It's been a quiet few months out of Portland of late. And well, you haven't exactly missed a whole lot. Sure, I could have gushed over our rookies a little bit, but when they've only won 62 games this season there's not much reason to gush over them I suppose (But I do have high hopes for the future). But I felt there was a reason to break our media silence today by pointing on that in Portland's win over Vancouver on August 30, history was made. And some pretty substantial history if I do say so myself. Portland won the game 6-5 in Vancouver but the significance of the night was that Renato Lacerda pitched a scoreless inning to record the save. The save was his 534th of his big league career. The significance of that number is that it moves Lacerda into 3rd place all-time in the Saves category, surpassing Valencia great Skip Glendenning on the leaderboard.
"I guess it just means I've been doing this for a very long time" said the 40-year old Lacerda after the win against the Mounties. "I've been blessed to be on some good teams over my career that have allowed me to pick up a lot of saves in these types of situations. To pass a Hall of Fame great like Skip on the leaderboard is an amazing accomplishment."
When asked if he had enough in the tank to surpass Meyer for the #2 spot all-time, Lacerda laughed and said "not a chance in hell."
Currently sitting at 539 saves, Lacerda is 46 shy of Brendan Meyer for the 2nd spot all-time on the Saves list. Probably lot a realistic goal for a 30 year old who rates as a 30 pitcher.
With the end of a great career on the horizon, the next stage of discussion for Lacerda will obviously be his hall of fame worthiness. It does appear, from at least this reporter's perspective, that Lacerda is on the outside looking in on a bid into the BBA Hall of Fame. While he's one of the elite pitchers in terms of saves, it appears to get into the Hall of Fame as a reliever is tough. Just ask the likes of Justin Marco or Lorenzo De' Medici. The 4 time all star with a pair of Landis Titles to his credit, has never been crowned the league's top reliever during his career despite stellar save totals. My guess is Lacerda will get some support from those voters that love accumulating totals and seeing guys high up on leaderboards, but it will likely not be enough to get him into the hall.
Unless of course you compare him to Gunga Oogolagunga. At which point Lacerda is a unanimous selection.
