Let's check out inherited runner data for closers.

If you go to Mariano Rivera's detailed pitching page and head down about halfway, you can see his Inherited Runners (IR) and Inherited Runners Scoring (IS) stats under the "Reliever Pitching" heading.

In his career, Rivera has inherited 308 runners and allowed 90 (29%) to score. That's 308 runners in 881 games as a reliever (0.349 per game).

At first, I expected Trevor Hoffman to have many fewer inherited runners since he's been used exclusively in the 9th more than Rivera. But he's actually inherited about the same number--337 runners in 953 reliever games, or 0.353 per game. Hoffman allowed 68 (20%) to score.

Closers these days, though, inherit many fewer runners than they used to. Managers used to be much more willing to bring closers in during the 7th or 8th inning when the game was at a critical point. Among pitcher to register 30+ saves in a season, here are the highest totals for inherited runners:

  Cnt Player             **IR** SV Year Age Tm  Lg  G   GS CG SHO GF  W  L  W-L%   IP   H   R   ER  BB  SO   ERA  ERA+ HR  BF   AB  2B 3B IBB HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS Pk BK WP   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  OPS+  Pit  Str
+----+-----------------+-------+--+----+---+---+--+---+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----+
    1 Dan Quisenberry      89   33 1980  27 KCR AL  75   0  0   0 68 12  7  .632 128.1 129  47  44  27  37   3.09  131  5  528  487 21  3  15   1   8   5  18   6  3  0  0  1  .265  .302  .351  .653   78           
    2 Mike Marshall        89   31 1973  30 MON NL  92   0  0   0 73 14 11  .560 179   163  62  53  75 124   2.66  143 10  746  648 18  4  12   4  15   5  15   8  2  2  0  8  .252  .331  .338  .669   87           
    3 Ron Perranoski       88   31 1969  33 MIN AL  75   0  0   0 52  9 10  .474 119.2  85  32  28  52  62   2.11  176  4  484  415  6  3  16   1  11   5  16   5  2  1  0  0  .205  .292  .263  .555   57           
    4 John Hiller          84   38 1973  30 DET AL  65   0  0   0 60 10  5  .667 125.1  89  21  20  39 124   1.44  285  7  498  449 13  1   7   0   6   4   5   3  2  0  0  1  .198  .260  .278  .538   48           
    5 Kent Tekulve         76   31 1979  32 PIT NL  94   0  0   0 67 10  8  .556 134.1 109  46  41  49  75   2.75  143  5  550  490 18  2  20   2   7   2  18  14  2  1  0  4  .222  .295  .298  .593   64           
    6 Mark Davis           75   44 1989  28 SDP NL  70   0  0   0 65  4  3  .571  92.2  66  21  19  31  92   1.85  192  6  370  330  9  2   1   2   3   4  12   1  1  0  0  8  .200  .270  .294  .564   65           
    7 Ron Davis            73   30 1983  27 MIN AL  66   0  0   0 61  5  8  .385  89    89  34  33  33  84   3.34  128  6  382  334 19  1   3   3   6   6   6  16  5  0  1  4  .266  .332  .383  .715   92           
    8 Dan Quisenberry      71   37 1985  32 KCR AL  84   0  0   0 76  8  9  .471 129   142  41  34  16  54   2.37  175  8  532  508 19  3   5   1   4   3  15   8  2  0  0  0  .280  .301  .376  .677   84           
    9 Bill Campbell        71   31 1977  28 BOS AL  69   0  0   0 60 13  9  .591 140   112  48  46  60 114   2.96  154 13  583  501 17  4  10   5  13   4  12   4  6  0  1  3  .224  .311  .351  .662   70           
   10 Ken Sanders          71   31 1971  29 MIL AL  83   0  0   0 77  7 12  .368 136.1 111  35  29  34  80   1.91  181  9  539  489 19  1  10   4  10   1  14   6  7  2  0  0  .227  .282  .325  .607   78           
   11 Bill Caudill         70   36 1984  27 OAK AL  68   0  0   0 62  9  7  .563  96.1  77  30  29  31  89   2.71  137  9  394  353 14  3   4   0   5   5   2   8  5  0  0  1  .218  .278  .351  .629   78           
   12 Kent Tekulve         69   31 1978  31 PIT NL  91   0  0   0 65  8  7  .533 135   115  44  35  55  77   2.33  160  5  573  505 17  2  18   2   7   4  14  12  3  0  0  5  .228  .304  .299  .603   71           
   13 Todd Worrell         66   33 1987  27 STL NL  75   0  0   0 54  8  6  .571  94.2  86  29  28  34  92   2.66  157  8  395  355 14  3  11   0   4   2   7  11  1  0  0  1  .242  .307  .366  .673   82           
   14 Jeff Russell         65   38 1989  27 TEX AL  71   0  0   0 66  6  4  .600  72.2  45  21  16  24  77   1.98  200  4  278  247 10  1   5   3   1   3  13   3  2  0  0  6  .182  .260  .279  .539   51           
   15 Todd Worrell         65   36 1986  26 STL NL  74   0  0   0 60  9 10  .474 103.2  86  29  24  41  73   2.08  177  9  430  375 17  1  16   1   7   6   6   9  5  0  0  1  .229  .303  .352  .655   85           
   16 Jack Aker            65   32 1966  25 KCA AL  66   0  0   0 57  8  4  .667 113    81  27  25  28  68   1.99  171  7  442  405 12  3  10   3   5   3  11   3  3  0  0  0  .200  .255  .296  .551   63           
   17 Mitch Williams       64   36 1989  24 CHC NL  76   0  0   0 61  4  4  .500  81.2  71  27  25  52  67   2.76  137  6  365  298 11  1   4   8   2   5   3   4  2  7  4  6  .238  .361  .342  .703  102           
   18 Ed Farmer            63   30 1980  30 CHW AL  64   0  0   0 55  7  9  .438  99.2  92  37  37  56  54   3.34  121  6  438  377 14  2  11   1   3   1  15  10  0  0  0  7  .244  .343  .340  .683   88           
   19 Bob Stanley          62   33 1983  28 BOS AL  64   0  0   0 53  8 10  .444 145.1 145  56  46  38  65   2.85  153  7  602  545 23  0  12   3  11   4  21   7  1  1  0  4  .266  .315  .347  .662   76           
   20 Mike Marshall        61   32 1979  36 MIN AL  90   1  0   0 84 10 15  .400 142.2 132  47  42  48  81   2.65  166  8  586  520 21  6   2   4  10   4  21   7  6  4  1  8  .254  .319  .363  .682   80           
   21 Ted Abernathy        59   31 1965  32 CHC NL  84   0  0   0 62  4  6  .400 136.1 113  49  39  56 104   2.57  143  7  572  498 14  0  13   5   8   5  14   9  6  0  0  6  .227  .309  .297  .606   73           
   22 Tom Henke            58   34 1987  29 TOR AL  72   0  0   0 62  0  6  .000  94    62  27  26  25 128   2.49  181 10  363  330 13  2   3   0   3   5   2   9  2  1  0  5  .188  .242  .330  .572   48           
   23 Dave Giusti          56   30 1971  31 PIT NL  58   0  0   0 49  5  6  .455  86    79  31  28  31  55   2.93  118  5  365  328  9  1   8   1   1   4   7   1  2  0  0  3  .241  .305  .320  .625   82           
   24 Bruce Sutter         55   37 1979  26 CHC NL  62   0  0   0 56  6  6  .500 101.1  67  29  25  32 110   2.22  187  3  403  361  8  2   5   0   6   4   5   8  2  0  0  9  .186  .249  .244  .493   34           
   25 Bob James            54   32 1985  26 CHW AL  69   0  0   0 60  8  7  .533 110    90  31  26  23  88   2.13  203  5  436  399 16  0   4   2   7   5   9   9  2  1  2  3  .226  .268  .303  .571   53         

Note there isn't a single season here from the modern offensive explosion (1993-present) although a few guys sneak on there from 1989 (Mark Davis, Jeff Russell, and Mitch Williams.) If you check out the full list you'll see that the first post-1993 season is from Danny Graves in 2000.

Doing the same search but limiting it to 1993-2009, here are the leaders:

  Cnt Player             **IR** SV Year Age Tm  Lg  G   GS CG SHO GF  W  L  W-L%   IP   H   R   ER  BB  SO   ERA  ERA+ HR  BF   AB  2B 3B IBB HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB CS Pk BK WP   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  OPS+  Pit  Str
+----+-----------------+-------+--+----+---+---+--+---+---+--+---+--+--+--+-----+-----+---+---+---+---+---+------+----+--+----+----+--+--+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+--+--+--+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+----+----+
    1 Danny Graves         47   30 2000  26 CIN NL  66   0  0   0 57 10  5  .667  91.1  81  31  26  42  53   2.56  185  8  388  333 15  0   7   3   6   4  10   5  1  0  1  3  .243  .330  .360  .690   77 1418  830 
    2 Roberto Hernandez    46   31 1997  32 TOT ML  74   0  0   0 50 10  3  .769  80.2  67  24  22  38  82   2.45  174  7  340  298  4  1   5   1   2   1   7  10  3  1  0  3  .225  .314  .315  .629   70           
    3 Trevor Hoffman       44   37 1997  29 SDP NL  70   0  0   0 59  6  4  .600  81.1  59  25  24  24 111   2.66  147  9  322  295  9  3   4   0   2   1   2   4  5  1  0  7  .200  .259  .342  .601   66           
    4 J.J. Putz            40   36 2006  29 SEA AL  72   0  0   0 57  4  1  .800  78.1  59  20  20  13 104   2.30  193  4  303  285  8  1   1   2   1   2   5   7  0  0  0  1  .207  .245  .284  .529   39 1215  825 
    5 Danny Graves         40   32 2002  28 CIN NL  68   4  0   0 54  7  3  .700  98.2  99  37  35  25  58   3.19  135  7  412  375 13  2   9   3   3   6   8   1  3  1  0  5  .264  .311  .365  .676   79 1378  910 
    6 Billy Taylor         39   33 1998  36 OAK AL  70   0  0   0 58  4  9  .308  73    71  37  29  22  58   3.58  126  7  311  278 12  2   4   3   3   5   7   7  0  0  1  0  .255  .312  .388  .700   84           
    7 Roberto Hernandez    39   38 1993  28 CHW AL  70   0  0   0 67  3  4  .429  78.2  66  21  20  20  71   2.29  184  6  314  290  6  2   1   0   2   2   3   2  4  0  0  2  .228  .276  .324  .600   62           
    8 Tom Gordon           38   46 1998  30 BOS AL  73   0  0   0 69  7  4  .636  79.1  55  24  24  25  78   2.72  173  2  317  288  8  1   1   0   2   2   4   7  0  0  0  9  .191  .254  .247  .501   30           
    9 Danny Graves         37   32 2001  27 CIN NL  66   0  0   0 54  6  5  .545  80.1  83  41  37  18  49   4.15  110  7  337  310 19  2   6   4   3   2  10   4  1  0  1  2  .268  .314  .410  .724   87 1163  779 
   10 Ugueth Urbina        37   41 1999  25 MON NL  71   0  0   0 62  6  6  .500  75.2  59  35  31  36 100   3.69  121  6  323  284  9  0   6   0   1   2   3  20  1  0  0  6  .208  .295  .303  .598   58           
   11 Randy Myers          37   38 1995  32 CHC NL  57   0  0   0 47  1  2  .333  55.2  49  25  24  28  59   3.88  106  7  240  207 10  1   1   0   2   3   2   1  2  1  0  0  .237  .324  .396  .720   96           
   12 Mark Wohlers         36   39 1996  26 ATL NL  77   0  0   0 64  2  4  .333  77.1  71  30  26  21 100   3.03  145  8  323  296  8  2   3   2   2   2   4  12  1  0  0 10  .240  .293  .361  .654   72           
   13 Tom Henke            36   40 1993  35 TEX AL  66   0  0   0 60  5  5  .500  74.1  55  25  24  27  79   2.91  143  7  302  268  6  0   3   1   3   3   5   3  2  0  0  3  .205  .278  .306  .584   59           
   14 Mariano Rivera       35   40 2003  33 NYY AL  64   0  0   0 57  5  2  .714  70.2  61  15  13  10  63   1.66  265  3  277  260  6  1   1   4   1   2   8   3  2  1  0  0  .235  .272  .300  .572   53  998  689 
   15 Todd Jones           35   31 1997  29 DET AL  68   0  0   0 51  5  4  .556  70    60  29  24  35  70   3.09  148  3  301  260  8  0   2   1   1   4   5   6  1  0  0  7  .231  .320  .296  .616   64           
   16 Trevor Hoffman       35   42 1996  28 SDP NL  70   0  0   0 62  9  5  .643  88    50  23  22  31 111   2.25  178  6  348  311 10  1   5   2   2   2   2   4  2  1  0  2  .161  .240  .257  .497   38           
   17 Rod Beck             35   48 1993  24 SFG NL  76   0  0   0 71  3  1  .750  79.1  57  20  19  13  86   2.16  180 11  309  284  5  0   4   3   6   3   3   1  0  0  0  4  .201  .241  .335  .576   58           
   18 Byung-Hyun Kim       34   36 2002  23 ARI NL  72   0  0   0 66  8  3  .727  84    64  20  19  26  92   2.04  224  5  343  308  6  0   2   6   1   2   7   5  1  0  0  2  .208  .281  .276  .557   45 1348  884 
   19 Trevor Hoffman       34   43 2001  33 SDP NL  62   0  0   0 55  3  4  .429  60.1  48  25  23  21  63   3.43  117 10  248  222  6  0   2   1   2   2   5   2  0  0  0  3  .216  .285  .378  .663   81  917  604 
   20 Jeff Shaw            34   48 1998  31 TOT NL  73   0  0   0 69  3  8  .273  85    75  22  20  19  55   2.12  198  8  339  312  8  0   5   1   5   2  10   7  0  1  0  0  .240  .284  .343  .627   69           
   21 Rod Beck             34   33 1995  26 SFG NL  60   0  0   0 52  5  6  .455  58.2  60  31  29  21  42   4.45   91  7  255  225  5  1   3   2   4   3   2   3  1  0  0  2  .267  .331  .391  .722   98           
   22 Rod Beck             33   35 1996  27 SFG NL  63   0  0   0 58  0  9  .000  62    56  23  23  10  48   3.34  121  9  248  235 12  1   2   1   0   2   5   5  1  0  0  1  .238  .270  .413  .683   87           
   23 Roberto Hernandez    33   32 1995  30 CHW AL  60   0  0   0 57  3  7  .300  59.2  63  30  26  28  84   3.92  114  9  272  237  9  1   4   3   4   0   3   4  2  0  0  1  .266  .351  .426  .777  104           
   24 John Wetteland       33   43 1993  26 MON NL  70   0  0   0 58  9  3  .750  85.1  58  17  13  28 113   1.37  307  3  344  308 10  4   3   2   5   1   0  13  2  0  0  7  .188  .260  .276  .536   44           
   25 J.J. Putz            32   40 2007  30 SEA AL  68   0  0   0 65  6  1  .857  71.2  37  11  11  13  82   1.38  314  6  260  242  6  0   0   2   2   1   7   3  0  0  0  3  .153  .202  .252  .454   21 1033  674 

Trevor Hoffman makes a few appearances, but all from the first half of his career (1996, 1997, 2001) after which he has rarely been used earlier than the 9th inning.

Here are the active leaders in inherited runners.

  Cnt Player             **IR**   SV From  To   Ages   G   GS  CG SHO  GF  W   L   W-L%   IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO    ERA  ERA+  HR   BF  IBB HBP  BK  WP Teams         BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  OPS+  SH  SF  2B  3B GDP  SB   CS  Pk
+----+-----------------+--------+---+----+----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+------+----+----+----+----+----+------+----+---+-----+---+---+---+---+-----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+----+---+---+
    1 Alan Embree          582    25 1995 2009 25-39  873   0   0   0 217  38  43  .469  752.2  724  415  381  284  678   4.56   95  92  3227  35  19   3  23 CLE-ATL-TOT-SFG-BOS-TOT-SDP-OAK-COL  .254  .321  .412  .733  100  31  39 141  18  56   89  23  10 
    2 Julian Tavarez       465    23 1993 2009 20-36  822 108   2   0 183  88  80  .524 1400.2 1529  799  690  558  839   4.43  101 113  6195  72  96  11  43 CLE-SFG-COL-CHC-FLA-PIT-STL-BOS-TOT-WSN  .282  .356  .415  .771  106  67  48 334  26 192   71  31   4 
    3 Eddie Guardado       459   187 1993 2009 22-38  888  25   0   0 397  46  60  .434  928    881  468  446  341  789   4.33  107 134  3943  38  15   2  24 MIN-SEA-TOT-CIN-TEX  .251  .317  .432  .749   98  44  38 198  17  48   49  20   8 
    4 Jamie Walker         439    12 1997 2009 25-37  545   2   0   0 127  19  21  .475  442    463  226  203  110  318   4.13  108  73  1903  21  18   2  15 KCR-DET-BAL  .265  .313  .446  .759  105  13  17  78   9  21   29   9   4 
    5 Ron Villone          433     7 1995 2009 25-39  683  93   2   0 162  59  64  .480 1142   1082  649  598  622  904   4.71   96 131  5069  37  66   2  47 TOT-MIL-CLE-CIN-TOT-PIT-HOU-SEA-TOT-NYY-STL-WSN  .252  .353  .405  .758  101  52  42 215  23  99   38  32  29 
    6 Arthur Rhodes        425    32 1993 2009 23-39  724  38   3   2 139  72  53  .576  942.2  805  445  427  414  954   4.08  111 103  3973  42  13   2  36 BAL-SEA-OAK-CLE-PHI-TOT-CIN  .231  .312  .370  .682   84  29  26 147  16  71   58  23  10 
    7 Scott Eyre           424     4 1997 2009 25-37  600  32   0   0 105  27  30  .474  633.1  642  336  304  325  525   4.32  104  82  2815  27  15   0  39 CHW-TOR-TOT-SFG-CHC-TOT-PHI  .265  .351  .427  .778  108  18  30 119  15  53   45  29  10 
    8 Ricardo Rincon       422    21 1997 2008 27-38  565   0   0   0 128  21  24  .467  443.2  384  200  177  201  400   3.59  125  41  1895  32  11   4  14 PIT-CLE-TOT-OAK-STL-NYM  .233  .318  .362  .680   79  23  15  81   4  35   17  13   3 
    9 Chad Bradford        413    11 1998 2009 23-34  543   0   0   0 114  35  28  .556  506.2  508  210  183  135  308   3.25  138  27  2133  38  29   3   4 CHW-OAK-BOS-NYM-BAL-TOT-TBR  .263  .318  .344  .662   76  21  13  69   4  64   28  13   2 
   10 Trever Miller        412    10 1996 2009 23-36  551   5   0   0 119  16  14  .533  442.2  451  234  214  205  376   4.35  102  48  1982  26  37   0  16 DET-HOU-TOT-TOR-TBD-TBR-STL  .264  .353  .413  .766  111  18  14  91  10  30   17  15   4 
   11 Dave Weathers        407    75 1993 2009 23-39  909  69   0   0 293  68  83  .450 1322   1377  677  619  568  939   4.21  103 122  5816  73  53   6  41 FLA-TOT-MIL-NYM-CIN  .272  .349  .407  .756  104  90  38 239  40 137   93  38   4 
   12 Ray King             407     2 1999 2008 25-34  593   0   0   0  97  20  23  .465  411    376  178  158  181  278   3.46  125  34  1747  17  17   1  16 CHC-MIL-ATL-STL-COL-TOT-WSN  .248  .332  .377  .709   88  17  14  70  12  56   23   4   2 
   13 Brian Shouse         383     6 1993 2009 24-40  441   0   0   0  97  13  10  .565  337    333  154  137  114  225   3.66  128  28  1448  30  19   1   7 PIT-BOS-KCR-TEX-TOT-MIL-TBR  .259  .326  .390  .716   93  18  11  77   4  35   14   8   3 
   14 Dennys Reyes         374     3 1997 2009 20-32  573  40   0   0 103  32  33  .492  666.2  671  359  317  365  602   4.28  104  59  2982  25  18   8  63 LAD-TOT-CIN-KCR-SDP-MIN-STL  .265  .358  .398  .756  105  40  24 131  15  63   69  27  24 
   15 Russ Springer        351     8 1993 2009 24-40  683  27   1   0 154  35  42  .455  809.1  774  436  408  333  737   4.54   97 117  3510  32  33   0  39 CAL-TOT-PHI-HOU-ATL-ARI-STL-OAK  .250  .327  .420  .747  105  23  25 147  14  38   82  16   1 
   16 J.C. Romero          342     4 1999 2009 23-33  558  22   0   0 102  32  28  .533  581.2  541  290  267  327  468   4.13  112  50  2569  38  32   5  34 MIN-LAA-TOT-PHI  .249  .354  .378  .732   94  26  12 118   6  65   35  16   9 
   17 Trevor Hoffman       337   572 1993 2009 25-41  953   0   0   0 794  57  67  .460 1011.1  779  341  310  279 1074   2.76  146  90  4063  54   8   0  47 TOT-SDP-MIL  .210  .264  .337  .601   68  28  29 151  27  55   47  13   2 
   18 Justin Speier        337    17 1998 2009 24-35  599   0   0   0 189  34  32  .515  664    592  314  298  228  578   4.04  116 104  2826  35  43   5  38 TOT-ATL-CLE-TOT-COL-TOR-LAA  .237  .308  .417  .725   93  24  28 124   8  28   60  16   2 
   19 Damaso Marte         334    36 1999 2009 24-34  526   0   0   0 131  22  25  .468  478    389  196  182  215  514   3.43  132  46  2010  29  25   4  13 SEA-PIT-CHW-TOT-NYY  .224  .316  .352  .668   79  18  17  73   5  38   35  10   7 
   20 Aaron Fultz          329     3 2000 2007 26-33  463   1   0   0 111  25  15  .625  479.2  467  243  227  187  394   4.26  105  50  2057  27  18   3  12 SFG-TEX-MIN-PHI-CLE  .259  .331  .414  .745   94  24  27 104  12  40   13   9   1 
   21 Armando Benitez      323   289 1994 2008 21-35  762   0   0   0 527  40  47  .460  779    545  296  271  403  946   3.13  139  95  3253  32  16   5  18 BAL-NYM-TOT-FLA-SFG-TOT-TOR  .195  .299  .338  .637   69  24  22  93  10  47  107  11   2 
   22 B.J. Ryan            321   117 1999 2009 23-33  559   0   0   0 249  21  27  .438  536    423  213  198  262  625   3.32  134  41  2269  27  17   2  21 TOT-BAL-TOR  .216  .311  .316  .627   74  14  13  58   8  42   48  14   4 
   23 Matt Herges          317    34 1999 2009 29-39  557   4   0   0 192  42  35  .545  680.2  723  331  297  254  464   3.93  110  64  2978  44  32   2  16 LAD-MON-TOT-SFG-FLA-COL-CLE  .275  .343  .418  .761  110  39  27 144  19  71   25  23   2 
   24 Doug Brocail         310     9 1993 2009 26-42  610  39   0   0 169  52  48  .520  854    852  420  375  300  622   3.95  111  81  3675  34  35   7  33 SDP-HOU-DET-TEX-SDP  .261  .326  .396  .722   93  38  33 154  23  70   53  23   2 
   25 Mariano Rivera       308   500 1995 2009 25-39  881  10   0   0 740  69  51  .575 1054.1  828  292  270  247  973   2.30  197  58  4218  31  37   3  11 NYY          .213  .265  .294  .559   50  24  22 113  13  71   53  19   4 

It's pretty unusual for closers to inherit runners these days. Unless Rivera starts getting used differently, I think he'll pass Hoffman in inherited runners pretty soon. I'm not sure how far back the Inherited Runners stat goes, but it's not that far. I don't think we can find data here for older players like Gossage or Fingers.

Hey, who the heck is #13 Brian Shouse? It says he's been active since 1993 and I couldn't believe I hadn't heard of him. Turns out he was out of the big leagues for 4 years TWICE early in his career. Whoa.

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