ROLAIDS RELIEF MAN AWARD

The Best Relief Pitcher in Major League Baseball | Baseball Almanac

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.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"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 Award

Rolaids Relief Man Award Logo

Rolaids Relief Man Award Official Logo

In Chronological Order

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) -- -- -- -- -- -- --
American League Rolaids Relief Man | Bold Denotes Cy Young Award | Baseball Awards Menu

National League Rolaids Relief Man Award

Rolaids Relief Man Award Logo

Rolaids Relief Man Award Official Logo

In Chronological Order

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) -- -- -- -- -- -- --
National League Rolaids Relief Man | Bold Denotes Cy Young Award | Baseball Awards Menu
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baseball almanac fast facts

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?