| Sporting News Reliever of the Year Award | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Baseball |
| League | Major League Baseball |
| Given for | Most outstanding relief pitcher in the American League and National League |
| Country | United States, Canada |
| Presented by | Sporting News |
| History | |
| First award | 1960 |
| Final award | 2010 |
The Sporting News Reliever of the Year Award was an annual award presented to the best relief pitcher in each league in Major League Baseball (MLB).[1] It was established in 1960 by The Sporting News (TSN) as the Fireman of the Year Award. At the time, no reliever had ever received a Cy Young Award vote.[2] The Fireman of the Year Award originally recognized the reliever with the most combined saves and wins in each league in MLB.[3] The magazine had started publishing the then-unofficial save statistic that same year.[4] Later, a save was worth two points compared to one for a save in determining the winner.[4] In 2001 the award was chosen based on consensus from TSN editors, and it was renamed to Reliever of the Year Award.[5] The award was last issued in 2010 before being discontinued.
Fireman of the Year Award winners
Reliever of the Year Award winners
| Year | American League | Team | National League | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Mariano Rivera (3) | New York Yankees | Armando Benítez Robb Nen | New York Mets San Francisco Giants |
| 2002 | Billy Koch | Oakland Athletics | John Smoltz | Atlanta Braves |
| 2003 | Keith Foulke | Oakland Athletics | Éric Gagné | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| 2004 | Mariano Rivera (4) | New York Yankees | Éric Gagné (2) | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| 2005 | Mariano Rivera (5) Joe Nathan | New York Yankees Minnesota Twins | Chad Cordero | Washington Nationals |
| 2006 | Francisco Rodríguez | Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | Trevor Hoffman (3) | San Diego Padres |
| 2007 | Joe Borowski | Cleveland Indians | José Valverde | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 2008 | Francisco Rodríguez (2) | Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | Brad Lidge | Philadelphia Phillies |
| 2009 | Mariano Rivera (6) | New York Yankees | Ryan Franklin | St. Louis Cardinals |
| 2010 | Rafael Soriano | Tampa Bay Rays | Heath Bell | San Diego Padres |
See also
- Sporting News Relief Pitcher of the Year Award
- Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award (discontinued)
- MLB Mariano Rivera American League Reliever and Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year awards
- Cy Young Award
- Triple Crown (pitching)
- MLB Pitcher of the Month
- "Esurance MLB Awards" Best Pitcher (in MLB)
- "Players Choice Awards" Outstanding Pitcher
- SN Starting Pitcher of the Year
- Warren Spahn Award (best left-handed pitcher)
- Baseball awards
- List of Major League Baseball awards
- SN Player of the Year
- SN Rookie of the Year
- SN Comeback Player of the Year
- SN Manager of the Year
- SN Executive of the Year
References
- General
- "Fireman of the Year Award / Reliever of the Year Award by The Sporting News". Baseball Almanac. Archived from the original on March 17, 2015.
- Specific
- ^ Dickson, Paul (2011). The Dickson Baseball Dictionary. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 699. ISBN 978-0-393-34008-2. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
- ^ Gillette, Gary; Palmer, Peter (2008). The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia, Fifth Edition. Sterling. p. 1809. ISBN 978-1-4027-6051-8.
- ^ Zimniuch, Fran (2010). Fireman: The Evolution of the Closer in Baseball. Chicago: Triumph Books. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-60078-312-8.
- ^ a b Holtzman, Jerome (May 2002). "Where did save rule come from? Baseball historian recalls how he helped develop statistic that measures reliever's effectiveness". Baseball Digest. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
- ^ Dickson 2011, pp.322–3