300 save club

Mariano Rivera has the most career saves in Major League Baseball history with 652.

In Major League Baseball (MLB), the 300 save club is the group of pitchers who have recorded 300 or more regular-season saves in their careers.^[1][2][3][4] Most commonly a relief pitcher ("reliever" or "closer") earns a save by entering in the ninth inning of a game in which his team is winning by three or fewer runs and finishing the game by pitching one inning without losing the lead.^[5] The statistic was created by Jerome Holtzman in 1959 to "measure the effectiveness of relief pitchers" and was adopted as an official statistic by MLB in 1969.^[6][7] The save has been retroactively measured for past pitchers where applicable. Hoyt Wilhelm retired in 1972 and recorded just 31 saves from 1969 onwards, for example, but holds 227 total career saves.^[8]

Mariano Rivera holds the MLB save record with 652. Only Rivera and Trevor Hoffman have exceeded 500 or 600 saves, and Hoffman was the first to achieve either. Rivera, Hoffman, Lee Smith, Francisco Rodríguez, John Franco, and Billy Wagner are the only pitchers to have recorded 400 or more saves. Rollie Fingers was the first player to record 300 saves, reaching the mark on April 21, 1982. Huston Street is the most recent, achieving his 300th on July 22, 2015. In total, 27 players have recorded 300 or more saves in their career. Only five relievers – Dennis Eckersley, Fingers, Goose Gossage, Bruce Sutter, and Wilhelm – have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame;^[9] all but Wilhelm are also members of the 300 saves club.^[10] Street, Rodríguez, Joe Nathan and Jonathan Papelbon are the only members of the 300 save club who are still active players. Of them, Rodríguez is the active leader in saves with 430.^[11]

Key

Player	Name of the player
SV	Total career saves
Date	Date of the pitcher's 300th save
Team	The pitcher's team for his 300th save
	Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
	Player is active[note 1]

List

Trevor Hoffman was the first player to reach the 500 and 600 save milestones.

• Stats updated as of the 2016 season.

Player	SV	Date	Team	Years active	Ref(s)
Rivera, MarianoMariano Rivera	652	000000002004-05-28-0000May 28, 2004	New York Yankees	1995–2013	[12][13]
Hoffman, TrevorTrevor Hoffman	601	000000002001-08-15-0000August 15, 2001	San Diego Padres	1993–2010	[14]
Smith, LeeLee Smith	478	000000001991-08-25-0000August 25, 1991	St. Louis Cardinals	1980–1997	[15]
Rodríguez, FranciscoFrancisco Rodríguez	430	000000002013-06-22-0000June 22, 2013	Milwaukee Brewers	2002–present	[16][17]
Franco, JohnJohn Franco	424	000000001996-04-29-0000April 29, 1996	New York Mets	1984–2005	[18]
Wagner, BillyBilly Wagner	422	000000002006-07-04-0000July 4, 2006	New York Mets	1995–2010	[19]
Eckersley, DennisDennis Eckersley	390	000000001995-05-24-0000May 24, 1995	Oakland Athletics	1975–1998	[20]
Nathan, JoeJoe Nathan	377	000000002013-04-08-0000April 8, 2013	Texas Rangers	1999–2000, 2002–2009, 2011–present	[21][22]
Papelbon, JonathanJonathan Papelbon	368	000000002014-06-10-0000June 10, 2014	Philadelphia Phillies	2005–present	[23]
Reardon, JeffJeff Reardon	367	000000001991-05-20-0000May 20, 1991	Boston Red Sox	1979–1994	[24][25]
Percival, TroyTroy Percival	358	000000002004-07-28-0000July 28, 2004	Anaheim Angels	1995–2005, 2007–2009	[26][27]
Myers, RandyRandy Myers	347	000000001997-07-01-0000July 1, 1997	Baltimore Orioles	1985–1998	[28][29]
Fingers, RollieRollie Fingers	341	000000001982-08-21-0000August 21, 1982	Milwaukee Brewers	1968–1985	[30]
Wetteland, JohnJohn Wetteland	330	000000002000-05-12-0000May 12, 2000	Texas Rangers	1989–2000	[31]
Cordero, FranciscoFrancisco Cordero	329	000000002011-06-01-0000June 1, 2011	Cincinnati Reds	1999–2012	[2][32]
Hernández, RobertoRoberto Hernández	326	000000002002-05-25-0000May 25, 2002	Kansas City Royals	1991–2007	[33][34]
Street, HustonHuston Street	324	000000002015-07-22-0000July 22, 2015	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	2005–present	[35]
Mesa, JoséJosé Mesa	321	000000002005-04-27-0000April 27, 2005	Pittsburgh Pirates	1987, 1990–2007	[36][37]
Jones, ToddTodd Jones	319	000000002007-09-16-0000September 16, 2007	Detroit Tigers	1993–2008	[38][39]
Aguilera, RickRick Aguilera	318	000000002000-06-02-0000June 2, 2000	Chicago Cubs	1985–2000	[40][41]
Nen, RobbRobb Nen	314	000000002002-08-06-0000August 6, 2002	San Francisco Giants	1993–2002	[3][42]
Henke, TomTom Henke	311	000000001995-08-18-0000August 18, 1995	St. Louis Cardinals	1982–1995	[43]
Gossage, GooseGoose Gossage	310	000000001988-08-06-0000August 6, 1988	Chicago Cubs	1972–1989, 1991–1994	[44]
Montgomery, JeffJeff Montgomery	304	000000001999-08-25-0000August 25, 1999	Kansas City Royals	1987–1999	[45]
Jones, DougDoug Jones	303	000000001999-09-11-0000September 11, 1999	Oakland Athletics	1982–2000	[46]
Isringhausen, JasonJason Isringhausen	300	000000002011-08-15-0000August 15, 2011	New York Mets	1995–2012	[47]
Sutter, BruceBruce Sutter	300	000000001988-09-09-0000September 9, 1988	Atlanta Braves	1976–1986, 1988	[48]

A ticket from the game where Goose Gossage became the second player in MLB history to earn 300 career saves on August 6, 1988.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball annual saves leaders
• List of Major League Baseball career games finished leaders

Notes

References

General

Specific

300 save club
Mariano Rivera Trevor Hoffman Lee Smith Francisco Rodríguez John Franco Billy Wagner Dennis Eckersley Joe Nathan Jonathan Papelbon Jeff Reardon Troy Percival Randy Myers Rollie Fingers John Wetteland Francisco Cordero Roberto Hernández Huston Street José Mesa Todd Jones Rick Aguilera Robb Nen Tom Henke Goose Gossage Jeff Montgomery Doug Jones Jason Isringhausen Bruce Sutter Italics denotes active player
Book:300 save club