Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award
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In Major League Baseball, the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award, first awarded in 1976, is a distinction given to the top relief pitcher in each league at the end of each season. Unlike other honors such as the Cy Young Award or Most Valuable Player Award, the Relief Man of the Year award is based objectively on statistical performance, rather than subjective opinion.
A reliever is given 2 points for a win, 3 points for a save and -2 points for a loss. Beginning in 1987, the statistic of a blown save has counted as -2 points. In 2000, Rolaids began awarding 4 points for a so-called "tough save" when a reliever enters a game with the tying run already on base and gets the save. The reliever with the highest score at the end of the season is given the award.
Dan Quisenberry has won the most awards with 5. Rollie Fingers and Bruce Sutter have both won 4.
As indicated by its name, the award is sponsored by Rolaids, whose slogan is "R-O-L-A-I-D-S spells relief." It is the only official baseball award that is commercially sponsored.
List of Rolaids Relief Men of the Year
American League (1976-present)
National League (1976-present)
External links
- History of the award from MLB.com (http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news.jsp?ymd=20020515&content_id=25864&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp)
- Rolaids Relief Award Standings from ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/rolaids)