By the time he set the single-season saves record, Bobby Thigpen was already an outstanding pitcher (even if the teams he pitched for were not). After notching back-to-back 34-save seasons for a pair of White Sox teams that went 140-182, Thigpen hit his peak in 1990, ultimately notching a 1.83 ERA and 1.038 WHIP to complement the previously unheard of 57 saves.

One of the common criticisms of the save statistic is that they’re an inflated measurement; if you only pitch one inning at the tail end of games, of course you’re going to look dominant. The thing was, for all the justified complaints the specialty bullpen has drawn, Thigpen still only allowed five home runs in 88 innings. He still only surrended 18 earned runs all season. For every batter he walked, he struck out two. His ERA was 47% of the league average. He allowed one run in the entire month of September.

Thigpen did all this on a team whose best hitters were its aging catcher and rookie backup first baseman. They won 94 games scoring only 49 more runs than their opponents, and no one broke out in a rain dance on the pitcher’s mound after any of those 94 victories.

Good as he started out, #37 never really seemed like the record-holding type anyway – especially looking at the people atop the record books these days. He was tall and kind of lanky, more a Bill Walton than a Bobby Jenks, and was never really the same after his one season as the Best There Ever Was. His numbers declined significantly, his stats swelling as his innings decreased through stints in Philadelphia and Seattle until Bobby T. finally called it a day after just two appearances with the 1994 Mariners.

After tomorrow night – or this weekend or whenever Francisco Rodriguez does his 58th double-axel postgame cartwheel of the season – Thigpen may very well become just another footnote, but at least we can say he had a good run at the top. You know, that one guy.

Our guy.