Parnell Admits He Has No Shot At Catching Mariano

The other day Yankees closer Mariano Rivera notched his 602nd career save making him the All Time saves leader in major league baseball.  You've probably heard about this? While many describe Rivera's achievement as inspirational, at least one Mets player felt the opposite effect. Once Mo pushed over the 600 saves mark it became clear to Mets "closer" Bobby Parnell that he would never attain those heights.

Even after an unexpected save in St. Louis, Parnell, wearing a Mariano "No Shot" t-shirt, told reporters:

"Hey, I'm a professional athlete, a competitive guy.  If it's the 9th inning and we've got the lead I want the ball - I want the save. I admit it's been a bit bumpy thus far (6 saves in 17 tries or about 1 in 3) but I'm sure that if I apply myself I can start saving about half my save opportunities.  Unfortunately, I've been doing the math and at that rate, it's starting to stack up against me.

Let's say I get 50 chances per season and I turn them into 25 saves.  For me to finish my career with 600 saves it would take about 24 years.  And I'm 27 right now which would make me 51 when I got my 600th save.

I'd like to get there but I don't see it happening.  Right now I rely on my fastball which sometimes hits 100 mph.  If I lose one mile per hour off of it each year - that seems like a reasonable estimate - then my 'heater' would be topping out at 76 in 2035.  Even R.A.(Dickey) gets up to 84.

So while I'd love to give Mariano a run I can't see myself getting there.  Mo - your record is safe from me."

All articles featured on The Apple are fictitious. No Mets were harmed in the writing of this story. Story by Larry Smith.  You can follow Larry Smith on twitter @dr4sight  

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