FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Jonathan Papelbon knows when it comes to Mariano Rivera, there can be no duplication.

"Him by making the role that it is makes him the Godfather. And in the mafia there can only be one Godfather. And this is the Closing Mafia Association," Papelbon said by phone after making his latest spring training appearance for the Phillies.

So, when Rivera steps down and retires, as the Yankee great announced he would after this season, could Papelbon pick up the mantle?

"Nope," the Philadelphia closer said. "I'm the loan collector."

Papelbon has always expressed the utmost respect for Rivera, crediting the New York closer with defining what a game-ending reliever should be all about. As he said, "I don't feel like I need to be that guy. I think he has made that role what it is now, and it's up to the rest of us to continue that."

But while Papelbon is correct in his assertion that Rivera should be identified as the position's trailblazer, it isn't unthinkable that the seemingly untouchable could be touched.

Nobody has saved more games than Rivera (608), who has also finished more contests than any major leaguer (892). And making the marks even more remarkable is that up until a blown-out ACL sidelined the Yanks' closer last season, there had been virtually no hiccups, leading New York to lean on him just as much as ever heading into a season he will pitch at the age of 43-years-old.

But while Rivera has certainly carved out the path for Papelbon and others to do their thing, is it unthinkable that the former Red Sox' closer could reach the statistical heights of his mentor?

Unthinkable? No.

By the time Rivera had finished 398 games -- the number Papelbon sits at -- he was 33-years-old and had thrown 10,213 pitches. The Phillies closer is 32-years-old and has had a workload of 8,078 pitches. 

At this same jumping off period (which, in the case of Rivera, was Sept. 9, 2003), the Yankees' closer had 277 saves, a 2.52 ERA and .215 batting average against. Papelbon? He has 290 saves and a 2.34 ERA, with opponents hitting .206 against him.

Now, these statistics and reminders only enter Papelbon into the conversation, hardly punctuating any sort of statement. There is much more to the Rivera package than simply the first eight seasons of his career, a fact of which the Phillies' reliever is well aware.

"Records are meant to be broken but I don't think anybody will do what he's done. He's the Godfather of the role. He has made it what it is today," Papelbon said. "Nobody else can come on after him and do what he did.

"Just to be mentioned in the same sentence as him is good enough for me. I definitely want to chase him and try and get as close as I can to him, but I still feel like even if I do get close to him or have a chance as many years as he did I don't think I should be recognized as equal to him."

After those first 398 games he finished off, Rivera went on to not only complete 494 more, but did so in finer fashion than what was previously exhibited. From that point, he saved 331 games while totaling a 1.87 ERA and .204 batting average against. In games he pitched in during this current stretch, the Yankees hold a 472-75 record.

The numbers are nice, but, as Papelbon can attest, the consistency is the separator. 

And it's not as if Rivera has attempted to hide the secrets to his success, as the former Red Sox' reliever discovered when first interacting with the Yankees' closer back during the 2006 All-Star Game.

"He said, 'You have to have no memory.' I was like, 'What does having no memory mean?' He was meaning you have to not remember the good along with the bad, and not remember the bad along with the good," Papelbon said. "You have to close a game out regardless of what happened the night before.

"That's the biggest thing that I always admired about him, that night in and night out he was always able to repeat his delivery. No matter how many nights in a row he had pitched, whether he got the save or didn't get the save, it was almost like the team he was facing that night had no clue how he had done the night before or how he was doing that month. Just constant professionalism. That's what I always admired about him."

Of course, if Papelbon wants to approach the be-all, end-all when it comes to statistics for a closer, he will have to harness the kind of health Rivera has managed, while continuing to play on a team that offers save opportunities. Finding such a combination is no lay-up.

After those initial 398 games finished, Rivera went on to pitch regularly in nine seasons before suffering his knee injury. To duplicate such a run, Papelbon would have to match his current career while adding one additional campaign.

But, as the Phillies' closer has said, that's why Rivera is Rivera: He's the guy everybody else strives to be. It just might be that Papelbon is right: Projections and hopes aside, there will always be only one Mariano.

"It definitely will seem a little bit weird," said Papelbon of not having Rivera around after this season. "It's going to be strange not seeing him out there being part of our closers group. He is, after all, the Godfather."