You say: "Gee, why would I think Trevor Hoffman is better than Mariano Rivera? It's not like the stats say that!"
Durrr hurrr
Mariano Rivera, closing career (since 1997):
58-46, 521 SV, 2.04 ERA, 220 ERA+, 837 G, 915.1 IP, 6.9 H/9, 0.5 HR/9, 1.9 BB/9, 8.1 K/9, 4.30 K/BB, 0.979 WHIP
Trevor Hoffman, closing career (since 1994):
55-62, 586 SV, 2.62 ERA, 153 ERA+, 918 G, 952 IP, 6.8 H/9, 0.8 HR/9, 2.4 BB/9, 9.7 K/9, 4.11 K/BB, 1.015 WHIP
Mariano Rivera did what he did entirely in the AL East. Trevor Hoffman did what he did entirely in the NL, usually the NL West.
Trevor Hoffman is an elite reliever and has been for many, many years, but he is not Mariano Rivera. No one is. Acting like this is blatant homerism on my part is actually kind of blatant homerism on your part. I absolutely love Derek Jeter, but if I said "Derek Jeter is the greatest shortstop of all time and there's no one that can really compare to him," that would be blatant homerism. It's not a stretch to say "Mariano Rivera is the greatest relief pitcher of all time and there's no one that can really compare to him." Hating Mariano Rivera is Yankee hating for no good goddamn reason. I'm not gonna hate Ted Williams just because he was a member of the Red Sox.
