EXPANDED LEAGUE LEADERS: N.L. FIREMEN

Good day all!

On the blog today, we have the top firemen of the 1978 season in the National League, proudly displayed on a 1979 “expanded league leader” card:

 

We begin with hall of Famer Rollie Fingers, who had himself a wonderful 1978 season for the San Diego Padres, winning six games while leading the league with 37 saves, good for 43 “points”.

Fingers followed up a fantastic 1977 season, his first with the Padres, with an even better year in 1978, posting an ERA of 2.52 over 107.1 innings, appearing in 78 games and closing out 69, both high-marks in the N.L.

Three years later, back in the American League, he’d top both those seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, earning both the Cy Young and MVP Awards when he led the league with 28 saves while posting a microscopic 1.04 ERA.

By the time he was done in 1985, he put together what would be a Hall of Fame career that spanned from 1968 to 1985, winning three championships, and finishing up at the time with the all-time best 341 saves.

Behind Fingers with 39 points, the Pittsburgh Pirates great Kent Tekulve, who appeared in a staggering 91 games, saving 31 while picking up eight wins, pitching to a wonderful 2.33 ERA over 135.1 innings.

The previous year was his breakout season, posting a record of 10-1 while saving seven games for the Pirates, something he’d be doing for the next seven plus seasons, helping them finally take it all home with a championship in 1979 as part of the “We Are Family” team led by the great Willie Stargell.

Incredibly, even in 1987 at the age of 40, he’d lead the league with 90 appearances while with the Philadelphia Phillies, finally hanging them up after the 1989 season after one year with the Cincinnati Reds, totaling 1050 games over his 16 year career, with 184 saves and a very nice 2.85 ERA.

Tied for third with 35 points, Cincinnati Reds reliever Doug Bair and Chicago Cubs uber-star Bruce Sutter, who both put in All-Star caliber campaigns for their respective clubs.

For Bair, it was a wonderful year that saw him win seven games while saving 28, posting an excellent 1.97 ERA over 70 appearances and 100.1 innings of work.

The righty would put in 15 years as a Major Leaguer, appearing in 584 games generally as a middle-reliever as the game changed, using set-up men more and more in the 1980s.

He would be part of two World Champion teams, funny enough, one of those with the guy he tied right here, Bruce Sutter, the 1982 St. Louis Cardinals, while two seasons later he was part of the juggernaut Detroit Tigers team.

For Sutter, what really needs to be said about perhaps the dominant relief pitcher of his era?

After an incredible 1977 season that saw him save 31 games while posting a 1.34 ERA over 62 games and 107.1 innings, he came back in 1978 with eight win and 27 saves for the Chicago Cubs, striking out 106 over 98.2 innings.

The following year, he’d top all of that, winning the N.L. Cy Young Award by saving 37 games while winning six, striking out 110 batters in 101.1 innings and pitching to an ERA of 2.22, all this for a Cubs team that finished under .500 with a record of 80-82.

The man revolutionized the “closer” role, going on to lead the league in saves five of the next six seasons, setting a (then) record of 45 saves in in 1984 as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals, finishing with 300 saves over his stellar career.

All of that eventually got him a Hall of Fame induction in 2006, and rightly so!

 

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1975 KENT TEKULVE

On the blog today, a fun one to add, a 1975 "not so missing" card for Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Kent Tekulve, who made his MLB debut with eight games in 1974:

 

Tekulve, who I absolutely loved as a kid during his playing career, posted a record of 1-1 over those eight games, with an earned run average at 6.00 over nine innings as a 27-year-old.

I never realized he made his Big League debut so late!

Tekulve really is an under-appreciated reliever in the games history, posting three seasons of 90+ appearances, the last which came at the age of 40 while with the Philadelphia Phillies!

Of course his best years were with Pittsburgh, twice finishing top-5 in the Cy Young race, saving 30+ games twice and 20+ four times.

He really put together an excellent 16-year career coming out of the 'pen, ending with a 94-90 record with 184 saves in 1050 games over 16-years with the Pirates, Phillies and Reds, all in relief (which I believe is still a Major League record for games without a single start in a career).

Just a great arm to depend on coming out of the bullpen.

RANDOM QUICKIE: KENT TEKULVE AND THE MOVIE "BURNT OFFERINGS"...

Anyone else out there ever think Kent Tekulve was scary when they were a kid in the late-70's?

You see, I loved horror-films, always have, always will. And the late-70's/early-80's were a "golden age" of sorts for the genre.

And one of my favorite horror films when I was really young was "Burnt Offerings" from 1976. It actually still hold's up after all these years, but no need to really get into the film's story (Google it!).

Anyone remember that movie?

But there was one character in the film that absolutely scared the sh*t out of me more than anyone else, and that was the chauffeur, played by actor Anthony James.

Take a look:

Now look at Kent Tekulve's 1978 Topps card (#84):

You can see where a nine-year-old kid would see a resemblance, right?!

Man, Tekulve freaked me out to no end because of that film. Then when I saw how he pitched, all arms and legs, whipping the ball side-armed and looking like death on the mound…ugh! FREAKY!

In 1979 when Tekulve had a lot of television air-time here in NYC because of the Pirates being in the World Series, I was both terrified, yet MESMERIZED!

And I would be lying if I said that Tekulve DIDN'T instantly become one of my favorite Major Leaguers after that! (Hey, like I said, I LOVED horror-films. It was a love-hate thing…).

On a bit of a side-note, it is amazing to remember that at the age of 40, Tekulve appeared in 90- games for the Phillies in 1987!

As a matter of fact that would be the third time Tekulve topped 90+ appearances for a season in his career.

In both 1978 and 1979 he lead the National league with 91 and 94 appearances, and in 1982 he appeared in 85 games to lead the league.

He and Mike Marshall are still the only pitchers to appear in over 90-games in a season more than one, each doing it three times.

He really put together an excellent career coming out of the 'pen, ending with a 94-90 record with 184 saves in 1050 games over 16-years with the Pirates, Phillies and Reds, all in relief (which is still a Major League record for games without a single start in a career).