<p>He was in Yankee Stadium tonight... he just wasn't wearing pinstripes. Papelbon is near unhittable.</p>
<p>is this a joke? Rivera has been the most dominant closer for the past 10 years.</p>
<p>He is a first ballot hall of famer.</p>
<p>I didn't ask about the past ten years. The Sox figured out the cutter. Right now the best closer in baseball is Jonathan Papelbon. Just like right now (and for the next decade) the best hitter in baseball is Albert Pujols by a very wide margin.</p>
<p>the past ten years include this year.</p>
<p>Trevor Hoffman</p>
<p>Rivera
KRod
Lidge
Wagner
Hoffman</p>
<p>Gagne, he won the Cy Toung. Too bad he's gotta problems now.</p>
<p>Huge Red Sox fan here. As impressive as Papelbon has been thus far this season, he has miles to go before he can be considered one of the best. I still consider Mariano Rivera the best closer in baseball, no question. And even though I loathe the NYY, you still gotta give the man his just props. Furthermore, his ability to laugh and smile and roll with the punches when the Red Sox fans sarcastically cheered for him 2005 opening day (after he had blown the 2004 ALCS and the first game of the 2005 season against the Red Sox) just shows what a class act he is.</p>
<p>Seriously, if you're going to call Papelbon the best closer in baseball because of one month, you might as well call Alex Rios the best hitter in baseball. "Right now" Papelbon only has the best stats of any closer...doesn't make him the best closer.</p>
<p>These labels aren't things that change every few months...they come after long-established success.</p>
<p>So has anyone had a change of heart in the past three months?</p>
<p>I'm for Paps. He has the potential to be the next rocket</p>
<p>Baseball is a boring sport that requires much less athletic ability than most other sports, hows that for a closing.</p>
<p>And yet hitting a baseball is often considered by sportswriters to be the most difficult skill in all of sports. Think about it: a batter has about 0.4 seconds to figure out what type of pitch is coming/where it's going...then he has to decide whether or not he wants to hit it, and finally, he has to actually swing at this possibly curving/dipping/diving ball that he can't even see anymore when it's 12 feet away. All in 0.4 seconds. If he's off by ONE milisecond, he will foul it off--if he's off by two or three miliseconds, he will miss the pitch completely.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Baseball is a boring sport that requires much less athletic ability than most other sports, hows that for a closing
[/quote]
Good observation.
[quote]
batter has about 0.4 seconds to figure out what type of pitch is coming/where it's going...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Batsmen who face Shoaib Akhtar have one fifth of a second to react. Remember, the ball bounces, making it more unpredictable. I am sure that many baseball pitchers can do 100 mph+, but look at the difference between the rules. In cricket, you cannot 'chuck' the ball like in baseball. In simpler terms, its a lot harder to throw a 100 mph ball in cricket than in baseball.</p>
<p>Anyway, lets not get started about all baseball players wearing gloves while fielding. Takes absolutely no skill to take a simple catch. For comparison, here are a few typical cricket catches.</p>
<p><a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6437685842446666448&q=cricket+catches%5B/url%5D">http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6437685842446666448&q=cricket+catches</a>
<a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5280286302076805772&q=cricket+catches%5B/url%5D">http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5280286302076805772&q=cricket+catches</a>
<a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2751861538415262473&q=cricket+catches%5B/url%5D">http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2751861538415262473&q=cricket+catches</a>
<a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=596575922641479703&q=cricket+catches%5B/url%5D">http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=596575922641479703&q=cricket+catches</a></p>
<p>Oh, and you don't hear about cricket players doing steroids either.</p>
<p>Hitting a baseball is not a raw athletic skill though, like running, jumping, even catching.</p>
<p>Baseball comes from 'rounders'. Yanks love easy games I suppose.</p>
<p>Staying on topic, right now I'd probably have to say Mariano Rivera, because he's experienced, has proven clutch in key games (while blowing some at the same time), and has had consistent save totals all year. Is Papelbon good? Sure, but he's only a rookie. Give him time, and we'll see if he's on level with Rivera, Isringhausen, Jenks, Hoffman, etc.</p>
<p>iloveagoodbrew:</p>
<p>CRICKET ALL THE WAY MAN!!!</p>
<p>however, i do like baseball</p>
<p>Will the damn Englishman shut the F up about cricket? No one cares. kthxbai</p>
<p>For baseball, yeah, Mariano is pretty dominant. JPaps will be there. I'm saying it now. The guy is a monster. Gordon is excellent, Lidge has been good until recent. KRod, BJ Ryan, Nathan. All pretty dominant.</p>
<p>How about a tennis player who is returning a serve, serves that have variable spins, speeds, trajectory's. Watch a tennis match and put yourself in their shoes. Not only does a tennis player have to hit the ball, he/she also has to make it pass over the net, but not over the opponents baseline (not hitting it 'out') and even after acomplishing both, the ball must still be challenging for the initial server to hit back to the returner, if the ball is 'in' but is hit weakly your opponent will easily win the point. Baseball players just hit up and out and hope it flys long enough... Pathetic</p>