Congratulations to Bruce Sutter on being elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Did you know that Sutter is only the fourth closer to get in? The other three are Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley, although Sutter is the only Hall of Famer that never made a single appearance as a starter. He was used as a reliever in all 661 of his appearances.

An arm injury cut Sutter's career short, as his career lasted only 12 years long. I use the word "only" because it seems as though most Hall of Famers are in the game for at least 15 years, and his last three years with the Atlanta Braves for the most part are forgettable. Sutter finished his career with exactly 300 saves, an impressive feat given his career, and especially notable because 300 saves was a much bigger milestone when he played than what it is today. His greatest career feat was probably introducing and popularizing the split-fingered fastball, his signature pitch.

Like Sutter, each Hall of Fame closer had a unique impression on the game. Wilhelm was a knuckleballer, which says it all. Fingers proudly adorned a handlebar mustache while using a sinker/slider combination to record most of his outs. Eckersley had a sidearm delivery that was nearly underhanded, reminiscent of Dan Quisenberry, who seemingly scraped the top of the pitcher's mound when throwing the ball. Wilhelm's induction was aided by longevity, while Fingers retired as the career saves leader, and he is often credited for becoming the first modern day closer. Fingers also benefited by being in the public eye, with 16 appearances in the World Series, not to mention an MVP and Cy Young award (both from 1981) to his credit. Eckersley, like Fingers, has both an MVP and Cy Young award thanks to his incredible 1992 season.

*As a sidenote, I'd like to add that Eckersley's best season came in 1990, when he posted a 0.61 ERA over 73.3 innings of work. In that time he allowed only 41 hits and four walks. If it weren't for the fact that three players on his own team also had arguably their best career seasons (Bob Welch, Dave Stewart and Rickey Henderson), not to mention the first 50+ home run season in 13 years (Cecil Fielder hit 51 in '90, George Foster hit 50 in '77). I had to bring that up because I almost forgot just how dominant Eck was during his prime, and it's hard to believe the A's got swept in the World Series that year to the Cincinnati Reds.

Sutter may have benefited the most due to timing. With no shoe-in first ballot Hall of Famer eligible this year, Sutter may have been voted in by default. That's not to take anything away from him, but someone had to get in this year, and he was the best of a borderline group of players that includes fellow closers Goose Gossage and Lee Smith, Jim Rice, Andre Dawson and Bert Blyleven. This may have been the last chance for all of those players (which is a completely different argument for another time) as next year Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn are sure to get in on the first ballot, and Mark McGwire is also eligible and would have been a no-brainer to get in if it weren't for the recent steroid controversy.

Going back to the closers, Goose Gossage and Lee Smith remain on the outside looking in. Gossage might have been the most intimidating pitcher of his era given his high-90s heat, while Smith is the all-time saves leader with 478. However, milestones for closers aren't taken nearly as seriously as milestones for any other player. Closers to the baseball Hall of Fame are like punters to the NFL Hall of Fame (just ask Ray Guy). And many would argue that today's closers have it a lot easier than the closers of the 70s and 80s, in that today they are often used for one inning only. Fingers, Sutter and Gossage were often relied on to close out games once the seventh inning arrived, and often racked up more than 100 innings a year. Most closers today toss about 60-80 innings. Take a peak at Lee Smith's innings per season and you'll be able to see how the closer's role changed during the early part of his career.

Should Gossage and Lee be in the Hall of Fame? That's a tough call, as there are several borderline players that most people seem to go one way or the other, including the aforementioned Rice, Dawson, and Blyleven (Blyleven in my mind needs to be in, as he is fifth all-time in strikeouts and retired third on the all-time list). Gossage, like Sutter, had a relatively short career yet finished with more career saves (310). Smith's career was about as long as you can get, and since he still is the saves leader I may be inclined to vote him in for holding that honor alone.

But what about Hall of Fame eligible closers from this point forward? As noted above, 300 saves used to be a milestone, but now there are 19 pitchers with 300 of more saves in their career, and seven pitchers have passed Fingers' 341 since he retired after the 1985 season. Trevor Hoffman has the best chance to pass Smith with an equally impressive, long, productive career. All of those accomplishments really don't seem to mean much, although I'm sure I'm not the only one that would argue that Mariano Rivera may just be the best closer ever.