Sporting News Reliever of the Year Award

This article is about the award presented 1960–2010. For the similarly named award presented since 2013, see The Sporting News Relief Pitcher of the Year Award.

Sporting News Reliever of the Year Award
Five-time winner Dan Quisenberry
SportBaseball
LeagueMajor League Baseball
Awarded forMost outstanding relief pitcher in the American League and National League
CountryUnited States, Canada
Presented bySporting News
History
First award1960
Final award2010
Most winsMariano Rivera (6)

The Sporting News Reliever of the Year Award was an annual award presented to the best relief pitcher in each league in Major League Baseball (MLB).[1] It was established in 1960 by The Sporting News (TSN) as the Fireman of the Year Award. At the time, no reliever had ever received a Cy Young Award vote.[2] The Fireman of the Year Award originally recognized the reliever with the most combined saves and wins in each league in MLB.[3] The magazine had started publishing the then-unofficial save statistic that same year.[4] Later, a save was worth two points compared to one for a win in determining the winner.[4] In 2001 the award was chosen based on consensus from TSN editors, and it was renamed to Reliever of the Year Award.[5] The award was last issued in 2010 before being discontinued.

Fireman of the Year Award winners

Year American League Team National League Team
1960 Mike Fornieles Boston Red Sox Lindy McDaniel St. Louis Cardinals
1961 Luis Arroyo New York Yankees Stu Miller San Francisco Giants
1962 Dick Radatz Boston Red Sox Roy Face Pittsburgh Pirates
1963 Stu Miller (2) Baltimore Orioles Lindy McDaniel (2) Chicago Cubs
1964 Dick Radatz (2) Boston Red Sox Al McBean Pittsburgh Pirates
1965 Eddie Fisher Chicago White Sox Ted Abernathy Chicago Cubs
1966 Jack Aker Kansas City A's Phil Regan Los Angeles Dodgers
1967 Minnie Rojas California Angels Ted Abernathy (2) Cincinnati Reds
1968 Wilbur Wood Chicago White Sox Phil Regan (2) Chicago Cubs
1969 Ron Perranoski Minnesota Twins Wayne Granger Cincinnati Reds
1970 Ron Perranoski (2) Minnesota Twins Wayne Granger (2) Cincinnati Reds
1971 Ken Sanders Milwaukee Brewers Dave Giusti Pittsburgh Pirates
1972 Sparky Lyle New York Yankees Clay Carroll Cincinnati Reds
1973 John Hiller Detroit Tigers Mike Marshall Montreal Expos
1974 Terry Forster Chicago White Sox Mike Marshall (2) Los Angeles Dodgers
1975 Rich Gossage Chicago White Sox Al Hrabosky St. Louis Cardinals
1976 Bill Campbell Minnesota Twins Rawly Eastwick Cincinnati Reds
1977 Bill Campbell (2) Boston Red Sox Rollie Fingers San Diego Padres
1978 Rich Gossage (2) New York Yankees Rollie Fingers (2) San Diego Padres
1979 Jim Kern
Mike Marshall (3)		 Texas Rangers
Minnesota Twins		 Bruce Sutter Chicago Cubs
1980 Dan Quisenberry Kansas City Royals Rollie Fingers (3)
Tom Hume		 San Diego Padres
Cincinnati Reds
1981 Rollie Fingers (4) Milwaukee Brewers Bruce Sutter (2) St. Louis Cardinals
1982 Dan Quisenberry (2) Kansas City Royals Bruce Sutter (3) St. Louis Cardinals
1983 Dan Quisenberry (3) Kansas City Royals Al Holland
Lee Smith		 Philadelphia Phillies
Chicago Cubs
1984 Dan Quisenberry (4) Kansas City Royals Bruce Sutter (4) St. Louis Cardinals
1985 Dan Quisenberry (5) Kansas City Royals Jeff Reardon Montreal Expos
1986 Dave Righetti New York Yankees Todd Worrell St. Louis Cardinals
1987 Jeff Reardon (2)
Dave Righetti (2)		 Minnesota Twins
New York Yankees		 Steve Bedrosian Philadelphia Phillies
1988 Dennis Eckersley Oakland Athletics John Franco Cincinnati Reds
1989 Jeff Russell Texas Rangers Mark Davis San Diego Padres
1990 Bobby Thigpen Chicago White Sox John Franco (2) New York Mets
1991 Dennis Eckersley (2)
Bryan Harvey		 Oakland Athletics
California Angels		 Lee Smith (2) St. Louis Cardinals
1992 Dennis Eckersley (3) Oakland Athletics Doug Jones
Lee Smith (3)		 Houston Astros
St. Louis Cardinals
1993 Jeff Montgomery Kansas City Royals Randy Myers Chicago Cubs
1994 Lee Smith (4) Baltimore Orioles John Franco (3) New York Mets
1995 José Mesa Cleveland Indians Randy Myers (2) Chicago Cubs
1996 John Wetteland New York Yankees Trevor Hoffman San Diego Padres
1997 Mariano Rivera New York Yankees Jeff Shaw Cincinnati Reds
1998 Tom Gordon Boston Red Sox Trevor Hoffman (2) San Diego Padres
1999 Mariano Rivera (2) New York Yankees Ugueth Urbina Montreal Expos
2000 Todd Jones Detroit Tigers Antonio Alfonseca Florida Marlins

Reliever of the Year Award winners

Year American League Team National League Team
2001 Mariano Rivera (3) New York Yankees Armando Benítez
Robb Nen		 New York Mets
San Francisco Giants
2002 Billy Koch Oakland Athletics John Smoltz Atlanta Braves
2003 Keith Foulke Oakland Athletics Éric Gagné Los Angeles Dodgers
2004 Mariano Rivera (4) New York Yankees Éric Gagné (2) Los Angeles Dodgers
2005 Mariano Rivera (5)
Joe Nathan		 New York Yankees
Minnesota Twins		 Chad Cordero Washington Nationals
2006 Francisco Rodríguez Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Trevor Hoffman (3) San Diego Padres
2007 Joe Borowski Cleveland Indians José Valverde Arizona Diamondbacks
2008 Francisco Rodríguez (2) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Brad Lidge Philadelphia Phillies
2009 Mariano Rivera (6) New York Yankees Ryan Franklin St. Louis Cardinals
2010 Rafael Soriano Tampa Bay Rays Heath Bell San Diego Padres

See also

References

General
  • "Fireman of the Year Award / Reliever of the Year Award by The Sporting News". Baseball Almanac. Archived from the original on March 17, 2015.
Specific
  1. ^ Dickson, Paul (2011). The Dickson Baseball Dictionary. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 699. ISBN 978-0-393-34008-2. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
  2. ^ Gillette, Gary; Palmer, Peter (2008). The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia, Fifth Edition. Sterling. p. 1809. ISBN 978-1-4027-6051-8.
  3. ^ Zimniuch, Fran (2010). Fireman: The Evolution of the Closer in Baseball. Chicago: Triumph Books. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-60078-312-8.
  4. ^ a b Holtzman, Jerome (May 2002). "Where did save rule come from? Baseball historian recalls how he helped develop statistic that measures reliever's effectiveness". Baseball Digest. Archived from the original on May 16, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
  5. ^ Dickson 2011, pp.322–3