Lost in the terrible strike call that ended yesterday’s Rangers-Rays game is that the pitch closed out the 300th save of Joe Nathan’s career, moving him into a tie for 22nd place on the all-time list with Bruce Sutter and Jason Isringhausen.
What makes Nathan’s save total especially impressive is that he didn’t become a closer until age 29 and then missed his entire age-35 season following Tommy John elbow surgery. And yet if he duplicates last season’s 37 saves he’ll finish this year ranked 11th all time between Rollie Fingers and John Wetteland.
And if you look only at career saves from age 29 on, Nathan could finish this season fourth all time behind only Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, and Dennis Eckersley.
