Day Seven: Jose Mesa

Jose Mesa (or as Baseball Reference is telling me, Joe Table) was the closer for the Mariners in 1999. Most people don't remember this because it's better to forget about our failures and focus on better memories. And those folks who do remember that Mesa saved 33 games for the Mariners in 99, cannot forget that his ERA that year was 4.98 (and his WHIP was 1.8. That just doesn't seem possible for someone getting 33 saves!). How does someone with a 4.98 get 33 saves? How you ask, sitting in your comfortable isolation chamber here in 2020 where "high leverage" pitching is the only thing keeping the Tampa Bay Rays competitive (and they are that). Well there's two things at play here. First, Lou would trot out "his guy" pretty much no matter what. There's an entry coming later in this series of the ultimate "stop fucking doing that, Lou!" guy that has ever existed. But that is for another day. Today we are talking about Jose Mesa and his 33 saves. And regardless of Lou fucking around with dynamite. The biggest reason any pitching numbers belonging to literally anyone except Randy from 95-99 look ok is because the Mariners of the late 90s could rake. They were beyond potent as a lineup: Martinez, Griffey, Buhner, Rodriguez, Sorrento, to name the top 5. What a bunch of Kingdome mashers! And Jose Mesa was the unmitigated recipient of 3 run leads which got scorched.

Jose Mesa was the best closer in baseball in 1995. He was pretty well un-hittable as the fireman for the Cleveland team that dashed the Mariners' World Series hopes in the ALCS (and was one of the best squads of the 90s IMO). He remained elite in both 96 and 97 and then in the 1997 World Series, in the crucial moments of game 7, he blew a three-run lead in the ninth, and tragedy hit Cleveland yet again in extra innings. That was the end of effectiveness for Jose Mesa. So when he showed up as the Mariners 1999 closer (as a solution to the problem of hoser closers) I was quite skeptical. I had watched both the 1995 playoffs and the 1997 playoffs pretty religiously and therefore watched this guy go from someone who was fourth in MVP voting to a goat. Not the 2020 GOAT thing that people talk about, but a Judas goat. A bum who lost the series for Cleveland. Sometimes it sucks to be right. And watching Mesa get throttled that whole season was mega sucky. But really that 99 campaign was so weird and memorable. It was an amazing season for Griffey (who could have guessed that it would be his last on that level), and Safeco opened in July. I watched Mesa give up runs in the Kingdome and in the new digs. It was outstanding because when someone throws as hard as Jose Mesa, and the ball isn't cutting, the homers are immense. Luckily for all parties involved Kaz Sasaski and his fork ball showed up in 2000 to drink on gamedays and shutout opponents. Mesa lingered like a bad dream though. And his performance in the 2000 ALCS was less memorable than Freddy Garcia's to say the very least. Mesa played for quite a few more years after that, but he never achieved any level of terrible or excellent. When you throw 99 they tend to give you a few more tries. Here's to Jose Mesa! An amazing closer that stunk as a Mariner!