We are very lucky to have witnessed the careers of the most dominant closers ever, Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera, unfold side by side. This week in baseball history, they both founded an illustrious club of which they are still the only members. Let’s start off this week by looking at Hoffman’s monumental penultimate save.
September 7, 2010 – Trevor Hoffman’s 600th Save
In 2008, the end appeared near for one of the most beloved Padres superstars ever. Trevor Hoffman had spent 16 years representing the city of San Diego, accumulating multiple All-Stars selections and second-place Cy Young finishes along the way. His consistency as a closer is something few have ever matched. When Hells Bells would toll in both Qualcomm and PETCO, Padres fans would feel comforted that a win was on the horizon.
Hoffman finished the ’08 season with a 3.77 ERA/101 ERA+, his worst performance in over a decade. In ’09, Hoffman found himself a change of scenery: he became a Milwaukee Brewer.
This signing had two driving factors: 1) Hoffman was 46 saves short of 600, a mark no one had ever achieved. 2) The previous Brewers closer, Salomón Torres, retired in Nov. ’08, and the Brewers had to outsource his replacement. Hoffman found himself on a team that had just won the wild card and were projected playoff contenders for ’09.
Unfortunately, the Brewers fell just short of a .500 record and a playoff berth, but Hoffman had an All-Star caliber season with a 1.83 ERA (his second best ever) with 37 saves, and 48 K:14 BB over 54 IP. He only needed nine more saves to reach the illustrious 600 mark.
That moment came on Sept. 7, 2010. Hoffman had been very mediocre throughout the year up to that game, with a 6.23 ERA and 29 K:19 BB over 43.1 IP entering the Brewers’ matchup against the Cardinals. This wasn’t too crucial of a division battle as the fourth-place Brewers were 16 GB while the second-place Cardinals were 6 GB. Nonetheless, the 33,149 fans in Miller Park felt that this game could be a historic one.
Hoffman entered the game in the bottom of the ninth inning, coming in off almost a week of rest, and the Brewers’ faithful applauded as Hells Bells tolled. Hoffman had a 4-2 lead to his advantage, and he luckily avoided the terrifying prime Albert Pujols, only having to face a breaking-out Colby Rasmus, a past-his-prime Randy Winn and a replacement-level player in Aaron Miles.
After giving up a leadoff single to Rasmus, Hoffman worked the count 2-2, delivering a low fastball to Winn, who slapped it on the ground to the second baseman for an easy double play. The next at-bat played out nearly the same: a 3-2 count, a weak 85 MPH fastball, and Miles grounded out to short, clinching Hoffman’s 600th career save—the first ever player to do so.
Hoffman would only pitch in three more games, recording save No. 601 in his final appearance. Although Hoffman reached a record that no pitcher had ever done before, he was not alone for long (as you will read later).
September 8, 1998 – Mark McGwire Sets Single-Season Home Run Record
For almost four decades, no one challenged Roger Maris‘ single-season home run record of 61 in 1961. After Maris’ historic season, only three people hit 50+ home runs in the following three decades: Willie Mays with 52 in ’65, George Foster with 52 in ’77 and Cecil Fielder with 51 in ’90. But by the mid-90s, things began to change…and I’ll let you take a guess as to why.
From ’95 to ’98, there were nine 50+ homer seasons. Three of these belonged to Mark McGwire.
McGwire always hit dingers at a historic pace. His rookie record of 49 in ’87 stood until Aaron Judge broke it in 2017. The rate at which McGwire hit homers, every 10.61 AB, is better than anyone, even Babe Ruth. And nothing catches people’s attention like a 500+ ft bomb. Simply put, if you need to distract the people of Springfield from MLB’s widespread spying system, just hit some dingers!
So when baseball’s popularity declined in the aftermath of the 1994 strike, McGwire seemed like a perfect candidate to rejuvenate interest in the sport as he proved a formidable challenger to Maris’ record. He warmed himself up with 52 in ’96, improving on this with 58 in ’97. And in ’98, McGwire did what no hitter had ever done before.
But Sammy Sosa was trying to beat him to the punch.
Those two hitters were neck-and-neck throughout the season in this fabled home run chase. Sosa started slow, with only 13 homers in April and May compared to McGwire’s 27.
Then June happened. Sosa hit the most ever homers in one month—20, a record which still hasn’t been broken. McGwire only clocked 10. Come to then end of August, and they were tied at 55 a piece. It seemed all but assured that Maris’ record would finally be broken, but who would come out the victor?
McGwire made the first move, starting September with back-to-back two home run games. Sosa responded with a homer in three straight games. Then, Sosa fell into a slump, stuck at 58 as he went homer-less over his next five games from Sept. 6 to Sept. 10. McGwire, on the other hand, did not stumble.
On Sept. 7, the Cardinals and Cubs began a two-game series with McGwire and Sosa at 60 and 58 homers, respectively. During the first game, with Sosa in the outfield, McGwire tied Maris with a first-inning solo shot.
McGwire entered the next game with the chance to make history. He initially had to wait, as McGwire grounded out to short in his first at-bat on a 3-0 pitch from Steve Trachsel. But in McGwire’s fourth inning at-bat, he didn’t hesitate.
The very first pitch was intended to be low and outside, but it caught way too much of the zone for McGwire, who crushed a bullet down the left field line for No. 62.
McGwire almost forgot to touch first base as he celebrated while rounding the bases, hugging the Cubs and his coaches. After touching home plate, Sosa ran in from the outfield to join the celebration and the two sluggers shared a special embrace in the climactic moment of one of baseball’s greatest storylines.
September 9, 1965 – Sandy Koufax’s Perfect Game
On Sept. 9, 1965, Sandy Koufax had arguably the best pitching performance ever. This isn’t exactly surprising considering the absolutely historic stretch of pitching excellence that was Koufax’s prime.
From 1963 to 1966, Koufax had three of the top 25 pitching seasons in the live-ball era (since 1920) by fWAR. He also received three pitching Triple Crowns, tied for the most ever. Over this four-year stretch, which included three Cy Youngs and an MVP, Koufax averaged a 1.86 ERA/172 ERA+, .909 WHIP, 307 K:65 BB, 22 complete games, 8 shutouts and a 24-7 record.
His ’65 season was the most dominant. With 10.0 fWAR, it is the sixth best in the live-ball era. His 382 strikeouts that year were a major league record, which has since only been beaten by Nolan Ryan, who had 383 Ks in ’73.
The apex of this historic season was Koufax’s perfect game on Sept. 9. Koufax faced the Chicago Cubs, and their lineup was no slouch: the 3-4-5 featured future Hall of Famers Billy Williams, Ron Santo and Ernie Banks. The Cubs starter, Bob Hendley, was not good as he entered the game with a 8.22 ERA on the season.
But Hendley kept up with Koufax from the beginning.
The first four innings went by quickly, with neither team recording a baserunner. But after Koufax retired the heart of the order in the top of the fifth, Hendley led off the next half-inning with a walk to Lou Johnson. The next batter laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Johnson to second, who then stole third. A throwing error allowed Johnson to score, putting the Dodgers up 1-0.
That was only one of two baserunners that the Dodgers got the entire game. The next was a two-out double also by Johnson, but he was unable to score. Hendley ended the game with the one of the best opposing pitcher lines in any perfect game: 8 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB and 3 K.
Koufax didn’t need any run support as he absolutely dominated the Cubs’ lineup. In the eighth, Koufax struck out the side on 10 pitches. And in the very last inning, Koufax struck all three batters out again, winning the game with 14 strikeouts.
With a game score of 101, this is tied for the fourth best pitching performance ever. It is also tied with Matt Cain’s gem in 2012 for the most strikeouts in a perfect game. This was Koufax’s fourth no-hitter, a major league record that was only broken by Nolan Ryan in ’81.
September 13, 2011 – Mariano Rivera’s 600th Save
While Hoffman redefined the closer role in the National League, Mariano Rivera was doing it in the American League—but performing at an even greater level.
Rivera’s consistent dominance may never be matched. I could write an entire article about Rivera’s greatness, but I will mostly hold my tongue.
Rivera was a late bloomer, he didn’t record his first save until he was 26 years old. Francisco Rodríguez (K-Rod), who was once upon a time seen as the heir apparent to Rivera’s throne, debuted at just 20 years old. Rodriguez, through his age-26, had 207 saves to his name. But K-Rod did not have Rivera’s excellence combined with longevity, and Rodriguez retired at just 35 years old with just 437 career saves. Rivera, on the other hand, retired at 43 with 652 saves.
Hoffman often beat Rivera in the race to certain milestones. On June 6, ’07, Hoffman became the first closer to 500 saves, and Mariano reached that plateau more than two years later.
As you read about earlier, Hoffman got his 600th save on Sept. 7, ’10. Mariano got his 600th on Sept. 13, ’11.
Although Hoffman showed some signs of decline toward the end of his career, that was not the case for Rivera. From ’03 to ’10, Rivera had a sub-2 ERA every year but ’07, when he had a 3.15 ERA/144 ERA+ (how terrible!). And in ’11, Rivera entered his Sept. 13 game against the Mariners with a 2.09 ERA, 53 K:7 BB and 40 saves over 56 IP. Rivera was still clearly in his prime even though he was 41 years old. Really, his prime never ended.
This Seattle lineup was no match for Mo. Only one hitter, Dustin Ackley, had an OPS above .800. Rivera struck out the first batter he faced, Willy Mo Peña, with a high cutter on his fifth pitch. The second hitter, Ichiro Suzuki, tapped a grounder into left for a single. Next up was Kyle Seager, who also struck out on a high cutter for the fifth pitch of the AB. Finally, Ackley came to the plate with two outs.
After throwing a ball to start off, Rivera came right back inside with another ball. But Ichiro was stealing! And Russell Martin jumped out of the squat, gunned a ball to Derek Jeter, who applied the tag to clinch Rivera’s 600th career save.
It will be a long time before we see anyone seriously threaten Rivera’s record of 652 saves.
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