K-Rod Update

Francisco Rodriguez saved his 56th, one short of tying Bobby Thigpen's record. There must be something about that 26th year--that's how old K-Rod is this year; how old Thigpen was when he saved 57 in 1990, as well as Greg Gagne with 52 saves in 2002.

Also, K-Rod now has 202 career saves. That's 42 more than any other pitcher has accululated by age 26 (Gregg Olsen had 160). A lot of top relievers don't even become closers until around age 26. The trick for K-Rod will be to continue to produce well into his 30's, rather than flaming out like Thigpen and Olsen did--Thigpen had just 53 more career saves after his record year, for a total of 201 (K-Rod just PASSED him there), and was done at age 30. Likewise, Olsen ended up with just 217 saves before retiring at age 34. And, of course, Gagne has struggled to regain form since injuries struck after compiling an amazing 152 saves from age 25-28, having only 187 career saves now at age 32.