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!
