Mariano Rivera is the New All-Time MLB Saves Leader

After pitching a perfect ninth inning, Mariano Rivera stood on the mound at Yankees Stadium and blew a kiss to the cheering crowd of 40,045 fans -- the smallest in the stadium's three year history.

Rivera, shutting the door on his New York Yankees’ 6-4 win over the Minnesota Twins, became the new all-time saves leader after recording his 602nd career save on Monday. The 41-year-old closer put down Trevor Plouffe, Michael Cuddyer, and Chris Parmelee in order to snap Trevor Hoffman’s mark set before his retirement last season.

Mariano Rivera Earns 600th Save for New York Yankees

Mariano Rivera earned his 600th career save Tuesday night, slamming the door on his New York Yankees' 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners.

The 41-year-old closer, who's enjoyed 12 All-Star considerations over his 17-year career, entered the game with a one-run lead in the ninth inning. He struck out pinch hitter Wily Mo Pena before Ichiro Suzuki blooped a single into left field. Kyle Seager then went down on strikes before Ichiro busted for second with Dustin Ackley at the plate. Russell Martin was having none of that though, and threw a perfect strike to Derek Jeter to end the game.

Happy Trails, Trevor Hoffman

After 18 seasons in the big leagues, Trevor Hoffman has finally decided to hang up his cleats.

Baseball's all-time saves leader, who many consider to be the National League's all-time greatest closer, is trading Hells Bells for a cushy desk job with the San Diego Padres front office. He had this to say during his retirement announcement at the podium atop Petco Park's home plate Wednesday:

Way To Go, Mo

New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera was called to the hill with two outs in the eighth to take down New York Mets pinch-hitter Omir Santos after Brian Bruney had walked the potential tying and go-ahead runs. (Nice work, Bruney.) And Mo got the job done, as usual.

After some top of the ninth shenangians, and due to some double-switching earlier in the game, Rivera came to the plate for just the seventh time in his career to face rivaled closer Francisco Rodriguez with the bases loaded. The guy doesn't even own a batting helmet. The first two pitches were balls, and the next two strikes before the 39-year-old veteran fouled off the fifth. Then came ball three. Then ball four: a walk for Mo and his first RBI ever.

Thirteen years after recording his very first save, Rivera collected his 18th of the season and joined Trevor Hoffman as the only other man in the history of the game to record 500 saves. High five.

[USA Today] | [Right Fielders Women in Sports] | [With Leather]

Last, But Certainly Not Least

Superstitious, charismatic and all-out boisterous are just three of the adjectives used to describe Arizona Diamondbacks closer and big league saves-leader, Jose Valverde.

I prefer to call him jolly, but he prefers "Big Papa." The 6'4", 254-pound righty is generally a pretty quiet guy off the field; it's the minute he busts out of the bullpen that his true colors shine.

He doesn't like it when people talk to him during the game -- this is the time he reserves for "getting [himself] ready inside." Every now and then, from about the fifth inning on, he'll stand up and swing his arms loose, in anticipation of a save situation.

Then, it's time. He heads to the mound and immediately acts on his first superstition, tossing the ball to the home plate ump and asking for a new one.

He pops some gum in his mouth -- this move is especially impertinent -- and chucks it toward the middle infield once he's done warming up. Then, he makes some sort of crazy hand gesture in the direction of second baseman Orlando Hudson, who replies the same. Why? No one knows... not even Valverde or Hudson.

Are we ready yet? Not quite. Rather than touch the rosin bag (God forbid, the previous pitcher has already touched it!) he grabs some dirt from the mound and rubs it into his upper thigh.

With every out, the giant finisher pumps his fist and/or belts outs a "Hell yeah!" at the top of his lungs, which seems to aggravate opposing batters. That means it's working.

Once he's saved the day, Valverde leaps into the air and pounds his chest like a wild animal in the Congo. It's awesome.

Back in May, he hoped he would reach 50 saves this season, and he's just about gotten his wish. Valverde (1-4, 2.83 ERA) has converted 45 of 52 save opportunities with 18 games left to play in the Baby Backs' season, doing it again last night against the St. Louis Cardinals.

He's struck out 72 over 60 innings, walking 24 with just 19 earned runs. He's eclipsed the club's all-time saves leader, Matt Mantei (74) already and has had a large hand in the Diamondbacks' quest to be the become the Best in the NL West, with a 3-game lead over the stumbling San Diego Padres.

[Sports Network] | [AZ Snakepit] | [Random Fandom]