New Favorite Non-Closer

Warning notice: I'm sorry. This post should only interesting to me and, maybe, longtime friends. Proceed with caution...

For some reason, I've always been a fan of flame-throwing relief pitchers who don't get the glory of closing out games. Often times, they are closers-in-waiting, like when Mariano Rivera pitched the 8th innings to set up for John Wetteland. In my lifetime, I've had candid appreciation for underrated relievers, starting with Les Lancaster.

In fact, if my "favorite non-closer reliever" was something of a reigning-championship situation, the lineage would go something like this...

1989: Les Lancaster, Cubs

1990: Norm Charlton, Reds

1991: Randy Myers, Reds

1992: Denny Neagle, Pirates

1993: Xavier Hernandez, Astros

1994: Mel Rojas, Expos

1995: Pedro Borbon, Braves

1996: Mariano Rivera, Yankees

1997: Armando Benitez, Orioles

1998: Terry Adams, Cubs

1999: Amaury Telemaco, Phillies

2000: Scott Williamson, Reds

2001: Juan Cruz, Cubs

2002: Carlos Zambrano, Cubs

2003: Octavio Dotel, Astros

2004: Juan Cruz, Braves

2005: Scot Shields, Angels

2006: Scott Proctor, Yankees

2007: Carlos Marmol, Cubs

2008: Jose Arredondo, Angels

2009: Neftali Feliz, Rangers

2010: Sammy Gervacio, Astros

With Neftali Feliz's implosion yesterday, we were on the search for a new favorite non-closer. While watching the Tim Lincecum game last night, we were treated to the most eccentric performance by a relief pitcher since old favorite, Mike Fetters. After a full day of being cooped inside, watching baseball, Houston Astros reliever, Sammy Gervacio, was a breath of fresh air.

MLB Properties loves to take baseball videos off the interweb, but for as long as it remains, we can try to enjoy this video here.