Marinoisgod

As Mariano cruises along to 500 saves lets take the time to put his career into perspective.  He's definitely the best reliever ever.  There is no real argument against him.  When you take into account his longevity he might be the best pitcher ever.  The very nature of a closer's role is more pressure packed than a starter.  A good starter is going to throw 100 pitches .  Obviously some will be more important than others.  The point is that there is much more room for error.  A closer is coming into situations with runners on base and little to no room for error.   Just look at the history of baseball.  What closer has been this dominant for this long?  The last 3 outs are the hardest.  The pressure of the situation sooner than later exposes the lesser closers.  When you take into account that the pressure intensifies tremenously in the postseason, that's why Mariano has to be considered one of if not the best pitcher ever.  His postseason numbers are absolutely ridiculous.  8-1 0.77 era and 34 saves in 114 inn.  I know other pitchers did not have the good fortune to play in the postseason as often as he has , but that should not be held against him.  For starters, he's one of the main reasons they were in the playoffs and secondly any pitcher that would be in this argumet has pitched in the postseason and has not performed as well as he has.  If you break it down to its simplest form no one has pitched as well as he has.