> ... yesterday i was looking at some older
> APBA sets that i have (before 1950) and i noticed
> that rare are the pitchers identified as relievers.
> I was born in 1965 and started to follow baseball
> around 1974 and as far as i know, there has always
> been relieve pitchers.
> I know that way back in the past, starters were
> pitching entire games most of the time.
> So my question is: when can we consider that
> specialised relief pitchers appeared in MLB?
> Pitchers that were not there to start a game
> but to pitch in long or short relief.
> I have lots of books i could dig in but the
> best bunch of experts i know are here! I guess
> it is probably an easy question for those who
> know their baseball history.
> Thanks...
>
In 1956, Roy Face, who had appeared in relief
in 60 of his 83 major league games, started
only three games out of 68, followed by one
out of 59 in 1957, and none in 57 in 1958.
As he became exclusively a reliever, he compiled
a 21-21 record in those three seasons, bringing
his career win-loss record to 32-36. His ERA in
those three seasons was 3.52, 3.07, and 2.89,
and Fangraphs credits him with 36 saves in
those three years (with a high of 20).
Then in 1959, he went 18-1, appearing in 57 games
exclusively as a reliever, posting an ERA of 2.70,
but dropping from 20 saves to 10. Wonder how many
of those wins were his own blown saves where he
stayed in and got the win?
He would never start again, and would end his
career 104-95 with 193 saves and a 3.48 ERA.
Even earlier, in 1952 Hoyt Wilhelm began his
Giants' career solely in relief for six seasons,
appearing in 361 games. With the Orioles in
1958-61 he started 49 out of 163 games, and 3 of
55 for the White Sox in 1963, but that was it.
1070 games with only 52 starts. Wilhelm had
a 21-year career with a record of 143-122,
with 227 saves and a 2.52 ERA.
About the same time, Stu Miller came up with the
Cardinals, and after spending the 1952 season
as mostly a starter (11 out of 12 games), he
never again started as many as half his games
in a season, and didn't start at all his last
eight years.
He ended his sixteen year career with 154 saves,
and a 105-103 record to go with a 3.24 ERA.
I knew Face had the modern day win-loss percent
record, and knew he had done it (at least mostly)
in relief, but didn't know when that was or
the other particulars.
Are there examples from earlier than the 50's?
_____
And here are some comments that followed:
Good stuff, Joe, thanks for that. Another
late-1950s, early-1960s name that comes to mind
is Ryne Duren, and then a bit further into the
'60s Dick Radatz and Ron Perranoski. But while
we can't think, off-hand, of any real notable
relief specialist from earlier *than* the '50s,
we certainly can't overlook one from earlier
*in* the '50s -- Jim Konstanty, born and raised
just down the road from us here. It could be
argued that Konstanty's MVP season for the
1950 Phillie Whiz Kids was indeed the one
that defined the role of "closer" that would
develop in a later generation.
http://www.baseball-reference.
http://bioproj.sabr.org/biopro
and
Joe Page and Johnny Murphy.
and
Otis "Doc" Crandall was one of the first
relief pitchers. Like a lot of baseball
ideas, John McGraw was one of the first to
embrace it. Crandall played for the New York
Giants in the dead ball era in the years before
WWI. McGraw used him as a true utility man. He
pitched as a starter and in relief, appearing
in relief in the majority of his pitching games
from 1909 through 1913. He also played the
outfield and did pinch hitting duty. After
Crandall McGraw generally had a pitcher whom
he used mostly in relief.
Dolfo Luque and Firpo Marberry were also
prominent a bit later. Jack Quinn, who had a
long career mostly as a starter, pitched in
relief almost exclusively beginning in 1930
when he was forty six. He continued to pitch
through 1933 leading the league in games finished
in 1931 and 32, making 38 and 42 relief appearances
in those two years. Johnny "Grandma" Murphy was
a relief star for the New York Yankees in the
'30s and early '40s. Except for 1934 when half
of his appearances were in relief, he pitched
almost exclusively in relief.
Jim Konstanty in 1949 for the Philadelphia
Phillies was the first "modern" reliever.
Throughout the '50s and into the '60s managers
used relievers much differently than they do
today. The top reliever on a staff frequently
pitched two or three innings in a game and
some were used as occasional starters. It
wasn't till the '50s that relief specialists
became part of every team.
and
David and Joel, thanks, more good stuff.
We *knew* we blanking on a few guys from
back when. And having had a few more
minutes to cogitate, we'd add Joe Black
and Clem Labine to the 1950s reliever list,
although, again, granted, not really quite
in the 9th-inning shut-down specialist role
that fully emerged in the '70s.
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