Rolaids Relief Man Award

Mariano Rivera won the AL Relief Man Award in 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005, and 2009.

The Rolaids Relief Man Award is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given since the 1976 MLB season to the top relief pitchers of the regular season, one in the American League (AL) and one in the National League (NL). Relief pitchers are the pitchers who enter the game after the starting pitcher is removed. The award is sponsored by Rolaids, whose slogan is "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 is a gold-plated firefighter's helmet. Unlike other awards, such as the Cy Young Award or the MLB Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, the Relief Man is based on statistical performance, rather than votes. Each save is worth three points; each win is worth two points; and each loss is worth negative two points. Beginning with the 1987 MLB season, negative two points have been given for blown saves. In the 2000 MLB season, the term "tough save", which is worth an additional point, was introduced by Rolaids. A "tough save" happens when a relief pitcher enters the game already having a tying run on base, and gets the save. The player with the highest point total wins the award.^[1]

The inaugural award winners were Bill Campbell (AL) and Rawly Eastwick (NL); Campbell also won in the following season. Dan Quisenberry and Mariano Rivera have each won the AL award five times, while Rollie Fingers and Bruce Sutter have won the award four times each. Lee Smith has won the award on three occasions; Campbell, Dennis Eckersley, Dave Righetti, John Franco, Éric Gagné, Randy Myers, Trevor Hoffman, and Francisco Rodriguez have each won the award twice. Sutter (NL 1979), Fingers (AL 1981), Steve Bedrosian (NL 1987), Mark Davis (NL 1989), Eckersley (AL 1992), and Éric Gagné (NL 2003) have won the Relief Man and the Cy Young Award in the same season; Fingers and Eckersley have won the AL MVP as well, in 1981 and 1992 respectively.^[2][3] Todd Worrell won both the Relief Man and the MLB Rookie of the Year Award in the 1986 MLB season.^[4] Goose Gossage, Fingers, Eckersley, and Sutter have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.^[5] Heath Bell is the most recent NL award winner, while Rafael Soriano is the most recent AL award winner; Rivera and Nathan are the only relief pitchers to have tied in points for the award, and both have been awarded.

Winners

Rollie Fingers won the NL Relief Man Award in 1977, 1978, and 1980, and the AL Relief Man in 1981.

Goose Gossage won the AL Relief Man Award in 1978.

Lee Smith won the NL Relief Man Award in 1991 and 1992 and the AL Relief Man Award in 1994.

Trevor Hoffman won the NL Relief Man Award in 1998 and 2006.

John Smoltz won the NL Relief Man Award in 2002.

Éric Gagné won the NL Relief Man Award in 2003 and 2004.

Francisco Rodriguez won the AL Relief Man Award in 2006 and 2008.

J. J. Putz won the AL Relief Man Award in 2007.

Brad Lidge won the NL Relief Man Award in 2008.

W	Wins
L	Losses
SV	Saves
TS	Tough saves
BS	Blown saves
ERA	Earned run average
WHIP	Walks plus hits per inning pitched
Pitcher (#)	Denotes winning pitcher and the number of times they had won the award at that point
*	Denotes player who is still active
†	Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
‡	Denotes multiple winners

National League (1976–present)

Year	Pitcher	Team	W–L	SV	TS	BS	ERA	WHIP
1976	Eastwick, RawlyRawly Eastwick	Cincinnati Reds	11–5	26	—	—	2.09	1.115
1977	Fingers, RollieRollie Fingers† (1)	San Diego Padres	08 !8–9	35	—	—	2.99	1.202
1978	Fingers, RollieRollie Fingers† (2)	San Diego Padres	06.1 !6–13	37	—	—	2.52	1.053
1979	Sutter, BruceBruce Sutter† (1)[b]	Chicago Cubs	06 !6–6	37	—	—	2.22	0.977
1980	Fingers, RollieRollie Fingers† (3)	San Diego Padres	11–9	23	—	—	2.80	1.291
1981	Sutter, BruceBruce Sutter† (2)	St. Louis Cardinals	03 !3–5	25	—	—	2.62	1.069
1982	Sutter, BruceBruce Sutter† (3)	St. Louis Cardinals	09 !9–8	36	—	—	2.90	1.192
1983	Holland, AlAl Holland	Philadelphia Phillies	08 !8–4	25	—	—	2.26	1.015
1984	Sutter, BruceBruce Sutter† (4)	St. Louis Cardinals	05 !5–7	45	—	—	1.54	1.076
1985	Reardon, JeffJeff Reardon	Montreal Expos	02 !2–8	41	—	—	3.18	1.072
1986	Worrell, ToddTodd Worrell[c]	St. Louis Cardinals	09.1 !9–10	36	—	—	2.08	1.225
1987	Bedrosian, SteveSteve Bedrosian[b]	Philadelphia Phillies	05 !5–3	40	—	—	2.83	1.202
1988	Franco, JohnJohn Franco (1)	Cincinnati Reds	06 !6–6	39	—	3	1.57	1.012
1989	Davis, MarkMark Davis[b]	San Diego Padres	04 !4–3	44	—	4	1.84	1.047
1990	Franco, JohnJohn Franco (2)	New York Mets	05 !5–3	33	—	6	2.53	1.286
1991	Smith, LeeLee Smith (1)	St. Louis Cardinals	06 !6–3	47	—	6	2.34	1.137
1992	Smith, LeeLee Smith (2)	St. Louis Cardinals	04 !4–9	43	—	8	3.12	1.173
1993	Myers, RandyRandy Myers (1)	Chicago Cubs	02 !2–4	53	—	6	3.11	1.208
1994	Beck, RodRod Beck	San Francisco Giants	02 !2–4	28	—	0	2.77	1.274
1995	Henke, TomTom Henke	St. Louis Cardinals	01 !1–1	36	—	2	1.82	1.104
1996	Brantley, JeffJeff Brantley	Cincinnati Reds	01 !1–2	44	—	5	2.41	1.155
1997	Shaw, JeffJeff Shaw	Cincinnati Reds	04 !4–2	42	—	1	2.38	0.961
1998	Hoffman, TrevorTrevor Hoffman (1)	San Diego Padres	04 !4–2	53	—	1	1.48	0.936
1999	Wagner, BillyBilly Wagner	Houston Astros	04 !4–1	39	—	3	1.57	0.777
2000	Alfonseca, AntonioAntonio Alfonseca	Florida Marlins	05 !5–6	45	0	4	4.24	1.514
2001	Benítez, ArmandoArmando Benítez	New York Mets	06 !6–4	43	3	3	3.77	1.297
2002	Smoltz, JohnJohn Smoltz	Atlanta Braves	03 !3–2	55	5	4	3.25	1.033
2003	Gagné, ÉricÉric Gagné (1)[b]	Los Angeles Dodgers	02 !2–3	55	2	0	1.20	0.692
2004	Gagné, ÉricÉric Gagné (2)	Los Angeles Dodgers	07 !7–3	45	3	2	2.19	0.911
2005	Cordero, ChadChad Cordero*	Washington Nationals	02 !2–4	47	2	7	1.82	0.969
2006	Hoffman, TrevorTrevor Hoffman (2)	San Diego Padres	00 !0–2	46	0	5	2.14	0.968
2007	Valverde, JoséJosé Valverde*	Arizona Diamondbacks	01 !1–4	47	1	7	2.66	1.119
2008	Lidge, BradBrad Lidge*	Philadelphia Phillies	02 !2–0	41	0	0	1.95	1.226
2009	Bell, HeathHeath Bell* (1)	San Diego Padres	06 !6–4	42	3	6	2.71	1.120
2010	Bell, HeathHeath Bell* (2)	San Diego Padres	06 !6–1	47	5	3	1.93	1.200

American League (1976–present)

Year	Pitcher	Team	W–L	SV	TS	BS	ERA	WHIP
1976	Campbell, BillBill Campbell (1)	Minnesota Twins	17–5	20	—	—	3.01	1.235
1977	Campbell, BillBill Campbell (2)	Boston Red Sox	13–9	31	—	—	2.96	1.229
1978	Gossage, GooseGoose Gossage†	New York Yankees	10–11	27	—	—	2.01	1.087
1979	Kern, JimJim Kern	Texas Rangers	13–5	29	—	—	1.57	1.126
1980	Quisenberry, DanDan Quisenberry (1)	Kansas City Royals	12–7	33	—	—	3.09	1.216
1981	Fingers, RollieRollie Fingers† (4)[a]	Milwaukee Brewers	06 !6–3	28	—	—	1.04	0.872
1982	Quisenberry, DanDan Quisenberry (2)	Kansas City Royals	09 !9–7	35	—	—	2.57	1.010
1983	Quisenberry, DanDan Quisenberry (3)	Kansas City Royals	05 !5–3	45	—	—	1.94	0.928
1984	Quisenberry, DanDan Quisenberry (4)	Kansas City Royals	06 !6–3	44	—	—	2.65	1.028
1985	Quisenberry, DanDan Quisenberry (5)	Kansas City Royals	08 !8–9	37	—	—	2.37	1.225
1986	Righetti, DaveDave Righetti (1)	New York Yankees	08 !8–8	46	—	—	2.45	1.153
1987	Righetti, DaveDave Righetti (2)	New York Yankees	08 !8–6	31	—	—	3.51	1.463
1988	Eckersley, DennisDennis Eckersley† (1)	Oakland Athletics	04 !4–2	45	—	8	2.35	0.867
1989	Russell, JeffJeff Russell	Texas Rangers	06 !6–4	38	—	6	1.98	0.950
1990	Thigpen, BobbyBobby Thigpen	Chicago White Sox	04 !4–6	57	—	8	1.83	1.038
1991	Harvey, BryanBryan Harvey	California Angels	02 !2–4	46	—	6	1.60	0.864
1992	Eckersley, DennisDennis Eckersley† (2)[a]	Oakland Athletics	07 !7–1	51	—	3	1.91	0.913
1993	Montgomery, JeffJeff Montgomery	Kansas City Royals	07 !7–5	45	—	6	2.27	1.008
1994	Smith, LeeLee Smith (3)	Baltimore Orioles	01 !1–4	33	—	6	3.29	1.174
1995	Mesa, JoséJosé Mesa	Cleveland Indians	03 !3–0	46	—	2	1.12	1.031
1996	Wetteland, JohnJohn Wetteland	New York Yankees	02 !2–3	43	—	4	2.83	1.178
1997	Myers, RandyRandy Myers (2)	Baltimore Orioles	02 !2–3	45	—	1	1.51	1.156
1998	Gordon, TomTom Gordon*	Boston Red Sox	07 !7–4	46	—	1	2.72	1.008
1999	Rivera, MarianoMariano Rivera* (1)	New York Yankees	04 !4–3	45	—	4	1.83	0.884
2000	Jones, ToddTodd Jones	Detroit Tigers	02 !2–4	42	4	4	3.52	1.438
2001	Rivera, MarianoMariano Rivera* (2)	New York Yankees	04 !4–6	50	3	7	2.34	0.905
2002	Koch, BillyBilly Koch	Oakland Athletics	11–4	44	2	6	3.27	1.270
2003	Foulke, KeithKeith Foulke	Oakland Athletics	09 !9–1	43	4	5	2.08	0.888
2004	Rivera, MarianoMariano Rivera* (3)	New York Yankees	04 !4–2	53	2	4	1.94	1.081
2005	Rivera, MarianoMariano Rivera* (4)	New York Yankees	07 !7–4	43	5	4	1.38	0.868
2006	Rodriguez, FranciscoFrancisco Rodriguez*	Los Angeles Angels	02 !2–3	47	3	4	1.73	1.096
2007	Putz, J. J.J. J. Putz*	Seattle Mariners	06 !6–1	40	8	2	1.38	0.698
2008	Rodriguez, FranciscoFrancisco Rodriguez* (2)	Los Angeles Angels	02 !2–3	62	1	7	2.24	1.288
2009‡	Rivera, MarianoMariano Rivera* (5)	New York Yankees	03 !3–3	44	4	2	1.76	0.905
2009‡	Nathan, JoeJoe Nathan*	Minnesota Twins	02 !2–2	47	1	5	2.10	0.932
2010	Soriano, RafaelRafael Soriano*	Tampa Bay Rays	03 !3–2	45	0	3	1.73	0.802

Notes

• ^a Won Cy Young Award and MLB Most Valuable Player Award in the same season.
• ^b Won Cy Young Award in the same season.
• ^c Won MLB Rookie of the Year Award in the same season.

See also

• MLB Delivery Man of the Year Award
• TSN Reliever of the Year
• Cy Young Award
• Triple Crown (pitching)
• Pitcher of the Month
• This Year in Baseball Awards (including Starting Pitcher, Setup Pitcher, and Closer)
• Players Choice Awards (Outstanding Pitcher)
• TSN Pitcher of the Year
• Warren Spahn Award (best left-handed pitcher)
• Baseball awards #United States

References

General

• "Rolaids Relief Man Award Past Winners". McNeil Consumer Healthcare Division of McNeil-PPC, Inc. http://www.rolaidsreliefman.com/pastwinners.aspx. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 
• "Relief Man Award winners". Major League Baseball. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/awards/mlb_awards_content.jsp?content=relief_history. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
• "Rookie of the Year Awards & Rolaids Relief Award Winners". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference, LLC. http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/roy_rol.shtml. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 

Specific

1. ^ "About The Award". McNeil Consumer Healthcare Division of McNeil-PPC, Inc. http://www.rolaidsreliefman.com/theaward.aspx. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
2. ^ "Cy Young Award winners". Major League Baseball. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/awards/mlb_awards_content.jsp?content=cy_history. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
3. ^ "Most Valuable Player winners". Major League Baseball. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/awards/mlb_awards_content.jsp?content=mvp_history. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
4. ^ "Rookie of the Year winners". Major League Baseball. http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/awards/mlb_awards_content.jsp?content=roy_history. Retrieved 2009-05-23. 
5. ^ "Members of the Baseball Hall of Fame". Baseball Hall of Fame. http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/components/hofers/HallofFamersList.html. Retrieved 2009-05-23. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• Rolaids Relief Man Award