,000+ straight games.
Gagne is a helluva pitcher, and I am very impressed by the streak. I do think the save is overrated, and bad for baseball, another instance of how the players have gotten control of the game. Just like "You can't ask a guy who makes 11 million a year to bunt" (Art Howe said that I think...using 6 million as the point of reference). Managers are pressured to use closers only to save games...so they can rack up save #'s...and use them to get contracts. And it works, Managers are reluctant to upset their closers fragile mindset by using them if there are runners on and the heart of the order coming up in the eighth...so they can save the closer for the ninth with the bottom of the order coming up, when a good set up man could easily get that job done. I don't know how the other closers reinforce this mindset....but I do remember that Billy Wagner would invariably blow up when ever he was put in a non save situation and give up a couple runs.
i understand all the arguments against the save and against relief pitchers.... but honestly, haven't relief pitchers proven themselves to be valuable components of champions? and if so, doesn't that, in and of itself, merit the increased compensation we see? clearly not everyone can be a closer. we've seen guys who aren't capable closers...and we've seen their teams suffer because of it. on the flip side, we've seen great closers literally shut down teams at the end of a game. there's value in that. inherently.
-To earn a save, a pitcher must finish the game with the hitter in the hole representing the tying run, or pitch 3+ innings. You can sleep well knowing that Gagne did not earn his saves before the 8th inning. -The outs aren't really relevant since the tying run is in scoring. If he enters the game with the tying run in scoring position and 2 outs, a bloop single ties the game and ends his save streak. Remember Luis Gonzalez getting eaten alive by the nasty Mariano Rivera cutter, and hitting a broken bat jam shot to win a World Series game? That's all that's needed to happen. -How many strikes did the batter have? Do you watch much baseball? How many times have you ever seen a guy taken out mid-batter? I agree that saves aren't the greatest stat in the world, but the fact is, for about 2 years straight, the Dodgers gave the opposing offense 8 innings and it was over. The fact that he put together this run absolutely obliterating what anyone before him had done is impressive. Fact is, he's had an ERA under 2 the last 3 years, put up better than a K/IP, better than 5:1 K/BB, and the BA against him has been plain silly- opposition hit .133 against him in 2003!
