Rolaids Relief Man Award

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Mariano Rivera won the AL Relief Man Award in 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005, and 2009.

The Rolaids Relief Man Award is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given since the 1976 MLB season to the top relief pitchers of the regular season, one in the American League (AL) and one in the National League (NL). Relief pitchers are the pitchers who enter the game after the starting pitcher is removed. The award is sponsored by Rolaids, whose slogan is "R-O-L-A-I-D-S spells relief." Because the first closers were nicknamed "firemen," a reference to "putting out the fire" of another team's rally, the trophy is a gold-plated firefighter's helmet. Unlike other awards, such as the Cy Young Award or the MLB Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, the Relief Man is based on statistical performance, rather than votes. Each save is worth three points; each win is worth two points; and each loss is worth negative two points. Beginning with the 1987 MLB season, negative two points have been given for blown saves. In the 2000 MLB season, the term "tough save", which is worth an additional point, was introduced by Rolaids. A "tough save" happens when a relief pitcher enters the game already having a tying run on base, and gets the save. The player with the highest point total wins the award.[1]

The inaugural award winners were Bill Campbell (AL) and Rawly Eastwick (NL); Campbell also won in the following season. Dan Quisenberry and Mariano Rivera have each won the AL award five times, while Rollie Fingers and Bruce Sutter have won the award four times each. Lee Smith has won the award on three occasions; Campbell, Dennis Eckersley, Dave Righetti, John Franco, Éric Gagné, Randy Myers, Trevor Hoffman, and Francisco Rodriguez have each won the award twice. Sutter (NL 1979), Fingers (AL 1981), Steve Bedrosian (NL 1987), Mark Davis (NL 1989), Eckersley (AL 1992), and Éric Gagné (NL 2003) have won the Relief Man and the Cy Young Award in the same season; Fingers and Eckersley have won the AL MVP as well, in 1981 and 1992 respectively.[2][3] Todd Worrell won both the Relief Man and the MLB Rookie of the Year Award in the 1986 MLB season.[4] Goose Gossage, Fingers, Eckersley, and Sutter have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.[5] Heath Bell is the most recent NL award winner, while Rivera and Joe Nathan are the most recent AL award winners; Rivera and Nathan are the only relief pitchers to have tied in points for the award, and both have been awarded.

Contents

[edit] Winners

Rollie Fingers won the NL Relief Man Award in 1977, 1978, and 1980, and the AL Relief Man in 1981.
Goose Gossage won the AL Relief Man Award in 1978.
Lee Smith won the NL Relief Man Award in 1991 and 1992 and the AL Relief Man Award in 1994.
Trevor Hoffman won the NL Relief Man Award in 1998 and 2006.
John Smoltz won the NL Relief Man Award in 2002.
Éric Gagné won the NL Relief Man Award in 2003 and 2004.
Francisco Rodriguez won the AL Relief Man Award in 2006 and 2008.
J. J. Putz won the AL Relief Man Award in 2007.
Brad Lidge won the NL Relief Man Award in 2008.
W Wins
L Losses
SV Saves
TS Tough saves
BS Blown saves
ERA Earned run average
WHIP Walks plus hits per inning pitched
Pitcher (#) Denotes winning pitcher and the number of times they had won the award at that point
* Denotes player who is still active
† Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
‡ Denotes multiple winners
Year League Pitcher Team W–L SV TS BS ERA WHIP
1976 American Campbell, BillBill Campbell Minnesota Twins 17–5 20 — — 3.01 1.235
1976 National Eastwick, RawlyRawly Eastwick Cincinnati Reds 11–5 26 — — 2.09 1.115
1977 American Campbell, BillBill Campbell (2) Boston Red Sox 13–9 31 — — 2.96 1.229
1977 National Fingers, RollieRollie Fingers† San Diego Padres 8–9 35 — — 2.99 1.202
1978 American Gossage, GooseGoose Gossage† New York Yankees 10–11 27 — — 2.01 1.087
1978 National Fingers, RollieRollie Fingers† (2) San Diego Padres 6–13 37 — — 2.52 1.053
1979 American Kern, JimJim Kern Texas Rangers 13–5 29 — — 1.57 1.126
1979 National Sutter, BruceBruce Sutter†[b] Chicago Cubs 6–6 37 — — 2.22 0.977
1980 American Quisenberry, DanDan Quisenberry Kansas City Royals 12–7 33 — — 3.09 1.216
1980 National Fingers, RollieRollie Fingers† (3) San Diego Padres 11–9 23 — — 2.80 1.291
1981 American Fingers, RollieRollie Fingers† (4)[a] Milwaukee Brewers 6–3 28 — — 1.04 0.872
1981 National Sutter, BruceBruce Sutter† (2) St. Louis Cardinals 3–5 25 — — 2.62 1.069
1982 American Quisenberry, DanDan Quisenberry (2) Kansas City Royals 9–7 35 — — 2.57 1.010
1982 National Sutter, BruceBruce Sutter† (3) St. Louis Cardinals 9–8 36 — — 2.90 1.192
1983 American Quisenberry, DanDan Quisenberry (3) Kansas City Royals 5–3 45 — — 1.94 0.928
1983 National Holland, AlAl Holland Philadelphia Phillies 8–4 25 — — 2.26 1.015
1984 American Quisenberry, DanDan Quisenberry (4) Kansas City Royals 6–3 44 — — 2.65 1.028
1984 National Sutter, BruceBruce Sutter† (4) St. Louis Cardinals 5–7 45 — — 1.54 1.076
1985 American Quisenberry, DanDan Quisenberry (5) Kansas City Royals 8–9 37 — — 2.37 1.225
1985 National Reardon, JeffJeff Reardon Montreal Expos 2–8 41 — — 3.18 1.072
1986 American Righetti, DaveDave Righetti New York Yankees 8–8 46 — — 2.45 1.153
1986 National Worrell, ToddTodd Worrell[c] St. Louis Cardinals 9–10 36 — — 2.08 1.225
1987 American Righetti, DaveDave Righetti (2) New York Yankees 8–6 31 — — 3.51 1.463
1987 National Bedrosian, SteveSteve Bedrosian[b] Philadelphia Phillies 5–3 40 — — 2.83 1.202
1988 American Eckersley, DennisDennis Eckersley† Oakland Athletics 4–2 45 — 8 2.35 0.867
1988 National Franco, JohnJohn Franco Cincinnati Reds 6–6 39 — 3 1.57 1.012
1989 American Russell, JeffJeff Russell Texas Rangers 6–4 38 — 6 1.98 0.950
1989 National Davis, MarkMark Davis[b] San Diego Padres 4–3 44 — 4 1.84 1.047
1990 American Thigpen, BobbyBobby Thigpen Chicago White Sox 4–6 57 — 8 1.83 1.038
1990 National Franco, JohnJohn Franco (2) New York Mets 5–3 33 — 6 2.53 1.286
1991 American Harvey, BryanBryan Harvey California Angels 2–4 46 — 6 1.60 0.864
1991 National Smith, LeeLee Smith St. Louis Cardinals 6–3 47 — 6 2.34 1.137
1992 American Eckersley, DennisDennis Eckersley† (2)[a] Oakland Athletics 7–1 51 — 3 1.91 0.913
1992 National Smith, LeeLee Smith (2) St. Louis Cardinals 4–9 43 — 8 3.12 1.173
1993 American Montgomery, JeffJeff Montgomery Kansas City Royals 7–5 45 — 6 2.27 1.008
1993 National Myers, RandyRandy Myers Chicago Cubs 2–4 53 — 6 3.11 1.208
1994 American Smith, LeeLee Smith (3) Baltimore Orioles 1–4 33 — 6 3.29 1.174
1994 National Beck, RodRod Beck San Francisco Giants 2–4 28 — 0 2.77 1.274
1995 American Mesa, JoséJosé Mesa Cleveland Indians 3–0 46 — 2 1.12 1.031
1995 National Henke, TomTom Henke St. Louis Cardinals 1–1 36 — 2 1.82 1.104
1996 American Wetteland, JohnJohn Wetteland New York Yankees 2–3 43 — 4 2.83 1.178
1996 National Brantley, JeffJeff Brantley Cincinnati Reds 1–2 44 — 5 2.41 1.155
1997 American Myers, RandyRandy Myers (2) Baltimore Orioles 2–3 45 — 1 1.51 1.156
1997 National Shaw, JeffJeff Shaw Cincinnati Reds 4–2 42 — 1 2.38 0.961
1998 American Gordon, TomTom Gordon* Boston Red Sox 7–4 46 — 1 2.72 1.008
1998 National Hoffman, TrevorTrevor Hoffman San Diego Padres 4–2 53 — 1 1.48 0.936
1999 American Rivera, MarianoMariano Rivera* New York Yankees 4–3 45 — 4 1.83 0.884
1999 National Wagner, BillyBilly Wagner* Houston Astros 4–1 39 — 3 1.57 0.777
2000 American Jones, ToddTodd Jones Detroit Tigers 2–4 42 4 4 3.52 1.438
2000 National Alfonseca, AntonioAntonio Alfonseca Florida Marlins 5–6 45 0 4 4.24 1.514
2001 American Rivera, MarianoMariano Rivera* (2) New York Yankees 4–6 50 3 7 2.34 0.905
2001 National Benítez, ArmandoArmando Benítez New York Mets 6–4 43 3 3 3.77 1.297
2002 American Koch, BillyBilly Koch Oakland Athletics 11–4 44 2 6 3.27 1.270
2002 National Smoltz, JohnJohn Smoltz* Atlanta Braves 3–2 55 5 4 3.25 1.033
2003 American Foulke, KeithKeith Foulke Oakland Athletics 9–1 43 4 5 2.08 0.888
2003 National Gagné, ÉricÉric Gagné[b] Los Angeles Dodgers 2–3 55 2 0 1.20 0.692
2004 American Rivera, MarianoMariano Rivera* (3) New York Yankees 4–2 53 2 4 1.94 1.081
2004 National Gagné, ÉricÉric Gagné (2) Los Angeles Dodgers 7–3 45 3 2 2.19 0.911
2005 American Rivera, MarianoMariano Rivera* (4) New York Yankees 7–4 43 5 4 1.38 0.868
2005 National Cordero, ChadChad Cordero* Washington Nationals 2–4 47 2 7 1.82 0.969
2006 American Rodriguez, FranciscoFrancisco Rodriguez* Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2–3 47 3 4 1.73 1.096
2006 National Hoffman, TrevorTrevor Hoffman* (2) San Diego Padres 0–2 46 0 5 2.14 0.968
2007 American Putz, J. J.J. J. Putz* Seattle Mariners 6–1 40 8 2 1.38 0.698
2007 National Valverde, JoséJosé Valverde* Arizona Diamondbacks 1–4 47 1 7 2.66 1.119
2008 American Rodriguez, FranciscoFrancisco Rodriguez* (2) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2–3 62 1 7 2.24 1.288
2008 National Lidge, BradBrad Lidge* Philadelphia Phillies 2–0 41 0 0 1.95 1.226
2009‡ American Rivera, MarianoMariano Rivera* (5) New York Yankees 3–3 44 4 2 1.76 0.905
2009‡ American Nathan, JoeJoe Nathan* Minnesota Twins 2–2 47 1 5 2.10 0.932
2009 National Bell, HeathHeath Bell* San Diego Padres 6–4 42 3 6 2.71 1.120

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

[edit] References

General
Specific
  1. ^ "About The Award". McNeil Consumer Healthcare Division of McNeil-PPC, Inc. http://www.rolaidsreliefman.com/theaward.aspx. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
  2. ^ "Cy Young Award winners". Major League Baseball. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/awards/mlb_awards_content.jsp?content=cy_history. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
  3. ^ "Most Valuable Player winners". Major League Baseball. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/awards/mlb_awards_content.jsp?content=mvp_history. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
  4. ^ "Rookie of the Year winners". Major League Baseball. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/awards/mlb_awards_content.jsp?content=roy_history. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
  5. ^ "Members of the Baseball Hall of Fame". Baseball Hall of Fame. http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/components/hofers/HallofFamersList.html. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
American League Rolaids Relief Man Award
1976: Campbell | 1977: Campbell | 1978: Gossage | 1979: Kern | 1980: Quisenberry | 1981: Fingers | 1982: Quisenberry | 1983: Quisenberry | 1984: Quisenberry | 1985: Quisenberry | 1986: Righetti | 1987: Righetti | 1988: Eckersley | 1989: Russell | 1990: Thigpen | 1991: Harvey | 1992: Eckersley | 1993: Montgomery | 1994: Smith | 1995: Mesa | 1996: Wetteland | 1997: Myers | 1998: Gordon | 1999: Rivera | 2000: Jones | 2001: Rivera | 2002: Koch | 2003: Foulke | 2004: Rivera | 2005: Rivera | 2006: Rodriguez | 2007: Putz | 2008: Rodriguez | 2009: Rivera & Nathan
v • d • e
National League Rolaids Relief Man Award
1976: Eastwick | 1977: Fingers | 1978: Fingers | 1979: Sutter | 1980: Fingers | 1981: Sutter | 1982: Sutter | 1983: Holland | 1984: Sutter | 1985: Reardon | 1986: Worrell | 1987: Bedrosian | 1988: Franco | 1989: Davis | 1990: Franco | 1991: Smith | 1992: Smith | 1993: Myers | 1994: Beck | 1995: Henke | 1996: Brantley | 1997: Shaw | 1998: Hoffman | 1999: Wagner | 2000: Alfonseca | 2001: Benítez | 2002: Smoltz | 2003: Gagné | 2004: Gagné | 2005: Cordero | 2006: Hoffman | 2007: Valverde | 2008: Lidge | 2009: Bell
v • d • e
Major League Baseball awards and trophies
Team
Individual
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