Jonathan Papelbon has perennially saved games in Major League Baseball. The fewest saves Papelbon has had in a season is 29; he has saved 29 or more the last nine seasons. The low number in 2013 was due to fewer opportunities than other seasons; Papelbon had more saves in 2014 than he had save opportunities in 2013. The success that Papelbon has had has him thinking big: the Hall of Fame.
Papelbon spoke to Boston radio station WEEI's Rob Bradford when the Phillies took on the Red Sox at Bright House Field on Sunday, and his sights are lofty: the Hall of Fame.
"My sights are on the Hall of Fame, and my sights are being the best I can be in every opportunity that I get to be in," Papelbon explained. "Now if you're on a team that can't get to the postseason, you can't do anything about that. Mariano just happened to be extremely blessed to be on so many winning clubs. It makes a difference.
"I thought about that when I was in the minor leagues. They made me fill out these pieces of paper in instructional league, and I wrote all this stuff about being an eight-time All-Star and being in the Hall of Fame. They actually brought the paper to me and said, 'This is serious. Stop messing around.' I told them I wasn't messing around. I was dead serious."
If you think Papelbon is greatly reaching, think again. Bradford did some research and showed that Papelbon's stats are not that different from Yankees closer Mariano Rivera:
To this point, he actually has presented a fairly solid foundation to continue the discussion. Compare his 593 regular-season games to the same stretch for Rivera (which would take the former Yankees closer through April 30, 2005), and the two are remarkably similar.
Rivera: 49-32, 339 saves, 389 save opportunities (87.1 percent), 1.07 WHIP, .216 batting average against, 2.44 ERA.
Papelbon: 35-29, 325 saves, 369 opportunities (88 percent), 1.02 WHIP, .208 batting average against, 2.37 ERA.
The caveat, Bradford points out, is that Rivera had postseason after postseason of dominant play. While Papelbon has a 1.00 ERA in 18 postseason games, it is a far cry from the 70 that Rivera played. Papelbon has never made the posteason as a member of the Phillies and has not appeared in the postseason since 2009.
Check out Bradford's full piece at WEEI.com.
