Baseball's Top 10 Closers of All Time

Though the closer is a relatively new position in baseball, there is enough history of the position to make a top 10 list out of them. There has been a big rise in the position lately, but most current closers have not quite yet achieved top 10 status. Here are baseball's top 10 closers of all time.

1. Mariano Rivera - With a career 2.26 ERA, it is safe to say that Mariano Rivera is baseball's greatest closer of all time. He has anchored the New York Yankee's bullpen for the past 15 years. By both pure statistics and what he has done to lead his teams to championships, Mariano RIvera is easily the top closer of all time

2. Dennis Eckersley - Pitching for six different teams during his long 24 year career, Dennis Eckersley proved his self to be one of baseball's top closers of all time. He has accumulated 390 saves during his career even though he only closed games for the last half of his career.

3. Goose Gossage - Though he only posted 310 saves during his career, he only closed games for about half of his career also. Gossage was also a very effective relief pitcher, even though he was mostly known for his outstanding closing.

4. Bruce Sutter - Though Sutter did not enjoy the longest career, he did put up the magic number of saves for closers: 300. Finishing his career with a 2.83 ERA, Sutter can easily be considered for the top 10 closers of all time.

5. Hoyt Wilhelm - Here is one of the oldest closers on this list of baseball's top 10 closers of all time. Though Wilhelm did not record very many saves in his long career, he can be considered to be one of the pioneers of closers in baseball.

6. Rollie Fingers - Rollie Fingers was one of the more consistent year in and year out closers to ever play the game. He saved 341 games and finished his career out with a sub-3.00 ERA. He also even recorded 1299 strikeouts during his career.

7. Trevor Hoffman - Here is one of the more well known closers to play the game, Mariano Rivera being the top. Hoffman played most of his career with the San Diego Padres and has posted an astonishing 582 career saves. With also having a a 2.74 ERA Hoffman could be considered to be one of the greatest closers of all time if he continues playing like this for a few more years.

8. Lee Smith - Lee Smith also has one of the most saves recorded in the history of the game. He put up 482 saves over his existence in baseball. Though he could never quite stick with one team, Lee Smith will still be remembered as one of the greatest closers of all time.

9. Tug McGraw - Here is another pioneer of the closing position in baseball. Beginning his career in 1965, he was one of the first closers ever. After posting a 3.14 ERA and being one of the first closers ever, McGraw can be established into the top 10 closers of all time.

10. Mike Marshall -Over Mike Marshall's 14 year career, he was another player who never settled into one team. Instead, he drifted around the league helping each team by closing games for them. Mike Marshall deserves a spot in the top 10 closers of all time.