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Fri 14 Nov, 2003 11:36 am
why does baseball have only one award for the best pitcher of the year?
starters & relievers competing for the same trophy doesn't make sense.
i think they should have a separate award for relievers -- call it the "lee smith award" (he's the all-time saves leader).
having a good closer is key to a winning season. its time for baseball to properly recognize relievers with an award of their own.
does anyone really care who wins the rolaids relief award? give them a more prestigious trophy, in line with the cy young, mvp and rookie of the year awards.
That makes sense, considering the roles of relievers has changed so much over the years.
Only thing hard about that, is making an award that would have a huge impact right away like the MVP or Cy Young...those awards have been around forever.
Fireman's Fund used to sponsor it; which may be where the term 'fireman' came from.
Then Rolaids had the Relief Award.
Gagne was 55 for 55 in save opps this past year, Rege.
That's sick. I can't say he didn't deserve the Cy, especially since the distant runner-up was Jason Schmidt and Russ Ortiz (?!?) was an over-the-horizon third.
All the good starters--Unit, Schill, Maddux, Oswalt, Kevin Brown--had subpar years. Chalk it up to that.
Mark Prior ought to have a Clemens-like run for the next decade, though.
true... such an award would immediately cause relievers to have incentive clauses written into their contracts.
baseball has always been slow to change, so the chances of them addng a new award are slim to none!