"Welcome to the Hall's of Relief", VI

The 1970s

History is hard to know, because of all the hired bullshit, but even without being sure of "history" it seems entirely reasonable to think that every now and then the energy of a whole generation comes to a head in a long fine flash, for reasons that nobody really understands at the time-and which never explain, in retrospect, what actually happened...

We had the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave.

So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill... and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark-that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.

- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

In the 1960s the baseball cognoscenti started to experiment more with relief pitching. After the 1950s finally established the bullpen as a key element on the pitching staff, they started to push the envelope. Barriers like 30 saves and 90 relief appearances in a year were crossed. Career relievers like Hoyt Wilhelm, Roy Face, and Lindy McDaniel relieved in more games than anyone who came before them.

The role of the reliever was still being defined, especially that of the closer. The closer came in when his team was ahead, behind, or tied. Since scoring was so low, games were close and relievers were used often. It was not unusual for the closer to make 60 appearances, pitch 120 innings, save 25 games, and win a dozen, numbers quite unlike those of today's closers.

The evolution started in the Fifties and hit a statistical apogee in the Seventies, and the trend started to roll back a bit (though not as dramatically as in the Thompson quote). The demands that managers were placing on the closer role became too arduous. The role started to be defined as the "stopper", the man who holds a lead, though this would take nearly a decade to become established.

The evolution of the "modern" relief pitcher was delayed by, of all things, the development of the five-man rotation in the early 1970s. According to Bill James, the 1972 Dodgers were one of the first teams to fully embrace the five-man rotation. Apparently, though the trend had been developing since the early Sixties.

If you look at complete game percentages over time, the number of complete games was failing, either slowly or rapidly, from the dawn of major-league baseball until the mid-'60s. Then suddenly in 1967 they started to go back up and remained about 5% higher than the 1966 percentage for about ten years. Meanwhile the 40-game starter, something that seemed a distant memory in 1960, enjoyed a comeback starting in 1962, with a high of 12 pitchers starting 40 games (and one 45) in 1973 (a note on the DH later). The 300- and 350-inning starting pitcher also returned in 1962 and would remain with us until 1980.

Also, if you look at the number of 20- and 25-game starters per team, starting in 1961-'62 there is an increase in their numbers that although it wavers on a yearly basis, continues until today. As a matter of fact, if you look at the number of starting pitchers, however you define that, per team in the mid-'60s and compare it with today, you would see very little change. See tables below (forgive me, I love tables):

Number of pitchers-in total and per team (PT)-who reached certain games started plateaus (1, 10, 15, etc.):

Year   1    PT  10   PT  15   PT  20   PT 25   PT 30   PT 35   PT 40   PT 45   PT
1871  14  1.56   9 1.00   9 1.00   8 0.89  7 0.78  3 0.33  0 0.00  0 0.00  0 0.00
1872  22  2.00  10 0.91   7 0.64   6 0.55  5 0.45  5 0.45  5 0.45  4 0.36  4 0.36
1873  24  2.67   9 1.00   8 0.89   7 0.78  7 0.78  7 0.78  6 0.67  6 0.67  5 0.56
1874  14  1.75  10 1.25  10 1.25   9 1.13  8 1.00  7 0.88  7 0.88  6 0.75  6 0.75
1875  38  2.92  21 1.62  15 1.15  12 0.92  9 0.69  9 0.69  7 0.54  6 0.46  5 0.38
1876  23  2.88  13 1.63  13 1.63  13 1.63  8 1.00  7 0.88  5 0.63  5 0.63  5 0.63
1877  18  3.00  10 1.67   8 1.33   6 1.00  5 0.83  5 0.83  5 0.83  4 0.67  3 0.50
1878  19  3.17  10 1.67   7 1.17   6 1.00  6 1.00  6 1.00  6 1.00  4 0.67  3 0.50
1879  25  3.13  15 1.88  13 1.63  11 1.38 10 1.25  8 1.00  8 1.00  8 1.00  8 1.00
1880  26  3.25  15 1.88  13 1.63  12 1.50  9 1.13  8 1.00  8 1.00  8 1.00  8 1.00
1881  29  3.63  17 2.13  15 1.88  13 1.63 11 1.38 11 1.38 11 1.38  8 1.00  6 0.75
1882  64  4.57  33 2.36  24 1.71  23 1.64 21 1.50 19 1.36 16 1.14 12 0.86 10 0.71
1883  71  4.44  42 2.63  37 2.31  27 1.69 24 1.50 21 1.31 21 1.31 21 1.31 15 0.94
1884 205  6.21  87 2.64  69 2.09  58 1.76 45 1.36 41 1.24 35 1.06 28 0.85 21 0.64
1885 101  6.31  53 3.31  38 2.38  33 2.06 27 1.69 25 1.56 21 1.31 17 1.06 16 1.00
1886 112  7.00  52 3.25  45 2.81  40 2.50 34 2.13 31 1.94 29 1.81 28 1.75 17 1.06
1887 109  6.81  57 3.56  48 3.00  44 2.75 37 2.31 34 2.13 31 1.94 21 1.31 15 0.94
1888 106  6.63  64 4.00  53 3.31  48 3.00 37 2.31 33 2.06 29 1.81 22 1.38 15 0.94
1889 111  6.94  62 3.88  56 3.50  50 3.13 41 2.56 35 2.19 27 1.69 19 1.19 13 0.81
1890 186  7.44 109 4.36  79 3.16  67 2.68 56 2.24 46 1.84 35 1.40 26 1.04 17 0.68
1891 131  7.71  67 3.94  51 3.00  47 2.76 38 2.24 35 2.06 23 1.35 21 1.24 14 0.82
1892 100  8.33  56 4.67  46 3.83  39 3.25 31 2.58 26 2.17 23 1.92 19 1.58 14 1.17
1893  98  8.17  51 4.25  44 3.67  33 2.75 28 2.33 24 2.00 16 1.33 10 0.83  4 0.33
1894 108  9.00  52 4.33  39 3.25  35 2.92 28 2.33 23 1.92 13 1.08  9 0.75  5 0.42
1895 104  8.67  53 4.42  44 3.67  36 3.00 33 2.75 21 1.75 12 1.00  8 0.67  3 0.25
1896  98  8.17  54 4.50  44 3.67  37 3.08 27 2.25 22 1.83 17 1.42 11 0.92  3 0.25
1897  97  8.08  54 4.50  47 3.92  36 3.00 31 2.58 25 2.08 16 1.33  5 0.42  0 0.00
1898 111  9.25  56 4.67  49 4.08  46 3.83 40 3.33 31 2.58 21 1.75  8 0.67  1 0.08
1899 116  9.67  60 5.00  50 4.17  41 3.42 35 2.92 29 2.42 17 1.42  4 0.33  0 0.00
1900  61  7.63  39 4.88  33 4.13  32 4.00 26 3.25 15 1.88 10 1.25  1 0.13  0 0.00
1901 137  8.56  75 4.69  66 4.13  57 3.56 49 3.06 34 2.13 15 0.94  4 0.25  0 0.00
1902 165 10.31  81 5.06  67 4.19  52 3.25 42 2.63 30 1.88  9 0.56  4 0.25  1 0.06
1903 141  8.81  78 4.88  65 4.06  54 3.38 45 2.81 32 2.00 12 0.75  3 0.19  1 0.06
1904 129  8.06  86 5.38  75 4.69  61 3.81 45 2.81 40 2.50 24 1.50 10 0.63  4 0.25
1905 134  8.38  83 5.19  78 4.88  67 4.19 53 3.31 35 2.19 18 1.13  4 0.25  0 0.00
1906 156  9.75  87 5.44  77 4.81  64 4.00 52 3.25 35 2.19 16 1.00  3 0.19  0 0.00
1907 154  9.63  88 5.50  77 4.81  62 3.88 48 3.00 32 2.00 12 0.75  3 0.19  1 0.06
1908 158  9.88  92 5.75  79 4.94  60 3.75 46 2.88 31 1.94 14 0.88  3 0.19  1 0.06
1909 190 11.88  92 5.75  75 4.69  55 3.44 45 2.81 24 1.50  4 0.25  1 0.06  0 0.00
1910 176 11.00  92 5.75  78 4.88  59 3.69 46 2.88 27 1.69  9 0.56  1 0.06  0 0.00
1911 196 12.25  91 5.69  76 4.75  58 3.63 42 2.63 21 1.31  9 0.56  2 0.13  0 0.00
1912 193 12.06  87 5.44  76 4.75  56 3.50 43 2.69 29 1.81 11 0.69  2 0.13  0 0.00
1913 185 11.56  89 5.56  78 4.88  62 3.88 41 2.56 27 1.69 12 0.75  0 0.00  0 0.00
1914 238  9.92 138 5.75 115 4.79  91 3.79 68 2.83 48 2.00 24 1.00  5 0.21  0 0.00
1915 265 11.04 135 5.63 112 4.67  94 3.92 65 2.71 45 1.88 16 0.67  3 0.13  1 0.04
1916 159  9.94  98 6.13  78 4.88  59 3.69 39 2.44 24 1.50 12 0.75  2 0.13  1 0.06
1917 150  9.38  96 6.00  77 4.81  62 3.88 45 2.81 28 1.75 14 0.88  3 0.19  0 0.00
1918 169 10.56  81 5.06  62 3.88  43 2.69 27 1.69 15 0.94  1 0.06  0 0.00  0 0.00
1919 188 11.75  89 5.56  69 4.31  46 2.88 35 2.19 18 1.13  4 0.25  1 0.06  0 0.00
1920 164 10.25  87 5.44  71 4.44  65 4.06 52 3.25 39 2.44 15 0.94  1 0.06  0 0.00
1921 169 10.56  87 5.44  69 4.31  60 3.75 48 3.00 32 2.00 14 0.88  1 0.06  0 0.00
1922 164 10.25  93 5.81  72 4.50  61 3.81 50 3.13 33 2.06  8 0.50  1 0.06  0 0.00
1923 162 10.13  87 5.44  78 4.88  61 3.81 47 2.94 28 1.75 17 1.06  1 0.06  0 0.00
1924 180 11.25  99 6.19  76 4.75  61 3.81 43 2.69 24 1.50  5 0.31  0 0.00  0 0.00
1925 169 10.56  94 5.88  81 5.06  68 4.25 44 2.75 24 1.50  4 0.25  0 0.00  0 0.00
1926 164 10.25 101 6.31  80 5.00  63 3.94 40 2.50 19 1.19  2 0.13  0 0.00  0 0.00
1927 178 11.13  96 6.00  78 4.88  62 3.88 47 2.94 21 1.31  4 0.25  0 0.00  0 0.00
1928 174 10.88  95 5.94  75 4.69  60 3.75 44 2.75 24 1.50  4 0.25  0 0.00  0 0.00
1929 170 10.63  97 6.06  76 4.75  65 4.06 44 2.75 23 1.44  4 0.25  0 0.00  0 0.00
1930 175 10.94  91 5.69  78 4.88  62 3.88 40 2.50 26 1.63  6 0.38  0 0.00  0 0.00
1931 163 10.19 100 6.25  78 4.88  58 3.63 46 2.88 28 1.75  5 0.31  0 0.00  0 0.00
1932 163 10.19  95 5.94  80 5.00  63 3.94 41 2.56 27 1.69  3 0.19  0 0.00  0 0.00
1933 168 10.50  86 5.38  75 4.69  63 3.94 46 2.88 27 1.69  7 0.44  0 0.00  0 0.00
1934 182 11.38  91 5.69  76 4.75  60 3.75 40 2.50 29 1.81  6 0.38  0 0.00  0 0.00
1935 182 11.38  97 6.06  84 5.25  60 3.75 34 2.13 19 1.19  4 0.25  0 0.00  0 0.00
1936 181 11.31  88 5.50  71 4.44  59 3.69 44 2.75 28 1.75  6 0.38  0 0.00  0 0.00
1937 179 11.19  95 5.94  81 5.06  65 4.06 42 2.63 21 1.31  0 0.00  0 0.00  0 0.00
1938 176 11.00 100 6.25  72 4.50  56 3.50 37 2.31 19 1.19  5 0.31  2 0.13  0 0.00
1939 193 12.06 106 6.63  80 5.00  58 3.63 35 2.19 13 0.81  5 0.31  0 0.00  0 0.00
1940 181 11.31  96 6.00  78 4.88  60 3.75 36 2.25 25 1.56  7 0.44  0 0.00  0 0.00
1941 195 12.19  94 5.88  78 4.88  62 3.88 34 2.13 17 1.06  5 0.31  1 0.06  0 0.00
1942 173 10.81 103 6.44  78 4.88  55 3.44 36 2.25 18 1.13  3 0.19  0 0.00  0 0.00
1943 185 11.56 101 6.31  76 4.75  62 3.88 43 2.69 19 1.19  2 0.13  0 0.00  0 0.00
1944 171 10.69  94 5.88  77 4.81  65 4.06 42 2.63 22 1.38  4 0.25  2 0.13  0 0.00
1945 194 12.13 102 6.38  74 4.63  53 3.31 32 2.00 16 1.00  2 0.13  0 0.00  0 0.00
1946 219 13.69  99 6.19  71 4.44  55 3.44 34 2.13 14 0.88  4 0.25  1 0.06  0 0.00
1947 188 11.75  97 6.06  82 5.13  58 3.63 37 2.31 19 1.19  6 0.38  0 0.00  0 0.00
1948 175 10.94  96 6.00  81 5.06  64 4.00 39 2.44 21 1.31  6 0.38  0 0.00  0 0.00
1949 164 10.25  96 6.00  74 4.63  64 4.00 51 3.19 25 1.56  7 0.44  0 0.00  0 0.00
1950 182 11.38  94 5.88  79 4.94  60 3.75 38 2.38 24 1.50  8 0.50  0 0.00  0 0.00
1951 192 12.00  97 6.06  77 4.81  54 3.38 34 2.13 22 1.38  5 0.31  0 0.00  0 0.00
1952 203 12.69  95 5.94  72 4.50  55 3.44 40 2.50 24 1.50  4 0.25  0 0.00  0 0.00
1953 187 11.69 104 6.50  79 4.94  56 3.50 38 2.38 19 1.19  4 0.25  1 0.06  0 0.00
1954 181 11.31  97 6.06  81 5.06  61 3.81 41 2.56 22 1.38  6 0.38  0 0.00  0 0.00
1955 194 12.13 102 6.38  73 4.56  56 3.50 36 2.25 23 1.44  2 0.13  0 0.00  0 0.00
1956 196 12.25  86 5.38  70 4.38  57 3.56 43 2.69 31 1.94 10 0.63  1 0.06  0 0.00
1957 183 11.44  96 6.00  77 4.81  57 3.56 45 2.81 23 1.44  5 0.31  0 0.00  0 0.00
1958 192 12.00  94 5.88  72 4.50  58 3.63 43 2.69 24 1.50  5 0.31  0 0.00  0 0.00
1959 177 11.06  90 5.63  74 4.63  61 3.81 47 2.94 27 1.69 13 0.81  0 0.00  0 0.00
1960 162 10.13  93 5.81  76 4.75  61 3.81 42 2.63 28 1.75 11 0.69  0 0.00  0 0.00
1961 191 10.61 112 6.22  84 4.67  69 3.83 54 3.00 31 1.72 14 0.78  0 0.00  0 0.00
1962 220 11.00 117 5.85  97 4.85  84 4.20 61 3.05 38 1.90 18 0.90  2 0.10  0 0.00
1963 216 10.80 119 5.95  97 4.85  84 4.20 59 2.95 43 2.15 16 0.80  4 0.20  0 0.00
1964 220 11.00 115 5.75  92 4.60  79 3.95 61 3.05 41 2.05 21 1.05  1 0.05  0 0.00
1965 205 10.25 113 5.65  99 4.95  79 3.95 68 3.40 46 2.30 22 1.10  5 0.25  0 0.00
1966 218 10.90 124 6.20  88 4.40  70 3.50 56 2.80 40 2.00 19 0.95  4 0.20  0 0.00
1967 233 11.65 118 5.90  91 4.55  74 3.70 59 2.95 38 1.90 19 0.95  1 0.05  0 0.00
1968 187  9.35 118 5.90  99 4.95  83 4.15 71 3.55 54 2.70 18 0.90  2 0.10  0 0.00
1969 244 10.17 142 5.92 116 4.83  92 3.83 75 3.13 59 2.46 36 1.50  7 0.29  0 0.00
1970 233  9.71 138 5.75 122 5.08  91 3.79 76 3.17 55 2.29 27 1.13  6 0.25  0 0.00
1971 223  9.29 135 5.63 112 4.67  98 4.08 79 3.29 65 2.71 40 1.67  2 0.08  1 0.04
1972 224  9.33 131 5.46 114 4.75  92 3.83 74 3.08 52 2.17 27 1.13  6 0.25  1 0.04
1973 236  9.83 134 5.58 112 4.67  90 3.75 76 3.17 61 2.54 33 1.38 12 0.50  1 0.04
1974 233  9.71 132 5.50 113 4.71  97 4.04 78 3.25 59 2.46 45 1.88  9 0.38  0 0.00
1975 245 10.21 139 5.79 114 4.75  94 3.92 75 3.13 57 2.38 28 1.17  3 0.13  0 0.00
1976 232  9.67 146 6.08 116 4.83  95 3.96 80 3.33 55 2.29 21 0.88  2 0.08  0 0.00
1977 274 10.54 150 5.77 121 4.65 102 3.92 80 3.08 58 2.23 20 0.77  2 0.08  0 0.00
1978 255  9.81 153 5.88 127 4.88 112 4.31 86 3.31 60 2.31 23 0.88  3 0.12  0 0.00
1979 266 10.23 159 6.12 128 4.92  97 3.73 80 3.08 57 2.19 20 0.77  1 0.04  0 0.00
1980 256  9.85 155 5.96 123 4.73 104 4.00 86 3.31 60 2.31 17 0.65  0 0.00  0 0.00
1981 227  8.73 128 4.92  93 3.58  71 2.73  7 0.27  0 0.00  0 0.00  0 0.00  0 0.00
1982 264 10.15 151 5.81 125 4.81 110 4.23 84 3.23 58 2.23 21 0.81  1 0.04  0 0.00
1983 261 10.04 153 5.88 134 5.15 103 3.96 84 3.23 55 2.12 16 0.62  0 0.00  0 0.00
1984 261 10.04 155 5.96 129 4.96 108 4.15 86 3.31 64 2.46 13 0.50  0 0.00  0 0.00
1985 266 10.23 145 5.58 125 4.81 103 3.96 84 3.23 60 2.31 24 0.92  0 0.00  0 0.00
1986 268 10.31 158 6.08 128 4.92 100 3.85 86 3.31 63 2.42 15 0.58  0 0.00  0 0.00
1987 276 10.62 154 5.92 123 4.73 100 3.85 80 3.08 56 2.15 20 0.77  1 0.04  0 0.00
1988 259  9.96 162 6.23 128 4.92 109 4.19 81 3.12 63 2.42 11 0.42  0 0.00  0 0.00
1989 283 10.88 160 6.15 133 5.12  95 3.65 77 2.96 59 2.27 10 0.38  0 0.00  0 0.00
1990 286 11.00 154 5.92 125 4.81 107 4.12 84 3.23 54 2.08  7 0.27  0 0.00  0 0.00
1991 271 10.42 158 6.08 122 4.69  99 3.81 77 2.96 54 2.08 14 0.54  0 0.00  0 0.00
1992 281 10.81 152 5.85 119 4.58  98 3.77 85 3.27 60 2.31  9 0.35  0 0.00  0 0.00
1993 281 10.04 161 5.75 134 4.79 105 3.75 91 3.25 60 2.14 10 0.36  0 0.00  0 0.00
1994 249  8.89 142 5.07 106 3.79  81 2.89 16 0.57  0 0.00  0 0.00  0 0.00  0 0.00
1995 294 10.50 169 6.04 122 4.36  83 2.96 65 2.32 28 1.00  0 0.00  0 0.00  0 0.00
1996 298 10.64 170 6.07 132 4.71 105 3.75 86 3.07 63 2.25 18 0.64  0 0.00  0 0.00
1997 302 10.79 163 5.82 133 4.75 108 3.86 86 3.07 60 2.14  6 0.21  0 0.00  0 0.00
1998 304 10.13 185 6.17 147 4.90 123 4.10 95 3.17 66 2.20  5 0.17  0 0.00  0 0.00
1999 299  9.97 182 6.07 155 5.17 124 4.13 96 3.20 65 2.17  6 0.20  0 0.00  0 0.00
2000 322 10.73 196 6.53 153 5.10 113 3.77 82 2.73 60 2.00  7 0.23  0 0.00  0 0.00
2001 316 10.53 191 6.37 150 5.00 110 3.67 86 2.87 60 2.00  5 0.17  0 0.00  0 0.00
2002 323 10.77 185 6.17 146 4.87 115 3.83 87 2.90 62 2.07  4 0.13  0 0.00  0 0.00
Avg       9.51     5.21     4.24     3.41    2.56    1.73    0.71    0.25    0.14

Number of pitchers-in total and per team (PT)-who reached certain innings pitched plateaus (100, 150, etc.):

Year	100 	PT	150 	PT	200 	PT	250 	PT	300 	PT	350	PT
1871	9	1.00	9	1.00	8	0.89	3	0.33	0	0.00	0	0.00
1872	9	0.82	7	0.64	5	0.45	5	0.45	5	0.45	4	0.36
1873	9	1.00	8	0.89	7	0.78	7	0.78	6	0.67	6	0.67
1874	10	1.25	10	1.25	8	1.00	7	0.88	7	0.88	6	0.75
1875	21	1.62	12	0.92	11	0.85	9	0.69	7	0.54	7	0.54
1876	13	1.63	13	1.63	11	1.38	7	0.88	5	0.63	5	0.63
1877	9	1.50	7	1.17	5	0.83	5	0.83	5	0.83	5	0.83
1878	8	1.33	7	1.17	6	1.00	6	1.00	6	1.00	4	0.67
1879	14	1.75	13	1.63	9	1.13	8	1.00	8	1.00	8	1.00
1880	15	1.88	12	1.50	10	1.25	8	1.00	8	1.00	8	1.00
1881	17	2.13	14	1.75	11	1.38	11	1.38	11	1.38	8	1.00
1882	31	2.21	23	1.64	22	1.57	20	1.43	16	1.14	14	1.00
1883	41	2.56	29	1.81	27	1.69	23	1.44	21	1.31	18	1.13
1884	82	2.48	61	1.85	47	1.42	42	1.27	35	1.06	26	0.79
1885	46	2.88	36	2.25	30	1.88	25	1.56	20	1.25	18	1.13
1886	49	3.06	45	2.81	36	2.25	32	2.00	29	1.81	24	1.50
1887	55	3.44	45	2.81	38	2.38	34	2.13	31	1.94	17	1.06
1888	59	3.69	52	3.25	42	2.63	35	2.19	28	1.75	19	1.19
1889	59	3.69	53	3.31	46	2.88	35	2.19	28	1.75	17	1.06
1890	94	3.76	73	2.92	59	2.36	46	1.84	34	1.36	25	1.00
1891	60	3.53	49	2.88	43	2.53	33	1.94	22	1.29	19	1.12
1892	50	4.17	42	3.50	33	2.75	28	2.33	22	1.83	19	1.58
1893	47	3.92	40	3.33	29	2.42	23	1.92	17	1.42	7	0.58
1894	49	4.08	36	3.00	31	2.58	22	1.83	14	1.17	8	0.67
1895	50	4.17	38	3.17	33	2.75	22	1.83	12	1.00	7	0.58
1896	48	4.00	41	3.42	29	2.42	22	1.83	17	1.42	8	0.67
1897	49	4.08	40	3.33	32	2.67	24	2.00	16	1.33	1	0.08
1898	57	4.75	46	3.83	42	3.50	32	2.67	21	1.75	7	0.58
1899	52	4.33	45	3.75	36	3.00	30	2.50	16	1.33	6	0.50
1900	39	4.88	32	4.00	30	3.75	14	1.75	7	0.88	0	0.00
1901	69	4.31	63	3.94	49	3.06	40	2.50	19	1.19	5	0.31
1902	76	4.75	60	3.75	46	2.88	32	2.00	11	0.69	4	0.25
1903	77	4.81	57	3.56	47	2.94	33	2.06	15	0.94	3	0.19
1904	84	5.25	67	4.19	57	3.56	39	2.44	23	1.44	12	0.75
1905	82	5.13	72	4.50	60	3.75	41	2.56	21	1.31	1	0.06
1906	84	5.25	71	4.44	61	3.81	36	2.25	12	0.75	1	0.06
1907	84	5.25	67	4.19	54	3.38	35	2.19	13	0.81	3	0.19
1908	89	5.56	69	4.31	51	3.19	33	2.06	13	0.81	3	0.19
1909	87	5.44	64	4.00	48	3.00	26	1.63	5	0.31	1	0.06
1910	91	5.69	68	4.25	49	3.06	27	1.69	7	0.44	3	0.19
1911	86	5.38	68	4.25	45	2.81	22	1.38	9	0.56	2	0.13
1912	82	5.13	72	4.50	41	2.56	30	1.88	9	0.56	2	0.13
1913	88	5.50	69	4.31	47	2.94	24	1.50	8	0.50	0	0.00
1914	138	5.75	104	4.33	70	2.92	49	2.04	19	0.79	4	0.17
1915	133	5.54	102	4.25	74	3.08	42	1.75	12	0.50	2	0.08
1916	98	6.13	75	4.69	43	2.69	25	1.56	9	0.56	2	0.13
1917	96	6.00	74	4.63	54	3.38	25	1.56	7	0.44	1	0.06
1918	78	4.88	54	3.38	32	2.00	13	0.81	3	0.19	0	0.00
1919	84	5.25	58	3.63	37	2.31	16	1.00	3	0.19	0	0.00
1920	85	5.31	69	4.31	54	3.38	35	2.19	10	0.63	1	0.06
1921	89	5.56	67	4.19	46	2.88	24	1.50	9	0.56	0	0.00
1922	90	5.63	70	4.38	44	2.75	25	1.56	3	0.19	1	0.06
1923	90	5.63	72	4.50	45	2.81	22	1.38	9	0.56	1	0.06
1924	96	6.00	70	4.38	41	2.56	12	0.75	3	0.19	0	0.00
1925	94	5.88	73	4.56	45	2.81	12	0.75	1	0.06	0	0.00
1926	101	6.31	73	4.56	36	2.25	13	0.81	1	0.06	0	0.00
1927	88	5.50	75	4.69	42	2.63	15	0.94	4	0.25	0	0.00
1928	93	5.81	68	4.25	45	2.81	14	0.88	3	0.19	0	0.00
1929	96	6.00	71	4.44	42	2.63	15	0.94	1	0.06	0	0.00
1930	97	6.06	72	4.50	36	2.25	13	0.81	0	0.00	0	0.00
1931	95	5.94	66	4.13	45	2.81	16	1.00	0	0.00	0	0.00
1932	95	5.94	69	4.31	44	2.75	17	1.06	1	0.06	0	0.00
1933	94	5.88	65	4.06	45	2.81	17	1.06	2	0.13	0	0.00
1934	93	5.81	68	4.25	42	2.63	18	1.13	3	0.19	0	0.00
1935	98	6.13	68	4.25	35	2.19	14	0.88	3	0.19	0	0.00
1936	92	5.75	62	3.88	40	2.50	15	0.94	4	0.25	0	0.00
1937	96	6.00	68	4.25	38	2.38	11	0.69	0	0.00	0	0.00
1938	95	5.94	66	4.13	30	1.88	8	0.50	2	0.13	0	0.00
1939	105	6.56	68	4.25	25	1.56	6	0.38	2	0.13	0	0.00
1940	98	6.13	63	3.94	31	1.94	12	0.75	2	0.13	0	0.00
1941	98	6.13	66	4.13	29	1.81	8	0.50	3	0.19	0	0.00
1942	100	6.25	66	4.13	33	2.06	9	0.56	0	0.00	0	0.00
1943	97	6.06	66	4.13	33	2.06	13	0.81	1	0.06	0	0.00
1944	96	6.00	72	4.50	39	2.44	14	0.88	3	0.19	1	0.06
1945	97	6.06	57	3.56	26	1.63	8	0.50	1	0.06	0	0.00
1946	92	5.75	56	3.50	26	1.63	9	0.56	1	0.06	1	0.06
1947	96	6.00	57	3.56	25	1.56	9	0.56		0.00	0	0.00
1948	95	5.94	58	3.63	31	1.94	7	0.44	1	0.06	0	0.00
1949	90	5.63	64	4.00	41	2.56	10	0.63	1	0.06	0	0.00
1950	95	5.94	65	4.06	38	2.38	13	0.81	2	0.13	0	0.00
1951	98	6.13	52	3.25	29	1.81	11	0.69	2	0.13	0	0.00
1952	88	5.50	60	3.75	32	2.00	9	0.56	2	0.13	0	0.00
1953	103	6.44	63	3.94	22	1.38	8	0.50	1	0.06	0	0.00
1954	95	5.94	60	3.75	29	1.81	11	0.69	1	0.06	0	0.00
1955	89	5.56	53	3.31	29	1.81	4	0.25	1	0.06	0	0.00
1956	91	5.69	57	3.56	30	1.88	13	0.81	1	0.06	0	0.00
1957	99	6.19	56	3.50	34	2.13	7	0.44	0	0.00	0	0.00
1958	88	5.50	53	3.31	31	1.94	8	0.50	0	0.00	0	0.00
1959	89	5.56	62	3.88	37	2.31	9	0.56	0	0.00	0	0.00
1960	98	6.13	60	3.75	31	1.94	14	0.88	0	0.00	0	0.00
1961	106	5.89	69	3.83	36	2.00	11	0.61	0	0.00	0	0.00
1962	119	5.95	76	3.80	40	2.00	18	0.90	1	0.05	0	0.00
1963	118	5.90	78	3.90	46	2.30	17	0.85	3	0.15	0	0.00
1964	118	5.90	80	4.00	43	2.15	14	0.70	1	0.05	0	0.00
1965	117	5.85	76	3.80	41	2.05	18	0.90	2	0.10	0	0.00
1966	116	5.80	70	3.50	41	2.05	15	0.75	4	0.20	0	0.00
1967	107	5.35	72	3.60	44	2.20	17	0.85	1	0.05	0	0.00
1968	111	5.55	80	4.00	56	2.80	21	1.05	4	0.20	0	0.00
1969	139	5.79	83	3.46	58	2.42	24	1.00	9	0.38	0	0.00
1970	135	5.63	84	3.50	56	2.33	27	1.13	4	0.17	0	0.00
1971	130	5.42	89	3.71	64	2.67	33	1.38	4	0.17	1	0.04
1972	133	5.54	89	3.71	51	2.13	27	1.13	4	0.17	1	0.04
1973	129	5.38	93	3.88	61	2.54	32	1.33	7	0.29	1	0.04
1974	141	5.88	90	3.75	64	2.67	34	1.42	8	0.33	0	0.00
1975	137	5.71	87	3.63	55	2.29	25	1.04	4	0.17	0	0.00
1976	141	5.88	90	3.75	57	2.38	23	0.96	2	0.08	0	0.00
1977	163	6.27	88	3.38	57	2.19	14	0.54	4	0.15	0	0.00
1978	152	5.85	95	3.65	57	2.19	22	0.85	1	0.04	0	0.00
1979	148	5.69	96	3.69	54	2.08	14	0.54	1	0.04	0	0.00
1980	158	6.08	101	3.88	55	2.12	17	0.65	1	0.04	0	0.00
1981	97	3.73	29	1.12	1	0.04		0.00	0	0.00	0	0.00
1982	166	6.38	96	3.69	48	1.85	13	0.50	0	0.00	0	0.00
1983	152	5.85	95	3.65	49	1.88	12	0.46	0	0.00	0	0.00
1984	153	5.88	97	3.73	50	1.92	9	0.35	0	0.00	0	0.00
1985	137	5.27	87	3.35	56	2.15	16	0.62	0	0.00	0	0.00
1986	143	5.50	87	3.35	51	1.96	11	0.42	0	0.00	0	0.00
1987	144	5.54	87	3.35	44	1.69	13	0.50	0	0.00	0	0.00
1988	141	5.42	93	3.58	52	2.00	10	0.38	0	0.00	0	0.00
1989	141	5.42	80	3.08	48	1.85	5	0.19	0	0.00	0	0.00
1990	137	5.27	85	3.27	40	1.54	1	0.04	0	0.00	0	0.00
1991	133	5.12	85	3.27	48	1.85	3	0.12	0	0.00	0	0.00
1992	131	5.04	85	3.27	52	2.00	6	0.23	0	0.00	0	0.00
1993	141	5.04	94	3.36	49	1.75	8	0.29	0	0.00	0	0.00
1994	106	3.79	43	1.54	1	0.04		0.00	0	0.00	0	0.00
1995	117	4.18	63	2.25	18	0.64		0.00	0	0.00	0	0.00
1996	128	4.57	88	3.14	45	1.61	4	0.14	0	0.00	0	0.00
1997	131	4.68	86	3.07	40	1.43	5	0.18	0	0.00	0	0.00
1998	145	4.83	97	3.23	52	1.73	4	0.13	0	0.00	0	0.00
1999	148	4.93	90	3.00	41	1.37	2	0.07	0	0.00	0	0.00
2000	142	4.73	88	2.93	34	1.13	1	0.03	0	0.00	0	0.00
2001	145	4.83	86	2.87	42	1.40	1	0.03	0	0.00	0	0.00
2002	141	4.70	87	2.90	40	1.33	2	0.07	0	0.00	0	0.00
Avg		4.96		3.46		2.17		1.04		0.43		0.20

One thing you would notice are the heavy-start pitchers in the Sixties and Seventies. Apparently, when the idea of a five-man rotation was developing, the idea was to give the pitcher an extra day's rest but also to add to his burden on the day he was pitching. A higher percentage of complete games was expected. The number-one pitcher assumed more of the burden never missing a start every fifth day, which translated into 40-start years. This would fade in the 1980s, but this development affected the relief pitcher's role immensely.

Just a passing comment or two on rotations over history from the data above: Staffs went from basically one man possibly without a backup to 5-man rotations very slowly even though the move to four-man rotations was rather quick. By the early 1880s most teams employed two pitchers regularly. By the mid-1880s three-man "rotations" were employed-I'm not sure if the term "rotation" fits exactly, but three men were employed regularly. Somewhere in the 1890s, 4-man rotations became the norm. Staffs grew very quickly and by 1902, using 10 different starters per team (5 of which started at least 10 games) was the norm.

As staffs grew, the bulk of the work was transferred from the one main pitcher to the staff, but that had fits and starts as well. By the mid-1890s, 45-game starters were rare. By World War I, 40-game starters had almost disappeared (both were resurrected in the 1960s, however). Also, note that high innings pitchers still remained as the number-one starter pulled double duty as the number one reliever. They had almost died out by the turn of the Twentieth Century, until John McGrw latched onto the idea of using them in the swingman role. However, by World War I the 350-inning pitcher was just about dead and the 300-inning pitcher was becoming rare (again until the Sixties).

Five-man rotations were extremely long in coming. From the data above, it's difficult to determine when the change occurred. As I mentioned the data from the Sixties onward (ignoring the 40-game started revival from 1964-'78) do not waver. The average team employs 10 starting pitchers over the year. About 6 pitchers per staff start 10 or more games. About five start 15 games. About four start 20; about 3 start 25, and about 2 start 30. Actually aside from the 30-game starters, these numbers have held pretty steady since around 1905 (30-game starters were rarer in the Forties and Fifties as swingmen prevailed). From this data, it is even difficult to say that 5-man rotations are in actuality employed today, or at least that the workload of the average starting pitcher has changed tremendously in the past 100 years. Of course, there have been changes, like having an extra day of rest, that have made an impact, but they have had more to do with how the starting pitcher's work is allotted than the amount of workload (i.e., starts not innings) each pitcher has.

Lastly, the resurgence of the high-start, high-innings pitcher in the Sixties helps explain why there is a gap in the Forties and Fifties in 300- and 250-game winners. This is something that I noted about six months ago, and a fellow blogger posted a response opining that it was just an aberration. Clearly, it was not.

One final note on the DH as promised: Some of you may be skeptical of any numbers related to the mid-'70s because the DH changed everything in the AL starting in 1973. Well, since I love tables, here's one that shows that the DH may have prolonged the comeback of the complete game (and buoyed AL CG totals for about 15 years), but it certainly didn't start it:

Year	AL CG%	NL CG%	Overall	AL-NL
1960	25.28%	28.59%	26.94%	-3.31%
1961	25.71%	26.49%	26.05%	-0.79%
1962	23.86%	28.20%	26.03%	-4.35%
1963	25.12%	28.30%	26.71%	-3.17%
1964	21.44%	27.59%	24.51%	-6.15%
1965	19.94%	25.58%	22.77%	-5.65%
1966	20.72%	24.85%	22.79%	-4.13%
1967	22.53%	25.74%	24.14%	-3.21%
1968	26.23%	28.97%	27.60%	-2.74%
1969	23.18%	27.29%	25.23%	-4.11%
1970	19.63%	24.20%	21.91%	-4.57%
1971	27.80%	28.09%	27.94%	-0.29%
1972	27.02%	27.26%	27.14%	-0.24%
1973	31.58%	23.02%	27.30%	8.57%
1974	33.40%	22.58%	27.99%	10.82%
1975	32.45%	21.99%	27.20%	10.46%
1976	30.51%	23.10%	26.79%	7.41%
1977	25.91%	16.51%	21.56%	9.39%
1978	28.51%	20.03%	24.60%	8.48%
1979	24.45%	18.64%	21.76%	5.80%
1980	24.25%	15.78%	20.33%	8.47%
1981	22.27%	13.66%	18.29%	8.60%
1982	19.60%	14.87%	17.42%	4.74%
1983	20.66%	14.17%	17.66%	6.49%
1984	17.55%	12.05%	15.01%	5.50%
1985	15.90%	13.75%	14.91%	2.15%
1986	15.65%	11.56%	13.77%	4.09%
1987	16.40%	9.73%	13.33%	6.67%
1988	15.56%	13.93%	14.81%	1.63%
1989	11.69%	11.20%	11.47%	0.49%
1990	10.11%	10.29%	10.19%	-0.18%
1991	9.52%	7.73%	8.70%	1.79%
1992	10.67%	9.10%	9.95%	1.57%
1993	9.22%	7.14%	8.18%	2.08%
1994	9.60%	6.35%	7.97%	3.25%
1995	7.48%	6.16%	6.82%	1.32%
1996	7.19%	5.60%	6.40%	1.59%
1997	5.43%	6.31%	5.87%	-0.87%
1998	6.22%	6.20%	6.21%	0.02%
1999	4.77%	4.94%	4.86%	-0.17%
2000	4.72%	4.90%	4.82%	-0.17%
2001	4.55%	3.70%	4.10%	0.84%
2002	5.08%	3.83%	4.41%	1.25%

Now, back to our story. When we had last left our hero, the relief pitcher, he had just survived the experimentation of the Sixties and entered an era of reflection and retrenchment in the Seventies. Now, tell me that life does not reflect baseball.

Although the Seventies were the decade in which most of our relief pitching archetypes were established (Fingers, Gossage, Sutter, Lyle, etc.), it was not necessarily the greatest decade for relievers. First, the DH and five-man rotation put the experimentation in the bullpen on the back burner. Then, realizations were made regarding relief pitching, were forgotten for a few years, and then re-discovered. There was change even though in the end the statistics for relievers looked very similar to those at the end of the Sixties since it was anything but a linear progression.

So what happened in the Seventies anyway? Well, the 100-appearance reliever (Mike Marshall) was born. The saves record changed hands three times by 1973, but remained unchanged at 38 for the rest of the decade. A number of the old career relievers retired (Hoyt Wilhelm, Ron Perranoski, and Lindy McDaniel) to be replaced by a new group of career relievers.

One of the revelations that was discovered, lost, and re-discovered was that a career reliever was now the way to go. Swingmen fell to 51% of all pitchers in 1970, but their number fluctuated throughout the decade. By 1979, however, the swingmen comprised fewer than 50% of all pitchers (for the first time since 1888). Their numbers have been dwindling since.

The pure relief pitcher swelled to 38% of all pitchers to start the decade (the highest percentage up until that point), but their numbers fell for the rest of the decade. They rose back to 34% by 1979, but wouldn't top their 1970 numbers in a full season until 1986. They have been steadily climbing since the Seventies.

Starting pitchers were the winners of the mid-'70s as 5-man rotations opened up more jobs. Their numbers grew by about 80% between 1970 and 1977, and then fell off a bit. They too have been climbing steadily as swingmen are cannibalized into pure starters.

Relievers became better quality pitchers. Teams learned from the career relievers in the Sixties. They developed relievers from a higher quality of pitcher than in the past and that resulted in better performance on the field. It's a simple concept but it took them decades to learn it or it took them decades to unlearn the idea of getting by on the cheap in the bullpen.

For the first time, relievers eclipsed 600 appearances in a decade (by Mike Marshall, Rollie Fingers, and Sparky Lyle). The number of 500-appearance relievers increased from 5 in the Sixties to 7 in the Seventies, 400-appearance relievers from 11 to 17, 300-appearances relievers from 28 to 31, and 200-appearance relievers from 60 to 72. It's a subtle change but an important one.

By the end of the decade, relief pitchers had better ERAs than starters for the first time. They also struck out more men per nine innings and gave up fewer home runs. They did tend to be a little wilder though, with a higher WHIP and a lower strikeouts-to-walk ratio. By the end if the decade, swingmen had the worst numbers of three and they have been getting progressively worse ever since, as the specialists ruled the day.

As far as the development of the reliever, the decade could be seen to have three distinct periods (1970-72, 1973-76, and 1977-79). The first was from 1970 to '72. Relief pitchers were starting to evolve into today's paradigm: fewer appearances, fewer innings, and more saves. The closer was being used to hold leads. The maximum number of appearances fell from 90 in 1969 to in the 80s 1970-71 to 66 in 1972. The maximum number of innings pitched fell as well from 140s at the end of the Sixties to 116 by 1972.

John Hiller sets the save record in 1973 with 38 in 65 relief appearances (and 125.1 innings), as the culmination of this first wave of relief pitching evolution. But it proved to be short-lived.

By the way here is a table of the maximum relief appearances and maximum relief innings pitched (by a pure reliever) for the Sixties and Seventies:

Year 	Max IP	Max RA
1960	127.0	70
1961	122.0	65
1962	124.7	70
1963	132.3	71
1964	157.0	81
1965	165.3	84
1966	126.0	71
1967	124.7	77
1968	134.7	86
1969	144.7	90
1970	135.3	80
1971	136.3	83
1972	116.0	66
1973	179.0	92
1974	208.3	106
1975	141.7	75
1976	167.7	81
1977	146.7	78
1978	135.0	91
1979	143.0	94

Then the DH arrives and throws a spanner in the works. In 1973, the Montreal Expos who had been using closer Mike Marshall in 60-odd games a year to pitch 110-120 innings for a couple of years, decide that they want to use him basically everyday. In 1973 Marshall throws 179 innings in 92 games. In 1974, now as a Los Angeles Dodger, he throws over 208 innings in 106 appearances. He is 15-12 with 21 saves that year.

The idea of using a closer to save games seemingly evaporates as Terry Forster leads the majors in saves with 24, the lowest major-league leader total since 1959. There are only two other pitchers over 20 that year (Hiller and Tom Murphy). Here are the leaders in relief appearances for the year. Note the low number of saves among the group and these include almost all of the closers of the day. Also note that almost all of these men are relievers 100% of the time:

 Pitcher		RA	Saves	GP
Mike	Marshall	106	21	106
Rollie	Fingers	76	18	76
Larry	Hardy	75	2	76
Pedro	Borbon	73	14	73
Ken	Forsch	70	10	70
Tom	Murphy	70	20	70
Steve	Foucault	69	12	69
Elias	Sosa	68	6	68
Sparky	Lyle	66	15	66
Al	Hrabosky	65	9	65
Mike	Garman	64	6	64
Bill	Campbell	63	19	63
Dave	Giusti	62	12	64
Chuck	Taylor	61	11	61
Randy	Moffitt	60	15	61
John	Hiller	59	13	59
Mac	Scarce	58	5	58
Ramon	Hernandez	58	2	58
Terry	Forster	58	24	59
Bob	Miller	58	2	58
Diego	Segui	58	10	58
Tom	House	56	11	56
Oscar	Zamora	56	10	56
Rich	Folkers	55	2	55
Tom	Buskey	55	18	55
Clay	Carroll	54	6	57
Doug	Bird	54	10	55
Bob	Reynolds	54	7	54
Fred	Scherman	53	4	53
Vicente	Romo	53	9	54
Gene	Garber	51	5	51
Tom	Burgmeier	50	4	50

Over the next few years, closers started to re-assumed their "modern" role. They were used in fewer games and they recorded more saves.

Rollie Fingers re-crossed the Rubicon of 30 saves in a season with 35 in 1977. Since then no major-league leader has recorded less than 30 in a full season. Also in 1977, closers were being surpassed by setup men as far as the leaders in relief appearances, though Fingers did lead the majors.

Then Kent Tekulve and Mike Marshall arrived in 1979 and everything seemed to go caflooey again. Most teams continued to limit their closers and use their setup men more. But as the decade closed here were the league leaders in relief appearances:

 Pitcher		RA	Saves	GP 
Kent	Tekulve	94	31	94
Mike	Marshall	89	32	90
Enrique	Romo	84	5	84
Dick	Tidrow	77	6	77
Sid	Monge	76	19	76
Grant	Jackson	72	14	72
Jim	Kern	71	29	71
Gary	Lavelle	70	20	70
Gene	Garber	68	25	68
Dale	Murray	67	5	67
Sparky	Lyle	67	13	67
Doug	Bair	65	16	65
Tug	McGraw	64	16	65
Joe	Sambito	63	22	63
Mark	Littell	63	13	63
Bruce	Sutter	62	37	62

But Bruce Sutter's Cy Young winning year galvanizes baseball. His final numbers don't look all that different from his 1977-'78 numbers, but instead of accumulating them mostly in the first half of the season and injuring his arm, as he had done the two previous seasons, he staggers those appearances throughout the year.

What isn't apparent about Bruce Sutter from a cursory perusal of the statistics is how overwhelming he was his first four years and how he became the blueprint for all future closers until today. That's why he finishes ahead of Goose Gossage in the Hall-of-Fame voting (266 to 209 votes this year), even though the statheads cannot understand it. The ensuing debate has established that Gossage was a better pitcher for his career and that his peak wasn't far behind Sutter's. Both valid points, but the impression that Sutter left on the game has been more important. Maybe he should get extra points like a Candy Cummings as a modern-day pioneer of the closer role. However, given the foundation of quicksand on which the relief pitcher role is built, basing Sutter's enshrinement on his imprimatur on the closer role may be as spurious an argument as using the claim that Cummings invented the curveball as cause for his plaque in Cooperstown.

So what exactly did Sutter do that doesn't show up in the stats? He played for a .500 team, and though his stats were impressive, were they that revelatory? Let's take a look at the first four years of his career, 1976-'79.

Sutter joined the Cubs on May 9, 1976. Chicago, though they started the year 5-1, were 11-15 on May 8 and had just lost 4 straight. Herman Franks, the Cubs manager, was having a devil of a time trying to find a reliable closer. He tried Buddy Schultz, Darold Knowles, Mike Garman, Tom Dettore (who gave up three runs to the Mets in the ninth and lost 10-8 in his one chance on April 15), Garman again, Oscar Zamora, Schultz again, and Garman again. I don't believe it was a bullpen by committee since Franks would go to the same guy until he had blown two or three save opportunities in a row and then he would try someone else. There were some real gems in there, too. On April 17, the Cubs lost to the Phils 18-16 in ten innings. The game is best remembered as Mike Schmidt's four-homer game (by the way Schmidt batted 6th in that game). It was considered so remarkably high-scoring at the time, that the Phils rebroadcast it a week later, something unheard of at the time. The Cub bullpen (Garman, Knowles, Paul Reuschel, and Schultz) had the following linescore: 3 innings pitched, 10 hits, 3 home runs (2 to Schmidt), 11 runs all earned, 2 walks, and 1 K. The final straw came in a 14-4 home loss to the Reds on May 8. The bullpen (Zamora, Ken Crosby, and Garman) allowed 7 runs, all earned, on 10 hits, four walks and one strikeout in 5.2 innings. That was the end of Mike Garman's trial as the closer-he gave up 4 of those runs in 2 innings. Franks then turned to the 23-year-old rookie Sutter.

Sutter pitched very well, but showed a pattern that would plague him the next three years:

Month       G  GS  CG SHO  GF  SV  IP     H  BFP  HR   R  ER  BB IBB   K  WP HBP  BK GDP   W   L    ERA
May         7   0   0   0   5   2   9.1   6   37   0   2   2   5   0   3   0   0   0   1   0   1   1.93
June       12   0   0   0   4   0  16.2  14   68   0   4   4   4   2  13   2   0   0   0   0   0   2.16
July        9   0   0   0   5   2  18    13   70   2   6   6   6   1  16   0   0   0   1   2   1   3.00
August     13   0   0   0   9   4  19    13   69   1   2   2   3   1  21   0   0   0   2   1   1   0.95
September  10   0   0   0   4   1  19.2  17   86   1  13  11   8   4  20   0   0   0   1   3   0   5.03
October     1   0   0   0   1   1   0.2   0    2   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0.00

Sutter was growing slowly into the closer's role and by July was starting to show signs of the pitcher he would become. Franks, however, still was toying with the bullpen using Knowles, Zamora, and Joe Coleman in the closer's role until the end of July.

Sutter was regularly used for two to four innings. He would also be used in consecutive games often. He pitched 4.2 scoreless innings in three consecutive games in two days, May 22-23 (and then was not used for over a week). Between June 19 and June 27, he was used in eight consecutive Cub games and on four of those days pitched 2 or more innings. These weren't save opportunities-he only finished two games in the span- but he didn't allow a run and recorded 10 strikeouts and only 6 hits in 9.2 innings through the first 7 games. On June 26, his ERA stood at a Bob Gibson-like 1.12. Then on June 27 he was used for two innings in a 13-3 blowout at the hands of the Mets at Wrigley, and he finally broke down, allowing 3 runs and 4 hits. His ERA almost doubled. He was then ignored for five games until the Cubs had a doubleheader. He pitched three no-hit innings against the Padres to complete a July 6th shutout by Steve Stone. Sutter also collected 5 Ks and 1 walk in the three innings and recorded his first save since May 31.

But in August Sutter was used in 13 of the Cubs' 30 games and the team had its first winning month of the year (17-13). Sutter had a 2.00 ERA by the end of August and would be the team's closer for the rest of the year. Sutter's September (5.03 ERA) would be far from spectacular, but it was due mostly to a few poor performances following overuse earlier in the year. For example, on July 9 Sutter tallied his first major-league win hurling four scoreless innings with five K's against the Giants. Then Franks' overuse of Sutter led to three consecutive poor performances (7/11-7/21: 4 innings and 5 runs allowed with only two strikeouts). Between August 3 and 12, he was used on 8 of nine Cub game days. He threw 10 scoreless innings (with 11 K's) in nine days. On August 12, he allowed two runs and recorded no outs in the eighth inning to give the Reds the lead in an eventual 8-3 loss. Franks then started using Sutter for 2-3 innings at a time one or two times a week. During the first week of September he broke down again, allowing 6 runs (and 8 K's) in 8.1 innings.

After the season, did Franks evaluate how he used the budding star and make adjustments? Of course not. Sutter started 1977 with an ERA under 1.00 until basically the All-Star break. However, Franks continued his abusive pattern. Sutter was used for 3.1 innings each of two consecutive appearances (5/1 and 5/4). Surprise! He gave up two runs in the second appearance. He was used in 7 of 9 games May 20-29, including two 3-inning and two 2+ inning games. He had a couple of small breakdowns during that period but was on too good a roll. Not coincidentally, at the beginning of July the Cubs were in first place 7.5 games ahead. On July 12, The Mets' Steve Henderson hit a game-winning, two-run home run off of Sutter. From Baseball-library.com: "After the game the Cubs relief ace admits his arm is bothering him, and asks to be excused from the All-Star game. Bleeding will be found in Sutter's arm and he will get the week off after the All-Star break to rest it." He returns to pitch two games (one for 3 innings!) but then goes onto the disabled list on August 3rd, at which time the Cubs still lead the Phillies in the NL East by 1.5 games. When he returns on August 23, the Cubs are tied for second, 7.5 games back. He finishes the year pitching well, but the Cubs finish 81-81, in fourth place and 20 games back. Sutter does have one amazing outing September 8, in which he ties the NL record for consecutive strikeouts for a reliever with 6 after whiffing the first 6 Expos he faces on just nine pitches. This is including Hall-of-Famers Tony Perez and Gary Carter as well as Andre Dawson, Larry Parrish, Ellis Valentine, and Warren Cromartie-not too shabby.

So of course, Franks now realizes that overworking his star has been leading to injury and ineffectiveness, right? Not yet. After a rough start, Sutter has his ERA well under 2.00 at the All-Star break and the Cubs are doggedly chasing the Phils in the NL East. Franks' pattern of abuse continues. After missing the last week in July, Sutter is used in a string of games, saving 5 in 7 days (8/1-8/7). On August 19, the Cubs trail the Phillies by 2 games, and Sutter has a 1.91 ERA with 22 saves. That day against the Reds, Sutter is brought in with two out in the seventh and the Cubs leading 5-3 and two men on. He strikes out Ken Griffey to end the inning and strikes out two in a scoreless eighth (though he allows Johnny Bench to steal a base). The Cubs leave him in to pitch the ninth, and he gives up a two-out single to Joe Morgan and then a three-run home run to Griffey, to allow the Reds to tie the game. In the 10th-yes, Sutter is still pitching-he gives up three singles on one out and the Reds capture the lead. From that point forward, Sutter would pitch 16 games and was 1-7 with a 7.33 ERA in 23.1 innings with 28 hits, 4 wild pitches, 4 home runs, 4 unerned runs (in addition to 19 earned), 24 strikeouts, 11 walks, a 1.67 WHIP, 5 saves, and only 12 games finished. Even Franks could see that there was a problem. The Cubs were 17-25 from August 19 on and finished in third place, 11 games behind the Phillies.

In 1979, Franks used Sutter in key situations and he recorded 37 saves in the Cubs' 80 wins. Franks goes back to his abusing ways in August and Sutter's September suffers, but he still wins the NL Cy Young:

Month       G  GS  CG SHO  GF  SV  IP     H  BFP  HR   R  ER  BB IBB   K  WP HBP  BK GDP   W   L    ERA
April       5   0   0   0   5   5   7.2   5   29   0   0   0   2   0   6   2   0   0   1   0   0   0.00
May        10   0   0   0   9   4  19.1  14   80   2   6   5   7   2  20   0   0   0   1   1   2   2.33
June       10   0   0   0   9   8  17     6   62   0   2   2   5   0  21   1   0   0   0   1   0   1.06
July       10   0   0   0  10   6  16     3   60   0   3   2   7   2  19   3   0   0   1   2   1   1.12
August     15   0   0   0  14  12  21    19   83   0   5   3   3   0  24   2   0   0   1   0   0   1.29
September  12   0   0   0   9   2  20.1  20   89   1  13  13   8   1  20   1   0   0   1   2   3   5.75

When Herman Franks finally decided to try to limit Sutter to get the most out of him over a season, it paid off big. This proves to be a success even though Franks does not survive the season. It is also sufficient impetus to managers to extinguish the 80- to 90-appearance closer once and for all. Sutter was a living litmus test for closers. Everyone knew that he was a tremendous pitcher, but he broke down over the course of a season when asked to provide Mike Marshall-like innings. When Franks finally solved the problem by using him mostly in save situations and limiting his appearances and innings (only three appearances of three or more innings in 1979),-Q.E.D., the path was discovered. Eureka!

I think that during this period managers were convinced that the old abusing ways were not the way to use closers. But they just couldn't be convinced to use them any other way. Given any excuse (the DH, Mike Marshall, etc.), they would fall back on old habits. Franks went out on the thin ice and survived, so now other managers could be more adventurous.

Also, given Bill James' analysis in The New Historical Baseball Abstract, the most appropriate times to use closers is when the score is tied or your club is ahead by a one-run margin. James also recommends using your closer when your team is behind by a run and he is well rested. The save statistic was not developed with this value system in mind. First, three-inning relief appearances were common then, so that was an automatic save when the reliever finishes the game in the first place and his team wins. Helping your team win tie ballgames was left to the win-loss figures. And the situation that the relief creates through ineffectiveness, at least initially, is just as important as the situation when he entered the game as far as the save stat is concerned. That is why other unofficial stats like blown saves and holds have cropped up ever since. I also believe that managers in the '70s were not sold on the modern-day closer role as defined via the save. Once there was empirical proof using Sutter as a guinea pig, they could no longer argue against the modern closer. One last note regarding Sutter, however: his team did not improve once he was used effectively as a closer. His numbers improved and he enjoyed more success over the course of the season, but that did not translate into team success. So maybe the managers of the day shouldn't have been so convinced.

So ends the topsy-turvy Seventies.

Here are the leaders in relief appearances and saves for the decade. These names should be much more familiar to the average fan than the ones from the previous decades:

First	Last	RA	Saves	GP	
Mike	Marshall	618	177	628	
Rollie	Fingers	611	209	640	
Sparky	Lyle	600	190	600	
Pedro	Borbon	557	79	561	
Dave	LaRoche	538	122	543	
Darold	Knowles	537	99	543	
Tug	McGraw	533	132	542	
Dave	Giusti	467	140	470	
Tom	Burgmeier	457	59	458	
Paul	Lindblad	453	46	460	
Al	Hrabosky	444	90	445	
Gene	Garber	436	110	444	
Clay	Carroll	436	106	447	
Randy	Moffitt	435	83	436	
Elias	Sosa	421	66	423	
John	Hiller	409	115	426	
Grant	Jackson	407	63	443	
Steve	Mingori	383	42	385	
Dale	Murray	371	48	372	
Charlie	Hough	367	59	382	
Dave	Tomlin	367	12	368	
Kent	Tekulve	363	83	363	
Gary	Lavelle	350	74	350	
Bill	Campbell	346	95	355	
Fred	Scherman	331	39	342	
Wayne	Granger	327	77	327	
Rich	Gossage	322	101	359	
Terry	Forster	321	100	360	
Ken	Sanders	318	82	318	
Danny	Frisella	313	55	315	
Jerry	Johnson	309	40	316	
Jim	Brewer	299	92	299	
Mike	Garman	295	42	301	
Tom	Murphy	291	59	388	
Dave	Heaverlo	290	22	290	
Skip	Lockwood	288	66	390	
Ramon	Hernandez	283	41	283	
Rawly	Eastwick	281	67	282	
Doug	Bird	280	58	324	
Joe	Hoerner	279	39	279	
Tom	Hall	278	32	319	
Steve	Foucault	277	52	277	
Horacio	Pina	271	35	271	
Chuck	Taylor	270	31	278	
Will	McEnaney	269	29	269	
Ken	Forsch	268	50	389	
Tom	House	268	33	289	
Jim	Todd	262	24	270	
Lindy	McDaniel	260	45	268	
Diego	Segui	258	46	309	
Bob	Locker	254	41	254	
Jim	Kern	244	75	256	
Ron	Reed	244	52	412	
Bruce	Sutter	240	105	240	
Dick	Drago	240	49	396	
Mark	Littell	240	52	258	
Charlie	Williams	235	4	268	
Frank	Linzy	227	34	228	
Eduardo	Rodriguez	225	32	264	
Tom	Buskey	225	34	225	
Dave	Hamilton	224	31	280	
Jack	Aker	222	51	222	
Dick	Tidrow	222	27	359	
Jim	Ray	220	24	223	
Lerrin	LaGrow	217	51	284	
Bob	Miller	213	19	228	
Jim	Willoughby	210	34	238	
Vicente	Romo	210	28	224	
Ron	Schueler	205	11	291	
Eddie	Watt	204	41	204	
Cecil	Upshaw	203	38	203	
Dan	Spillner	200	11	277
	
First	Last	RA	Saves	GP 
Rollie	Fingers	611	209	640	
Sparky	Lyle	600	190	600	
Mike	Marshall	618	177	628	
Dave	Giusti	467	140	470	
Tug	McGraw	533	132	542	
Dave	LaRoche	538	122	543	
John	Hiller	409	115	426	
Gene	Garber	436	110	444	
Clay	Carroll	436	106	447	
Bruce	Sutter	240	105	240	
Rich	Gossage	322	101	359	
Terry	Forster	321	100	360	
Darold	Knowles	537	99	543	
Bill	Campbell	346	95	355	
Jim	Brewer	299	92	299	
Al	Hrabosky	444	90	445	
Randy	Moffitt	435	83	436	
Kent	Tekulve	363	83	363	
Ken	Sanders	318	82	318	
Pedro	Borbon	557	79	561	
Wayne	Granger	327	77	327	
Jim	Kern	244	75	256	
Gary	Lavelle	350	74	350	
Rawly	Eastwick	281	67	282	
Elias	Sosa	421	66	423	
Skip	Lockwood	288	66	390	
Grant	Jackson	407	63	443	
Tom	Burgmeier	457	59	458	
Charlie	Hough	367	59	382	
Tom	Murphy	291	59	388	
Doug	Bird	280	58	324	
Don	Stanhouse	190	57	256	
Danny	Frisella	313	55	315	
Steve	Foucault	277	52	277	
Ron	Reed	244	52	412	
Mark	Littell	240	52	258	
Doug	Bair	184	52	184	
Jack	Aker	222	51	222	
Lerrin	LaGrow	217	51	284	
Ken	Forsch	268	50	389	

Here are the totals per role for the decade:

Year    GP   GS  SV   CG    CG% RA     P/G #P  SP    SP%  RP    RP% SP/RP Swing%
1970 10356 3888 878  852 21.91% 6468 2.664 363 37 10.19% 140 38.57%  186  51.24%
1971  9661 3876 689 1083 27.94% 5785 2.493 343 37 10.79% 121 35.28%  185  53.94%
1972  9127 3718 733 1009 27.14% 5409 2.455 339 43 12.68% 122 35.99%  174  51.33%
1973  9209 3886 819 1061 27.30% 5323 2.370 330 41 12.42% 106 32.12%  183  55.45%
1974  9330 3890 517 1089 27.99% 5440 2.398 344 48 13.95% 120 34.88%  176  51.16%
1975  9270 3868 669 1052 27.20% 5402 2.397 339 44 12.98% 108 31.86%  187  55.16%
1976  9364 3878 683 1039 26.79% 5486 2.415 325 50 15.38% 104 32.00%  171  52.62%
1977 10621 4206 845  907 21.56% 6415 2.525 371 69 18.60% 115 31.00%  187  50.40%
1978 10095 4204 804 1034 24.60% 5891 2.401 369 58 15.72% 122 33.06%  189  51.22%
1979 10573 4196 840  913 21.76% 6377 2.520 390 64 16.41% 134 34.36%  192  49.23%

Year