Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award

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In Major League Baseball, the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award, first awarded in 1976, is a distinction given to the top relief pitcher in each league at the end of each season. Unlike other honors such as the Cy Young Award or Most Valuable Player Award, the Relief Man of the Year award is based objectively on statistical performance, rather than subjective opinion.

A reliever is given 2 points for a win, 3 points for a save and -2 points for a loss. Beginning in 1987, the statistic of a blown save has counted as -2 points. In 2000, Rolaids began awarding 4 points for a so-called "tough save" when a reliever enters a game with the tying run already on base and gets the save. The reliever with the highest score at the end of the season is given the award.

Dan Quisenberry has won the most awards with 5. Rollie Fingers, Bruce Sutter and Mariano Rivera have all won 4.

As indicated by its name, the award is sponsored by Rolaids, whose slogan is "R-O-L-A-I-D-S spells relief." Because early closers were often nicknamed "firemen" (a reference to that they "put out the fire" of another team's rally), the trophy is a gold-plated firefighter's helmet.

[edit] List of Rolaids Relief Men of the Year

[edit] American League (1976-present)

Year	Pitcher	Team	Record	Saves	ERA
1976	Bill Campbell	Minnesota Twins	17-5	20	3.01
1977	Bill Campbell	Boston Red Sox	13-9	31	2.96
1978	Rich Gossage	New York Yankees	10-11	27	2.01
1979	Jim Kern	Texas Rangers	13-5	29	1.57
1980	Dan Quisenberry	Kansas City Royals	12-7	33	3.09
1981	Rollie Fingers	Milwaukee Brewers	6-3	28	1.04
1982	Dan Quisenberry	Kansas City Royals	9-7	35	2.57
1983	Dan Quisenberry	Kansas City Royals	5-3	45	1.94
1984	Dan Quisenberry	Kansas City Royals	6-3	44	2.65
1985	Dan Quisenberry	Kansas City Royals	8-9	37	2.37
1986	Dave Righetti	New York Yankees	8-8	46	2.45
1987	Dave Righetti	New York Yankees	8-6	31	3.51
1988	Dennis Eckersley	Oakland Athletics	4-2	45	2.35
1989	Jeff Russell	Texas Rangers	6-4	38	1.98
1990	Bobby Thigpen	Chicago White Sox	4-6	57	1.83
1991	Bryan Harvey	California Angels	2-4	46	1.60
1992	Dennis Eckersley	Oakland Athletics	7-1	51	1.91
1993	Jeff Montgomery	Kansas City Royals	7-5	45	2.27
1994	Lee Smith	Baltimore Orioles	1-4	33	3.29
1995	José Mesa	Cleveland Indians	3-0	46	1.12
1996	John Wetteland	New York Yankees	2-3	43	2.83
1997	Randy Myers	Baltimore Orioles	2-3	45	1.51
1998	Tom Gordon	Boston Red Sox	7-4	46	2.72
1999	Mariano Rivera	New York Yankees	4-3	45	1.83
2000	Todd Jones	Detroit Tigers	2-4	42	3.52
2001	Mariano Rivera	New York Yankees	4-6	50	2.34
2002	Billy Koch	Oakland Athletics	11-4	44	3.27
2003	Keith Foulke	Oakland Athletics	9-1	43	2.08
2004	Mariano Rivera	New York Yankees	4-2	53	1.94
2005	Mariano Rivera	New York Yankees	7-4	43	1.38
2006	Francisco Rodriguez	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	2-3	47	1.73

[edit] National League (1976-present)

Year	Pitcher	Team	Record	Saves	ERA
1976	Rawly Eastwick	Cincinnati Reds	11-5	26	2.09
1977	Rollie Fingers	San Diego Padres	8-9	35	2.99
1978	Rollie Fingers	San Diego Padres	6-13	37	2.52
1979	Bruce Sutter	Chicago Cubs	6-6	37	2.22
1980	Rollie Fingers	San Diego Padres	11-9	23	2.80
1981	Bruce Sutter	St. Louis Cardinals	3-5	25	2.62
1982	Bruce Sutter	St. Louis Cardinals	9-8	36	2.90
1983	Al Holland	Philadelphia Phillies	8-4	25	2.26
1984	Bruce Sutter	St. Louis Cardinals	5-7	45	1.54
1985	Jeff Reardon	Montreal Expos	2-8	41	3.18
1986	Todd Worrell	St. Louis Cardinals	9-10	36	2.08
1987	Steve Bedrosian	Philadelphia Phillies	5-3	40	2.83
1988	John Franco	Cincinnati Reds	6-6	39	1.57
1989	Mark Davis	San Diego Padres	4-3	44	1.84
1990	John Franco	New York Mets	5-3	33	2.53
1991	Lee Smith	St. Louis Cardinals	6-3	47	2.34
1992	Lee Smith	St. Louis Cardinals	4-9	43	3.12
1993	Randy Myers	Chicago Cubs	2-4	53	3.11
1994	Rod Beck	San Francisco Giants	2-4	28	2.77
1995	Tom Henke	St. Louis Cardinals	1-1	36	1.82
1996	Jeff Brantley	Cincinnati Reds	1-2	44	2.41
1997	Jeff Shaw	Cincinnati Reds	4-2	42	2.38
1998	Trevor Hoffman	San Diego Padres	4-2	53	1.48
1999	Billy Wagner	Houston Astros	4-1	39	1.57
2000	Antonio Alfonseca	Florida Marlins	5-6	45	4.24
2001	Armando Benitez	New York Mets	6-4	43	3.77
2002	John Smoltz	Atlanta Braves	3-2	55	3.25
2003	Éric Gagné	Los Angeles Dodgers	2-3	55	1.20
2004	Éric Gagné	Los Angeles Dodgers	7-3	45	2.19
2005	Chad Cordero	Washington Nationals	2-4	47	1.82
2006	Trevor Hoffman	San Diego Padres	0-2	46	2.14