The pressure is truly intense as these pitchers / closers step onto the mound knowing they only have to pitch an inning or two at most; however, they also know that the entire game is riding on their skill as a pitcher, their shoulders, and in their arms. They should be able to "mow" down the opposing batters and save the game for a team victory, but will they?
Here are those stoppers, along with some basic statistical information, who withstood the pressure and were honored with the Rolaids Relief Man Award. An award that was started in 1976 in an effort to honor the top closer from each league and calculated by giving four points for a tough save (entering the game with the tying run on base), three points for a save, two points for a win, loss of two points for a loss, and a loss of two points for a blown save.
On January 7, 2013, Sanofi (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE : SNY) announced that its US Consumer Healthcare Division, Chattem, Inc., completed the acquisition of the worldwide rights to the Rolaids ® brand from McNeil Consumer Healthcare Division of McNEIL-PPC, Inc. effectively ending the sponsorship program. Research by Baseball Almanac.
"I want to thank all the pitchers who couldn't go nine innings, and manager Dick Howser who wouldn't let them go." - Dan Quisenberry (Five time receipient of the Rolaids Relief Award)
American League Rolaids Relief Man AwardRolaids Relief Man Award Official Logo In Chronological Order |
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Year | Name | Team | Saves | Tough Saves | Blown Saves | Wins | Losses | ERA |
1976 | Bill Campbell (1) | Minnesota | 20 | Not Available | Not Available | 17 | 5 | 3.01 |
1977 | Bill Campbell (2) | Boston | 31 | Not Available | Not Available | 13 | 9 | 2.96 |
1978 | Rich Gossage (1) | New York | 27 | Not Available | Not Available | 10 | 11 | 2.01 |
1979 | Jim Kern (1) | Texas | 29 | Not Available | Not Available | 13 | 5 | 1.57 |
1980 | Dan Quisenberry (1) | Kansas City | 33 | Not Available | Not Available | 12 | 7 | 3.09 |
1981 | Rollie Fingers (4) | Milwaukee | 28 | Not Available | Not Available | 6 | 3 | 1.04 |
1982 | Dan Quisenberry (2) | Kansas City | 35 | Not Available | Not Available | 9 | 7 | 2.57 |
1983 | Dan Quisenberry (3) | Kansas City | 45 | Not Available | Not Available | 5 | 3 | 1.94 |
1984 | Dan Quisenberry (4) | Kansas City | 44 | Not Available | Not Available | 6 | 3 | 2.64 |
1985 | Dan Quisenberry (5) | Kansas City | 37 | Not Available | Not Available | 8 | 9 | 2.37 |
1986 | Dave Righetti (1) | New York | 46 | Not Available | Not Available | 8 | 8 | 2.45 |
1987 | Dave Righetti (2) | New York | 31 | Not Available | 13 | 8 | 6 | 3.51 |
1988 | Dennis Eckersley (1) | Oakland | 45 | Not Available | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2.35 |
1989 | Jeff Russell (1) | Texas | 38 | Not Available | 6 | 6 | 4 | 1.98 |
1990 | Bobby Thigpen (1) | Chicago | 57 | Not Available | 8 | 4 | 6 | 1.83 |
1991 | Bryan Harvey (1) | California | 46 | Not Available | 6 | 2 | 4 | 1.60 |
1992 | Dennis Eckersley (2) | Oakland | 51 | Not Available | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1.91 |
1993 | Jeff Montgomery (1) | Kansas City | 45 | Not Available | 6 | 7 | 5 | 2.27 |
1994 | Lee Smith (3) | Baltimore | 33 | Not Available | 6 | 1 | 4 | 3.29 |
1995 | Jose Mesa (1) | Cleveland | 46 | Not Available | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1.13 |
1996 | John Wetteland (1) | New York | 43 | Not Available | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2.83 |
1997 | Randy Myers (2) | Baltimore | 45 | Not Available | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1.51 |
1998 | Tom Gordon (1) | Boston | 46 | Not Available | 1 | 7 | 4 | 2.72 |
1999 | Mariano Rivera (1) | New York | 45 | Not Available | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1.83 |
2000 | Todd Jones (1) | Detroit | 42 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3.52 |
2001 | Mariano Rivera (2) | New York | 50 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 2.34 |
2002 | Billy Koch (1) | Oakland | 44 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 4 | 3.27 |
2003 | Keith Foulke (1) | Oakland | 43 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 2.08 |
2004 | Mariano Rivera (3) | New York | 53 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1.94 |
2005 | Mariano Rivera (4) | New York | 43 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 1.38 |
2006 | Francisco Rodriguez (1) | Los Angeles | 47 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2.28 |
2007 | J.J. Putz (1) | Seattle | 40 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1.38 |
2008 | Francisco Rodriguez (2) | Los Angeles | 62 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2.24 |
2009 | Joe Nathan (1) | Minnesota | 47 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2.10 |
Mariano Rivera (5) | New York | 44 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1.76 | |
2010 | Rafael Soriano (1) | Tampa Bay | 45 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1.73 |
2011 | Jose Valverde (2) | Detroit | 49 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2.24 |
2012 | Jim Johnson (1) | Baltimore | 51 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2.49 |
2013 | Award Discontinued (x) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Year | Name | Team | Saves | Tough Saves | Blown Saves | Wins | Losses | ERA |
American League Rolaids Relief Man | Bold Denotes Cy Young Award | Baseball Awards Menu |
National League Rolaids Relief Man AwardRolaids Relief Man Award Official Logo In Chronological Order |
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Year | Name | Team | Saves | Tough Saves | Blown Saves | Wins | Losses | ERA |
1976 | Rawly Eastwick (1) | Cincinnati | 26 | Not Available | Not Available | 11 | 5 | 2.09 |
1977 | Rollie Fingers (1) | San Diego | 35 | Not Available | Not Available | 8 | 9 | 2.99 |
1978 | Rollie Fingers (2) | San Diego | 37 | Not Available | Not Available | 6 | 13 | 2.52 |
1979 | Bruce Sutter (1) | Chicago | 37 | Not Available | Not Available | 6 | 6 | 2.22 |
1980 | Rollie Fingers (3) | San Diego | 23 | Not Available | Not Available | 11 | 9 | 2.80 |
1981 | Bruce Sutter (2) | St. Louis | 25 | Not Available | Not Available | 3 | 5 | 2.62 |
1982 | Bruce Sutter (3) | St. Louis | 36 | Not Available | Not Available | 9 | 8 | 2.90 |
1983 | Al Holland (1) | Philadelphia | 25 | Not Available | Not Available | 8 | 4 | 2.26 |
1984 | Bruce Sutter (4) | St. Louis | 45 | Not Available | Not Available | 5 | 7 | 1.54 |
1985 | Jeff Reardon (1) | Montreal | 41 | Not Available | Not Available | 2 | 8 | 3.18 |
1986 | Todd Worrell (1) | St. Louis | 36 | Not Available | Not Available | 9 | 10 | 2.08 |
1987 | Steve Bedrosian (1) | Philadelphia | 40 | Not Available | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2.83 |
1988 | John Franco (1) | Cincinnati | 39 | Not Available | 3 | 6 | 6 | 1.57 |
1989 | Mark Davis (1) | San Diego | 44 | Not Available | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1.85 |
1990 | John Franco (2) | New York | 33 | Not Available | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2.53 |
1991 | Lee Smith (1) | St. Louis | 47 | Not Available | 6 | 6 | 3 | 2.34 |
1992 | Lee Smith (2) | St. Louis | 43 | Not Available | 8 | 4 | 9 | 3.12 |
1993 | Randy Myers (1) | Chicago | 53 | Not Available | 6 | 2 | 4 | 3.11 |
1994 | Rod Beck (1) | San Francisco | 28 | Not Available | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2.77 |
1995 | Tom Henke (1) | St. Louis | 36 | Not Available | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1.82 |
1996 | Jeff Brantley (1) | Cincinnati | 44 | Not Available | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2.41 |
1997 | Jeff Shaw (1) | Cincinnati | 42 | Not Available | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2.38 |
1998 | Trevor Hoffman (1) | San Diego | 53 | Not Available | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1.48 |
1999 | Billy Wagner (1) | Houston | 39 | Not Available | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1.57 |
2000 | Antonio Alfonseca (1) | Florida | 45 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4.24 |
2001 | Armando Benitez (1) | New York | 43 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3.77 |
2002 | John Smoltz (1) | Atlanta | 55 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3.25 |
2003 | Eric Gagne (1) | Los Angeles | 55 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1.20 |
2004 | Eric Gagne (2) | Los Angeles | 45 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 2.19 |
2005 | Chad Cordero (1) | Washington | 47 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1.82 |
2006 | Trevor Hoffman (2) | San Diego | 46 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2.14 |
2007 | Jose Valverde (1) | Arizona | 47 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2.66 |
2008 | Brad Lidge (1) | Philadelphia | 41 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1.95 |
2009 | Heath Bell (1) | San Diego | 42 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2.71 |
2010 | Heath Bell (2) | San Diego | 47 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 1.93 |
2011 | John Axford (1) | Milwaukee | 46 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1.95 |
2012 | Craig Kimbrel (1) | Atlanta | 42 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1.01 |
2013 | Award Discontinued (x) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
Year | Name | Team | Saves | Tough Saves | Blown Saves | Wins | Losses | ERA |
National League Rolaids Relief Man | Bold Denotes Cy Young Award | Baseball Awards Menu |
Rollie Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers had the lowest earned run average of any Rolaids Relief Award recipient ever 1.04 and until 2003, Rod Beck was the only receipient with no blown saves (where data is actually available).
Bobby Thigpen of the Chicago White Sox had the most saves of any Rolaids Relief Award recipient ever with fifty-seven and details about that amazing season can be seen in our Fabulous Feats section.
Did you know that ace closer Quiz, a five time recipient of the Rolaids Relief Award, has one of the most popular quotations sections here on Baseball Almanac?