I hate the way he carries on after a save and don't give two shits whether he breaks a record for dumb stat like saves.

Having said that, there are several by-products that will invariably result from such an accomplishment and I wanted to look over those here now.

Anger and hatred?

Wake me up when someone breaks the Holds record. I want to hear me some bitter JC Romero complaining about how relief pitchers have it easy these days.

Wake me up when someone breaks the Holds record. I want to hear me some bitter JC Romero complaining about how relief pitchers have it easy these days.

Does Romero hold the record? What is the record? I'm having a hard time looking it up.

Does Romero hold the record? What is the record? I'm having a hard time looking it up.

According to this site he is tied with Octavio Dotel, but it doesn't appear to have been updated since 2003.

Apologies for terrible formatting

Holds, Single Season
Scott Linebrink 2006 36
Tom Gordon 2004 36
Brandon Lyon 2007 35
Akinori Otsuka 2004 34
Mike Jackson 1993 34
Heath Bell 2007 34

Holds, Career
Mike Stanton 266
Arthur Rhodes 187
Alan Embree 187
Jesse Orosco 185
Paul Assenmacher 180

Holds, 2008
Kyle McClellan 29
Dan Wheeler 26
Scot Shields 26
Carlos Marmol 25
Eddie Guardado 25

J.C. Romero: 131 career holds, high of 33 in 2002

The single-season holds record race is on!

How many of the names above have any idea of their place in history?

Mike Stanton is the Babe Ruth of this ####. Combine that with his 68 wins and 84 saves -- he's like a 400-game winner. HOF anyone?

edit - corrected Stanton's career saves

I think McClellan is a lock to break Linebrink's hallowed mark. The team he plays for really does a good job of getting him in the game. Oh yeah what team does Kyle McClellan play for?

Mike Stanton is the Babe Ruth of this ####. Combine that with his 68 wins and 87 saves -- he's like a 300-game winner. HOF anyone?

I think we're talking first ballot HOF if not waiving the 5 year waiting period ala Clemente.

Hahaha...when I came across his name about a week ago I had no idea who he was either. The media is really falling down on this Holds race. When will they arrange a historic meeting between McClellan and K-Rod?

Primer 1.0 would have Mike Piazza claiming to be the Career Holds leader.

Can someone remind me how many saves K-Rod has recorded so far in which he pitched more than one inning or entered a game with runners on base?

This year - 0 saves > 1 IP
In his career, 19

6 saves this season with inherited runners

Most saves > 1 IP in a season: Dan Quisenberry 1983 - 35

I need to subscribe to MLB.tv just for this exciting race. I can just imagine, switching back and forth between history and history. Maybe Rodriguez and McClellan will even be pitching at the same time! Just as long as the Angels and, um, whatever team Kyle McClellan plays for, I'm guessing the Indians, aren't blacked out in my area.

Maybe Furtado should put up a poll in which we guess which team McClellan pitches for.

It's probably not the Indians, since they have had limited hold opportunities, what with sucking and all. I want to change my guess to the Marlins.

I was gonna go Marlins, but I'm thinking Astros.

Primer 1.0 would have Mike Piazza claiming to be the Career Holds leader.

Piazza has always been a catcher, not a pitcher.

The actual article/blog post linked is interesting too. Does anyone think keeping Rodriguez would be a good move for the Angels? Is he a fan draw?

How many of the names above have any idea of their place in history?

If I were Paul Assenmacher I would check that list of holds leaders every night to see who might be gaining on me. But I'm not Paul Assenmacher.

BTW the word "LOOGY" is thrown around all too often these days, much like actual loogies in our debased society. Assenmacher is one of only a couple dozen pitchers who had a long career as a truly ONE OUT guy (well, actually two outs). In the last seven years of his career he made 425 appearances, throwing 303 innings.

Count me as another who doesn't know who McClellan pitches for.

I thought he was just the guy who Lee kept outfoxing. He held the Potomac, anyway.

Count me as another who doesn't know who McClellan pitches for

I know but I can't tell you.

Huh, Dan Plesac is 6th with 179 career holds, so each of the top 6 are lefties.

Huh, Dan Plesac is 6th with 179 career holds, so each of the top 6 are lefties.

Makes sense - loogy comes in to face a lefty with his team leading, faces one batter with the platoon advantage, and hits the showers. That's a hold, right?

I also know which team McClellan pitches for, though I don't know what he looks like. In my mind's eye, he looks like Kyle Kendrick.

Makes sense - loogy comes in to face a lefty with his team leading, faces one batter with the platoon advantage, and hits the showers. That's a hold, right?

The only difference between a hold and a save is that a save happens when the pitcher is the last pitcher of the game. So if a pitcher comes into the game in a save situation, is taken out before the game ends, and the lead is never relinquished, that's a hold.

EDIT: People sometimes talk about distinguishing "blown holds" from "blown saves" to make the blown save stat more meaningful. But as you can see, that's nonsense, since the only way you could make that determination is to subjectively say, "Well he probably was going to come out anyway before the game ended..."

Therefore the stat should just be "blown leads".

But then that is biased against people who enter the game with only a 1-run lead instead of a 3- or 4-run lead. Maybe it should just be changed to "runs given up", and then adjusted for the number of innings thrown.

Hey, wait a minute...

Cardinals?

I predicted before this year that Brian Wilson would break the record with about 70 saves, figuring that would be about the number of games the Giants would win, and wouldn't none of them be by more than 3 runs.

Mike Gonzalez notched his team-leading seventh save for the Braves yesterday.

Mike Gonzalez notched his team-leading seventh save for the Braves yesterday.

But who leads the team in holds?

Why, Will Ohman of course (16)

Makes sense - loogy comes in to face a lefty with his team leading, faces one batter with the platoon advantage, and hits the showers. That's a hold, right?

I don't really think of most of those guys as loogies, but I guess they all pitched a long time and reached periods when that's what they essentially became.

Holds of at least 1 IP, career
Scot Shields 122
Arthur Rhodes 118
Bobby Howry 118
Mike Jackson 117
Mike Stanton 112
Scott Linebrink 112

Holds of no more than 1 batter faced, career
Mike Myers 87
Jesse Orosco 67
Mike Stanton 57
Alan Embree 55
Dan Plesac 53
Tony Fossas 53

The top RHP is Jeff Nelson in 19th place, with 30.

Before looking it up, I made a list of eight teams I thought McClellan might be on, and he wasn't on any of them.

The only difference between a hold and a save is that a save happens when the pitcher is the last pitcher of the game. So if a pitcher comes into the game in a save situation, is taken out before the game ends, and the lead is never relinquished, that's a hold.

Except that you can get a save entering in the sixth inning with a 12-run lead, but you can't get a hold.

/pedantic


The top RHP is Jeff Nelson in 19th place, with 30.

And all 30 of them are walks.

It looks like B-R does not credit a hold unless you retire at least one batter. That may differ from the "official" definition. Anyway, Nelson only had 14 games in his career when he walked the only batter he faced. Surprisingly, only 7 times with the Yankees, who won 6 of those games. Mike Myers did it 34 times.

Except that you can get a save entering in the sixth inning with a 12-run lead, but you can't get a hold.

It is my impression that if you enter the game in the sixth inning with a 12 run lead and pitch the sixth, seventh, and eighth (or at least three innings), you'll get a hold. Am I wrong?

I know that McClellan is on a certain NL Central team, but the only reason I know this useless stat is because I was scouring my fantasy league to see who owned most of the top Holds guys (you know your league is terrible when they use holds, someone save me with a good keeper league).

Ugh. Let's just stop talking about holds altogether.

Anyway, Nelson only had 14 games in his career when he walked the only batter he faced. Surprisingly, only 7 times with the Yankees, who won 6 of those games.

My comment was in part a vague reference to your straightening me out on that a couple months ago. And, in part, a comment on how I feel about Jeff Nelson.

Sorry....I do vaguely remember that conversation but I didn't remember who it was with.

Does anyone think keeping Rodriguez would be a good move for the Angels?

I do. Believe it or not, but lights out relievers are not easy to come by. Not guys who do it year after year after year after year. On top of that, he'll have over 200 saves after this season. Mariano Rivera had 5 at that age. I'm not saying he's as good as Mo, but 10 more years at 30 saves per is over 500. That's HOF territory, and if he spends five of those ten in an Angels uniform, he goes in as an Angel. That's important to a team that currently has no HOFers enshrined in their cap.

Matt Welch puts it all together better than I can, but his numbers, though they fluctuate, are still excellent. His ERA and WHIP are better than last year, even though his strikeouts are down some. He's added a change up, and I'd be surprised if he doesn't add a splitter at some point in his career. Given the choice between he and Teixeira, I'll take Teixeira, but there's no reason they can't keep both. Yes, he'll get a huge deal this year, but he's already getting $10MM this year. It's not like they'd be going from zero to $15MM.

He's also a link to the 2002 team. And sorry, but no one who likes the Angels really gives a crap about the last out antics. If it makes you mad, it's probably because he just beat your team.

BTW, he just notched #52.

Hahaha...when I came across his name about a week ago I had no idea who he was either. The media is really falling down on this Holds race. When will they arrange a historic meeting between McClellan and K-Rod?

And yet McClellan doesn't seem to be getting any mention for NL Rookie of the Year. Where's the justice?

I'm surprised Scott Downs isn't up there. Where is this information?

I'm pretty sure Kyle McClellan pitches for the Atreides.

Downs has 19 this season and 50 in his career. I'm getting it from B-R.com

Kyle McClellan? The love child of Lloyd McClendon and Donn Clendenon?

Sorry....I do vaguely remember that conversation but I didn't remember who it was with.

Hahaha...when I came across his name about a week ago I had no idea who he was either.

I'm surprised Scott Downs isn't up there. Where is this information?

Reading this thread is like being chained up in a freaking nursing home.

I like Frankie's post-game antics. He does it just to anger YOU in fact

Reading this thread is like being chained up in a freaking nursing home.

As approximately 66.666666666666666666666667% of those quotes are mine, I feel extremely offended. If weren't so ####### drunk I would whup your ass boy

Since this record allows you to blow as many saves as you want, it does seem a little like getting fired up over Jimmy Rollins' AB total last year. "Ooh, extra opportunities!"

For those enjoying the K-Rod show, Rollins did indeed set the AB mark in 2007:
per bb-ref

I guess Woody Jensen could be compared to Firpo Marberry

1. Jimmy Rollins 716 2007
2. Willie Wilson 705 1980
3. Ichiro Suzuki 704 2004
4. Juan Samuel 701 1984
5. Dave Cash 699 1975
5. Juan Pierre 699 2006
7. Matty Alou 698 1969
8. Woody Jensen 696 1936
8. Jose Reyes 696 2005
8. Alfonso Soriano 696 2002

McClellan watch: 30 holds, only 1 in the past three weeks. Not looking good.

I have continued to maintain my ignorance of who Kyle McClellan pitches for, although it may have been revealed later in this thread. His failure to hold any leads during the period when the Marlins finally fell apart corroborates my theory that he is on the Marlins.

Scot Shields takes the lead with 31 holds. Carlos Marmol ties the mysterious Kyle McClellan with 30.