In the book,
Great Baseball Feats, Facts And Firsts, the author suggests that John Hiller's 1973 season was the best ever by a relief pitcher.
Great! Did I mention Hiller is Canadian? All the better!
But where exactly would he rank along side Jim Konstanty's 1950 season, Elroy Face's 1959 season or Willie Hernandez's 1984 season? Hoyt Wilhelm's amazing rookie season? What about some other seasons that rank up there? I'll let you decide!
My 10 to compare Hiller's 1973 season to are:
Jim Konstanty, 1950
Hoyt Wilhelm, 1952
Elroy Face, 1959
Linday McDaniel, 1960
Luis Arroyo, 1961
Ron Perranoski, 1963
Phil Regan, 1966
Willie Hernandez, 1984
Mark Eichhorn, 1986
John Wetteland, 1993
As a sidenote, I am sure there are many other seasons I should mention, but what I tried to do is look for totals or averages that pass or compare to Hiller's. I try to focus on the very best, but not all the seasons that are better. If I have ommitted your favourite, drop me a line.
Lets look at breakdown:
Wins
Hiller won only 10 games, which does not as good as Konstanty's 16 in 1950 or Face's MLB record 9 years later. He also lost 5 games, meaning there is no used looking at W%. Luis Arroyo won 15 and lost 5 in 1961. Konstanty was 16-7 in '50 for a .696 W%, so Hiller is behind both of them, right of the bat. Or right off the mound.
McDaniel led the leage in W% in 1960 with a 12-4 mark. Phil Regan of the 1966 Dodgers posted a 14-1 record. And how about Mark Eichhorn's 14-6 (.700 W%) in 1986? Ron Perranoski's 16-3 mark in 1963? Tough to top!
Here's a killer! Hoyt Wilhelm went 15-3 for a league leading .833 as a
rookie in '52! Looks like Hiller is out of luck, big time! He does, however, beat out Willie Hernandez's 9-3 mark in 1984 and John Wetteland's 9-3 mark of '93. Not by much! But hey, you can't top Face's 18-1 mark in 1959. No way, no how!
Winner: Face
Saves
Hiller's 38 easily led the league, and set a record for left-handers. He also only blew 4 saves, so he's got Face (who only got 10 that season) beaten. Konstanty blew 4 in 1950. But his 22 saves easily led the league that season. The next closest pitcher, Bill Werle, had only 8. Regan did lead the league with 21. In Hiller's year, Sparky Lyle saved 27 games for second, so there was not as great as a disparity. Arroyo's 29 in 1961 only beat Hoyt Wilhelm (and this is 1961, not 1952) by 11 that season. Wilhelm, is his banner rookie year, only saved 11 games. That was 7 less than league leader Al Brazle.
Perranoski (21 saves) didn't even lead the league, and Eichhorn failed to lead his team! It was McDaniel who beat out Perranoski in '63 and also McDaniel who led the NL in saves in 1960 with 26. Elroy Face was second
that year with 24. Face was also hot on Regan's 21 with 18 (along with Billy McCool's 18) in 1966. Hernandez's 32 was only good enough for 3rd place in 1984, so he's out! Wetteland is actually only 4th in saves in '93. Sorry! But he did lead the American League in saves with 43 in 1996. It was with the Yankees. The problem was, the Yankees had a guy named Rivera. Rivera had 0 saves in 1995, his first season, then 5 in 1996. The Yankees decided that Wetteland's 43 saves were expendable. We can all agree it was a great move to oust the league leader!
Oh, Francisco Rodriguez's 62 (Amercian League) in 2008 was twenty more than his closest competitor Joakim Soria! I'd be tempted to go with this one, if pressed. But he's not on my top list.
Winner: Hiller
Holds
Hiller, Konstanty, Wetteland, Hernandez and Perranoski failed to get any, while Face, Regan, McDaniel, Arroyo and Wilhelm had one. Eichhorn had 7 in '86. That was only good enough for 5th. But, is there any point? Joel Peralta set the single season mark with 41 this past season!
Winner: Eichhorn
Games Finished
This is one stat that is the "Next-Best-Thing" NEXT to a win, save or hold.
Face finished 47 of the 57 games he entered. Konstanty finished 62 of 74. Wilhelm is out of the picture, as he only finished 32 of the 71 games he entered. McDaniel also had 47 like Face, but it was in 65 games. Arroyo finished 54 of 65 games, which was enough to lead the AL in 1961. Perranoski is out of the equation as well, as he only finished 47 of 69 games. Regan finished 48 of 65 games.
Hiller finished 60 of 65! The thing that Hiller had the edge on was the DH, so he did not have to worry about being pulled for a pinch-hitter. That might have been different had he been in the National League.
The single season record for games finished is held by Mike Marshall. And it's not from 1974. That season saw him finish with 83 games finished. Would you believe it that he broke that record by one before the decade ended? (84 in 1979). Hernandez finished 68 of 80, which is pretty good. Eichhorn only finished 38 of 69 games. Wetteland finished 58 of the 70 games he entered.
Winner: Hiller
ERA
Here's where Hiller shines: 1.44! And it's in 125 innings pitched. So he's got Mariano Rivera and Dennis Eckersley beat by a mile. Konstanty's was 2.66, Face's was 2.70. McDaniel's was 2.09. Arroyo's was 2.19. Perranoski's was 1.67 (in 129 IP) on a team that had Sandy Koufax's 1.88 ERA! Regan's was a little closer, 1.62. That was in 116 2/3 innings pitched.
Gotta go with Wilhelm's 2.43 in 159 1/3 innings. While high, it was enough to lead the league, making him the last exclusive relief pitcher to lead the league in ERA. I just think we won't see it again. And from a rookie? Eichhorn would be a close second, as you will see. We just don't know what Hiller would do in 37 more innings pitched.
Wilhelm also posted a 1.81 ERA in 144 innings pitched in 1965. Hernandez in '84 was at 1.92 in 140 1/3 innings pitched. Mark Eichhorn's 1986 ERA was 1.72 in 157 innings pitched. Eichhorn fell just 5 innings pitched short of an ERA title in his first season. Wettland posted a 1.37 ERA in '93.
Winner: Wilhelm
K's
Perranoski fanned only 75, he's out. Regan only 88 in 116 2/3 innings pitched. How about Eichhorn's 166 in 157 IP? Great! Konstanty fanned only 56 in 152 IP. Face, with that forkball as his out pitch, K'd 69 in 93 1/3 IP. Wilhelm, got 108 batters to fan in 159 1/3 IP. Hiller managed 124 K's in only 125 1/3 IP. Hernandez K'd 112 in 140 1/3 IP. Gotta go with Eichhorn, here!
McDaniel had 105 in 116 1/3 in 1960. Arroyo K'd 87 in 119 innings pitched the next year. Hiller looks strong again, 124 K's in 125 IP. Wetteland K'd 113 in 85 1/3 innings. I just like Eichhorn's better!
Winner: Eichhorn
WHIP
Walks and hits allowed per innings pitched. Let's see who made the innings as easy as 1-2-3.
Konstanty's was 1.039. Wilhelm's was a little higher, 1.155. Face comes in a 1.243. McDaniel is below 1, 0.937. That's going to be tough to top.
Arroyo can't, 1.109. Perranoski comes in at 1.202.
And now for something that tops even Mac D!
Regan is 0.934! What do you know?
Hiller's is 1.021 which is close, but it's only good enough for 3rd so far. Hernandez is hot on Regan's heels with 0.941. If you can believe it, the next year (1985) proved to be even better for Willie. In 1985, his WHIP was 0.900! Eichhorn is also below 1, at 0.955. Wetteland is just above 1 (1.008). Two years later, Wet dropped it to 0.880!
Winner: Regan
WAR
Our ever-so-favourite Wins Above Replacement finds Face low. Only a 3.20. Wilhelm is ever worse at just 2.70. No one else is that low.
McDaniel's is 6.0, but that includes the 2 starts he made. The two starts resulted in an ERA of 9.00. So that doesn't help WAR.
Arroyo is with Face: a strong season on the surface offset by a rather low score compared to the others, 3.30.
Perranoski's is a little better, 4.50.
The three best are Hiller's 8.4, Eichhorn's 7.4 and McDaniel's 6.0
I would like to know what McDaniel's was sans the two starts. In any event, looks like it's Hiller!
Winner: Hiller
The Full Picture
GF% = GF / GR
Bold = most
Italics = least
References
Nemec, David, and Scott Flatow. "Relievers' Records."
Great Baseball Feats, Facts, & Firsts (2010). New York, NY: Signet, 2010. Print, pp. 298.
Sports Reference LLC.
Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
