Rolaids Relief Man Award

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, Francisco Rodriguez, Heath Bell, and José Valverde 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] Rivera and Joe Nathan are the only relief pitchers to have tied in points for the award, and both have been awarded. Goose Gossage, Fingers, Eckersley, and Sutter have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.[5] John Axford is the most recent NL award winner, while José Valverde is the most recent AL award winner.

Contents

Winners

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

National League (1976–present)

Year Pitcher Team W–L SV TS BS ERA WHIP
1976 Eastwick, RawlyRawly Eastwick Cincinnati Reds 11–5 26 — — 2.09 1.115
1977 Fingers, RollieRollie Fingers† (1) San Diego Padres 8–9 35 — — 2.99 1.202
1978 Fingers, RollieRollie Fingers† (2) San Diego Padres 6–13 37 — — 2.52 1.053
1979 Sutter, BruceBruce Sutter† (1)[b] Chicago Cubs 6–6 37 — — 2.22 0.977
1980 Fingers, RollieRollie Fingers† (3) San Diego Padres 11–9 23 — — 2.80 1.291
1981 Sutter, BruceBruce Sutter† (2) St. Louis Cardinals 3–5 25 — — 2.62 1.069
1982 Sutter, BruceBruce Sutter† (3) St. Louis Cardinals 9–8 36 — — 2.90 1.192
1983 Holland, AlAl Holland Philadelphia Phillies 8–4 25 — — 2.26 1.015
1984 Sutter, BruceBruce Sutter† (4) St. Louis Cardinals 5–7 45 — — 1.54 1.076
1985 Reardon, JeffJeff Reardon Montreal Expos 2–8 41 — — 3.18 1.072
1986 Worrell, ToddTodd Worrell[c] St. Louis Cardinals 9–10 36 — — 2.08 1.225
1987 Bedrosian, SteveSteve Bedrosian[b] Philadelphia Phillies 5–3 40 — — 2.83 1.202
1988 Franco, JohnJohn Franco (1) Cincinnati Reds 6–6 39 — 3 1.57 1.012
1989 Davis, MarkMark Davis[b] San Diego Padres 4–3 44 — 4 1.84 1.047
1990 Franco, JohnJohn Franco (2) New York Mets 5–3 33 — 6 2.53 1.286
1991 Smith, LeeLee Smith (1) St. Louis Cardinals 6–3 47 — 6 2.34 1.137
1992 Smith, LeeLee Smith (2) St. Louis Cardinals 4–9 43 — 8 3.12 1.173
1993 Myers, RandyRandy Myers (1) Chicago Cubs 2–4 53 — 6 3.11 1.208
1994 Beck, RodRod Beck San Francisco Giants 2–4 28 — 0 2.77 1.274
1995 Henke, TomTom Henke St. Louis Cardinals 1–1 36 — 2 1.82 1.104
1996 Brantley, JeffJeff Brantley Cincinnati Reds 1–2 44 — 5 2.41 1.155
1997 Shaw, JeffJeff Shaw Cincinnati Reds 4–2 42 — 1 2.38 0.961
1998 Hoffman, TrevorTrevor Hoffman (1) San Diego Padres 4–2 53 — 1 1.48 0.936
1999 Wagner, BillyBilly Wagner Houston Astros 4–1 39 — 3 1.57 0.777
2000 Alfonseca, AntonioAntonio Alfonseca Florida Marlins 5–6 45 0 4 4.24 1.514
2001 Benítez, ArmandoArmando Benítez New York Mets 6–4 43 3 3 3.77 1.297
2002 Smoltz, JohnJohn Smoltz Atlanta Braves 3–2 55 5 4 3.25 1.033
2003 Gagné, ÉricÉric Gagné (1)[b] Los Angeles Dodgers 2–3 55 2 0 1.20 0.692
2004 Gagné, ÉricÉric Gagné (2) Los Angeles Dodgers 7–3 45 3 2 2.19 0.911
2005 Cordero, ChadChad Cordero* Washington Nationals 2–4 47 2 7 1.82 0.969
2006 Hoffman, TrevorTrevor Hoffman (2) San Diego Padres 0–2 46 0 5 2.14 0.968
2007 Valverde, JoséJosé Valverde* (1) Arizona Diamondbacks 1–4 47 1 7 2.66 1.119
2008 Lidge, BradBrad Lidge* Philadelphia Phillies 2–0 41 0 0 1.95 1.226
2009 Bell, HeathHeath Bell* (1) San Diego Padres 6–4 42 3 6 2.71 1.120
2010 Bell, HeathHeath Bell* (2) San Diego Padres 6–1 47 5 3 1.93 1.200
2011 Axford, JohnJohn Axford* Milwaukee Brewers 2–2 46 0 2 1.95 1.140

American League (1976–present)

Year Pitcher Team W–L SV TS BS ERA WHIP
1976 Campbell, BillBill Campbell (1) Minnesota Twins 17–5 20 — — 3.01 1.235
1977 Campbell, BillBill Campbell (2) Boston Red Sox 13–9 31 — — 2.96 1.229
1978 Gossage, GooseGoose Gossage† New York Yankees 10–11 27 — — 2.01 1.087
1979 Kern, JimJim Kern Texas Rangers 13–5 29 — — 1.57 1.126
1980 Quisenberry, DanDan Quisenberry (1) Kansas City Royals 12–7 33 — — 3.09 1.216
1981 Fingers, RollieRollie Fingers† (4)[a] Milwaukee Brewers 6–3 28 — — 1.04 0.872
1982 Quisenberry, DanDan Quisenberry (2) Kansas City Royals 9–7 35 — — 2.57 1.010
1983 Quisenberry, DanDan Quisenberry (3) Kansas City Royals 5–3 45 — — 1.94 0.928
1984 Quisenberry, DanDan Quisenberry (4) Kansas City Royals 6–3 44 — — 2.65 1.028
1985 Quisenberry, DanDan Quisenberry (5) Kansas City Royals 8–9 37 — — 2.37 1.225
1986 Righetti, DaveDave Righetti (1) New York Yankees 8–8 46 — — 2.45 1.153
1987 Righetti, DaveDave Righetti (2) New York Yankees 8–6 31 — — 3.51 1.463
1988 Eckersley, DennisDennis Eckersley† (1) Oakland Athletics 4–2 45 — 8 2.35 0.867
1989 Russell, JeffJeff Russell Texas Rangers 6–4 38 — 6 1.98 0.950
1990 Thigpen, BobbyBobby Thigpen Chicago White Sox 4–6 57 — 8 1.83 1.038
1991 Harvey, BryanBryan Harvey California Angels 2–4 46 — 6 1.60 0.864
1992 Eckersley, DennisDennis Eckersley† (2)[a] Oakland Athletics 7–1 51 — 3 1.91 0.913
1993 Montgomery, JeffJeff Montgomery Kansas City Royals 7–5 45 — 6 2.27 1.008
1994 Smith, LeeLee Smith (3) Baltimore Orioles 1–4 33 — 6 3.29 1.174
1995 Mesa, JoséJosé Mesa Cleveland Indians 3–0 46 — 2 1.12 1.031
1996 Wetteland, JohnJohn Wetteland New York Yankees 2–3 43 — 4 2.83 1.178
1997 Myers, RandyRandy Myers (2) Baltimore Orioles 2–3 45 — 1 1.51 1.156
1998 Gordon, TomTom Gordon* Boston Red Sox 7–4 46 — 1 2.72 1.008
1999 Rivera, MarianoMariano Rivera* (1) New York Yankees 4–3 45 — 4 1.83 0.884
2000 Jones, ToddTodd Jones Detroit Tigers 2–4 42 4 4 3.52 1.438
2001 Rivera, MarianoMariano Rivera* (2) New York Yankees 4–6 50 3 7 2.34 0.905
2002 Koch, BillyBilly Koch Oakland Athletics 11–4 44 2 6 3.27 1.270
2003 Foulke, KeithKeith Foulke Oakland Athletics 9–1 43 4 5 2.08 0.888
2004 Rivera, MarianoMariano Rivera* (3) New York Yankees 4–2 53 2 4 1.94 1.081
2005 Rivera, MarianoMariano Rivera* (4) New York Yankees 7–4 43 5 4 1.38 0.868
2006 Rodriguez, FranciscoFrancisco Rodriguez* Los Angeles Angels 2–3 47 3 4 1.73 1.096
2007 Putz, J. J.J. J. Putz* Seattle Mariners 6–1 40 8 2 1.38 0.698
2008 Rodriguez, FranciscoFrancisco Rodriguez* (2) Los Angeles Angels 2–3 62 1 7 2.24 1.288
2009‡ Rivera, MarianoMariano Rivera* (5) New York Yankees 3–3 44 4 2 1.76 0.905
2009‡ Nathan, JoeJoe Nathan* Minnesota Twins 2–2 47 1 5 2.10 0.932
2010 Soriano, RafaelRafael Soriano* Tampa Bay Rays 3–2 45 0 3 1.73 0.802
2011 Valverde, JoséJosé Valverde* (2) Detroit Tigers 2–4 49 0 0 2.24 1.190

Notes

See also

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. 

External links

American League Rolaids Relief Man Award
National League Rolaids Relief Man Award
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