Here's one of those quirky and amazing lists that only a sport like baseball can provide.
The all-time leaders in postseason ERA, with a minimum of 30 innings pitched, are Mariano Rivera (0.70), Harry Brecheen (0.83), Jeremy Affeldt (0.86) and Babe Ruth (0.87).
Yes, that's right, the nondescript, left-handed middle reliever Affeldt, who just announced his retirement on Thursday, is sandwiched on an all-time list between two of the game's greatest legends, Rivera and Ruth. Affeldt wasn't as high-profile as another retiree, Tim Hudson, but his work was highly notable.
Affeldt's postseason ledger doesn't come close to comparing to Rivera, and he's never pitched 14 innings in a World Series game like Ruth did, but he still had a pretty good run.
The Elias Sports Bureau notes that his streak of 22 consecutive postseason scoreless appearances trails Rivera's mark by only one.
Within those scoreless appearances, Affeldt was near pristine when it came to escaping trouble caused by others. He stranded nine of 10 baserunners he inherited.
Affeldt faced 111 batters in his postseason career and allowed only one extra-base hit. Opponents slugged .168 against him, the lowest against any pitcher who faced at least 100 batters.
Fittingly, Affeldt's best postseason appearance was his last one, when he pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings for the San Francisco Giants in Game 7 of the World Series against his former team, the Kansas City Royals. It was the longest outing of his postseason career.
