Your Oriole Closer Ranking List

[Redskins Rick]

So where does Zach stack up against:

Zach

Tippy

Greg O

JJ

Lee Smith

First off, they were all great pitchers, with lots of saves here.

Tippy is a personal favorite, just for that wacky game, and he picked off 3 at first.

I think Greg had the best curve ball, that thing at times was like softball, heading for your head, until it broke down across the plate.

Zach was dominate, thats for sure.

JJ was rock solid, until he blew up.

Lee got the job done.

So my ranking, would be:   Greg / Zach / JJ  / Lee / Tippy

I am sure I missed some.

I left Chris Ray off, as good as he was, it was for a very short time here.

[brooksfrankjim]

Britton was the best and don’t forget Randy Myers from the 90s division winner.

[wildbillhiccup]

Just now, Redskins Rick said:

So where does Zach stack up against:

Zach

Tippy

Greg O

JJ

Lee Smith

First off, they were all great pitchers, with lots of saves here.

Tippy is a personal favorite, just for that wacky game, and he picked off 3 at first.

I think Greg had the best curve ball, that thing at times was like softball, heading for your head, until it broke down across the plate.

Zach was dominate, thats for sure.

JJ was rock solid, until he blew up.

Lee got the job done.

So my ranking, would be:   Greg / Zach / JJ  / Lee / Tippy

I am sure I missed some.

I left Chris Ray off, as good as he was, it was for a very short time here.

I'd swap in Ray for Smith, but otherwise agree with everything else. I have an autographed pic of Tippy Martinez that I picked up when he was doing publicity at a mall hanging in my my office. Probably from the early 80s.

[Rustbelt]

I liked Tim Stoddard who had some great years in the late 70s and 80s.  Don Aase had some good years before his arm injury.  Randy Myers had a great 1996 season.  Overall, Zach Britton provided many stress free saves unlike Don Stanhouse or Brad Brach. 

[foxfield]

What no Don Stanhouse????

[Redskins Rick]

2 minutes ago, foxfield said:

What no Don Stanhouse????

Stanhouse only saved for 2 seasons here, like Chris Ray, i tried to go after the guys that held the position for a bit longer.

[Redskins Rick]

3 minutes ago, Rustbelt said:

I liked Tim Stoddard who had some great years in the late 70s and 80s.  Don Aase had some good years before his arm injury.  Randy Myers had a great 1996 season.  Overall, Zach Britton provided many stress free saves unlike Don Stanhouse or Brad Brach. 

Randy had a great season, but he was worn out by the ALCS and just one of the reasons, the Yankees beat us.

And yes, I did forget about him. My memory is only so good.

Aase was another 2 season closer.

[Frobby]

Hard to say, because the closer role has changed over the years.    Take 1983, when Tippy Martinez had 27 save opportunities.    He pitched more than 1 inning 36 times, more than 2 innings 27 times, and more than 3 innings 7 times.  But he did finish 51 games and had 21 saves.  At the same time, he wasn’t the exclusive closer — Tim Stoddard had 9 saves and Sammy Stewart had 7.   Its really hard to compare him to today’s closers.    And that’s true of many great Oriole relievers in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.

Really, our first “modern” closer was Don Aase in 1986.   He had 43 of the team’s 53 save opportunities that year and 34 of the 39 saves.   But even he exceeded 1 IP 28 times.  

It’s unfortunate that we’ve never really had a closer who lasted a long time.   As I mentioned elsewhere, our top five in saves still fall 25 short of Mariano Rivera by himself.

Personally, I’d give Zach the nod as our best closer, with Olson a close second.

 

[Redskins Rick]

7 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Hard to say, because the closer role has changed over the years.    Take 1983, when Tippy Martinez had 27 save opportunities.    He pitched more than 1 inning 36 times, more than 2 innings 27 times, and more than 3 innings 7 times.  But he did finish 51 games and had 21 saves.  At the same time, he wasn’t the exclusive closer — Tim Stoddard had 9 saves and Sammy Stewart had 7.   Its really hard to compare him to today’s closers.    And that’s true of many great Oriole relievers in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.

Really, our first “modern” closer was Don Aase in 1986.   He had 43 of the team’s 53 save opportunities that year and 34 of the 39 saves.   But even he exceeded 1 IP 28 times.  

It’s unfortunate that we’ve never really had a closer who lasted a long time.   As I mentioned elsewhere, our top five in saves still fall 25 short of Mariano Rivera by himself.

Personally, I’d give Zach the nod as our best closer, with Olson a close second.

 

I remember how Earl used to beg Tippy for a 1-2-3 inning and save his ulcer some stress.

I agree, the role has changed, and most relievers dont have the long success that Mariano was able to achieve.

[Moose Milligan]

Where's the Doug Jones love?  You guys are slipping.

It pains me to do it, but I put Britton above Olson.  Grew up a big fan of Olson, I think he was my first Orioles autograph in 89 or 90 at a mall in Rockville.   Loved that curveball.  The cheesy sequence queued up to Kenny Rogers on the 89 highlights tape is probably my favorite part of that tape.  

Lee Smith, Randall K Myers...those guys were solid when they were here but not here long enough for me to really put them in the conversation.  IIRC, Smith was pretty good and also lead the league in saves for us but nearing the end of his line.  Watching HTS put a timer up to see how long it took for him to walk to the mound was hilarious.  Myers was dominant but with only two years here I can't put him on the list.  Tenure counts for something, IMO.

 

6 minutes ago, wildbillhiccup said:

I'd swap in Ray for Smith, but otherwise agree with everything else. I have an autographed pic of Tippy Martinez that I picked up when he was doing publicity at a mall hanging in my my office. Probably from the early 80s.

Gotta post a photo of that.

[TonySoprano]

  My favorite was the "Otter."  Britton is 2nd because when he entered the game in 2016, it was over.  Overall, 139 saves in 150 chances.  Randall K. Myers was a character.  He'd always step off the mound to get the ball from the catcher, then seemingly stomp around the 3rd base side of the mound, and go back to work.  Admittedly, living in the DC area, most of what I saw of Tippy was in the playoffs.   His most famous moment was on August 24, 1983 when he picked off 3 Blue Jays in the same inning, with Lenn Sakata making his only appearance behind the dish.  Jim Johnson still holds the single season saves mark for the Orioles with 50 in 2013.  Have to get props to "Flat Breezy" who saved 51 games for some lousy Orioles teams in '08-'09.  The joke about Lee Smith was you can time his walk in from the bullpen on a calendar.

[Ohfan67]

Britton was the best. 

[spiritof66]

Stu Miller led the AL in saves in 1963 and was among the league leaders for four years (63-66). From his SABR biography: Miller "turned in his best all-around season in 1965. He did not allow a run in 17 straight appearances covering 31 innings. His ERA shrank to 1.89 with a 14-7 record, 24 saves and only one blown save. He was again named the club’s MVP."

Miller didn't pitch in the 1966 World Series, when the Orioles used only four pitchers -- starters McNally, Palmer and Bunker, plus Moe Drabowsky -- to shut down the Dodgers.

[Hank Scorpio]

17 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Where's the Doug Jones love?  You guys are slipping.

http://www.baseballcardbust.com/2010/02/doug-jones-1991-score.html

Read that. Pretty funny.

[Moose Milligan]

8 minutes ago, Hank Scorpio said:

http://www.baseballcardbust.com/2010/02/doug-jones-1991-score.html

Read that. Pretty funny.

He might have been a fireballer at the time but...when he got here I remember him throwing slow and slower.