Rolaids Relief Man Award

The Rolaids Relief Man Award was an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given from 1976 to 2012 to the top relief pitchers of the regular season, one in the American League (AL) and one in the National League (NL).

Relief pitchers enter the game after the starting pitcher is removed. The award was sponsored by the antacid brand Rolaids, whose slogan was "R-O-L-A-I-D-S spells relief." Because the first closers were nicknamed "firemen", a reference to "putting out the fire" of another team's rally, the trophy was a gold-plated firefighter's helmet.

Statistical performance determined the winner, unlike the voting bodies that chose the recipients of the Cy Young Award and the MLB Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award. Each save was worth three points; each win was worth two points; and each loss was worth negative two points. Beginning with the 1988 MLB season, negative two points were given for blown saves. In the 2000 MLB season, Rolaids added an additional point for a "tough save": when a relief pitcher got the save after entering the game with the potential tying run on base. The player with the highest point total won the award.

The first winners were Bill Campbell (AL) and Rawly Eastwick (NL); Campbell also won in the following season. Dan Quisenberry and Mariano Rivera each won the AL award five times, while Rollie Fingers and Bruce Sutter won the award four times each. Lee Smith won the award on three occasions; Campbell, Dennis Eckersley, Dave Righetti, John Franco, Éric Gagné, Randy Myers, Trevor Hoffman, Francisco Rodríguez, Heath Bell, and José Valverde each won the award twice. Sutter (NL 1979), Fingers (AL 1981), Steve Bedrosian (NL 1987), Mark Davis (NL 1989), Eckersley (AL 1992), and Gagné (NL 2003) won the Relief Man and the Cy Young Award in the same season; Fingers and Eckersley won the AL MVP as well, in 1981 and 1992 respectively. Todd Worrell won both the Relief Man and the MLB Rookie of the Year Award in the 1986 MLB season. Rivera and Joe Nathan were the only relief pitchers to have tied in points for the award, and both received the award in 2009. Goose Gossage, Fingers, Eckersley, Hoffman, Rivera, Smith, John Smoltz, Sutter, and Billy Wagner were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Craig Kimbrel (NL) and Jim Johnson (AL) were the final award winners in 2012.

In 2013, Sanofi acquired Rolaids from Johnson & Johnson unit McNeil Consumer Healthcare and canceled the award. The awards were issued concurrently with the Delivery Man of the Year Award, given to the best closer in MLB from 2005 and 2013. In 2014, MLB began issuing a similar award, the Reliever of the Year.

Winners

WWinsLLossesSVSavesTSTough savesBSBlown savesERAEarned run averageWHIPWalks plus hits per inning pitchedPitcher Winning pitcher and the number of times they had won the award at that point *Player who is still active †Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame ‡Denotes multiple winners in a single year

National League (1976–2012) Year Pitcher Team W–L SV TS BS ERA WHIPCincinnati Reds11–526——2.091.115†San Diego Padres35——2.991.202† San Diego Padres37——2.521.053† Chicago Cubs37——2.220.977† San Diego Padres11–923——2.801.291† St. Louis Cardinals25——2.621.069† St. Louis Cardinals36——2.901.192Philadelphia Phillies25——2.261.015† St. Louis Cardinals45——1.541.076Montreal Expos41——3.181.072St. Louis Cardinals36——2.081.225Philadelphia Phillies40—82.831.202Cincinnati Reds39—31.571.012San Diego Padres44—41.841.047 New York Mets33—62.531.286†St. Louis Cardinals47—62.341.137† St. Louis Cardinals43—83.121.173Chicago Cubs53—63.111.208San Francisco Giants28—02.771.274St. Louis Cardinals36—21.821.104Cincinnati Reds44—52.411.155Cincinnati Reds42—12.380.961†San Diego Padres53—11.480.936†Houston Astros39—31.570.777Florida Marlins45044.241.514New York Mets43333.771.297†Atlanta Braves55543.251.033Los Angeles Dodgers55201.200.692 Los Angeles Dodgers45322.190.911Washington Nationals47271.820.969† San Diego Padres46052.140.968Arizona Diamondbacks47172.661.119Philadelphia Phillies41001.951.226San Diego Padres42362.711.120 San Diego Padres47531.931.200Milwaukee Brewers46021.951.140*Atlanta Braves42131.010.654

American League (1976–2012) Year Pitcher Team W–L SV TS BS ERA WHIPMinnesota Twins17–520——3.011.235 Boston Red Sox13–931——2.961.229†New York Yankees10–1127——2.011.087Texas Rangers13–529——1.571.126Kansas City Royals12–733——3.091.216† Milwaukee Brewers28——1.040.872 Kansas City Royals35——2.571.010 Kansas City Royals45——1.940.928 Kansas City Royals44——2.651.028 Kansas City Royals37——2.371.225New York Yankees46——2.451.153 New York Yankees31—133.511.463†Oakland Athletics45—82.350.867Texas Rangers38—61.980.950Chicago White Sox57—81.831.038California Angels46—61.600.864 † Oakland Athletics51—31.910.913Kansas City Royals45—62.271.008† Baltimore Orioles33—63.291.174Cleveland Indians46—21.121.031New York Yankees43—42.831.178 Baltimore Orioles45—11.511.156Boston Red Sox46—12.721.008†New York Yankees45—41.830.884Detroit Tigers42443.521.438† New York Yankees50372.340.905Oakland Athletics11–444263.271.270Oakland Athletics43452.080.888† New York Yankees53241.941.081† New York Yankees43541.380.868Los Angeles Angels47341.731.096Seattle Mariners40821.380.698 Los Angeles Angels62172.241.288 ‡† New York Yankees44421.760.905Minnesota Twins47152.100.932Tampa Bay Rays45031.730.802 Detroit Tigers49002.241.190Baltimore Orioles51032.491.019

Notes Won Cy Young Award and MLB Most Valuable Player Award in the same season. Won Cy Young Award in the same season. Won MLB Rookie of the Year Award in the same season.

Rolaids Relief Man Award

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