Mayday! Here Comes Carl To The Rescue!

Carl Mays is sadly remembered for hitting Ray Chapman in 1920 that resulted in the batter's death. But five years later, Carl was rubbing shoulders with a formidable pitching staff on the Boston Red Sox that included Babe Ruth, Smokey Joe Wood, Rube Foster, Dutch Leonard. and Ernie Shore.

Great as that staff was, even in 1915, you sometimes needed someone to hop in and finish the job. Mays did that to the tune of a league-leading seven saves. He added six wins (Five from the 'pen) and a pretty good ERA.

Mays would go on to be a starter and win over 200 games. But what a way to come in! A closer in your rookie season and (like Danforth), a World Series ring to go along with all that!

(Sidenote, this means I've covered the 1915 season and 2015 season for best relief seasons ever. Yep, they've been around at least 100 years!)

Stat Set 1

Pitcher	Year	GP	GF	GF%	IP	W	L
Mays	1915	38	27	0.711	131.2	6	5
Danforth	1917	50	26	0.520	173.0	11	6
Pitcher	Year	GP	GF	GF%	IP	W	L
Marberry	1926	64	47	0.734	138.0	12	7
Pitcher	Year	GP	GF	GF%	IP	W	L
Quinn	1932	39	29	0.744	64.1	5	4
Russell	1933	50	31	0.620	124.0	12	6
Brown	1938	51	32	0.627	132.2	15	9
				nbsp;
Pitcher	Year	GP	GF	GF%	IP	W	L
Beggs	1940	37	27	0.730	76.2	12	3
Murphy	1941	35	31	0.886	77.1	8	3
Maltzberger	1944	46	41	0.891	91.1	10	5
Page	1949	60	48	0.800	135.1	13	8
Pitcher	Year	GP	GF	GF%	IP	W	L
Konstanty	1950	74	62	0.838	152.0	16	7
Wilhelm	1952	71	32	0.451	159.1	15	3
Paige	1952	46	35	0.761	138.0	12	10
Kinder	1953	69	52	0.754	107.0	10	6
Mossi	1954	40	18	0.450	93.0	6	1
Narleski	1955	60	36	0.600	111.2	9	1
Freeman	1956	64	47	0.734	108.2	14	5
Hyde	1958	53	44	0.830	103.0	10	3
Duren	1959	41	29	0.707	76.2	3	6
Face	1959	57	47	0.825	93.1	18	1
Pitcher	Year	GP	GF	GF%	IP	W	L
McDaniel	1960	63	47	0.746	104.1	12	4
Arroyo	1961	65	54	0.831	119.0	15	5
Radatz	1963	66	58	0.879	131.1	15	6
Perranoski	1963	69	47	0.681	129.0	16	3
Lee	1964	64	39	0.609	137.0	6	5
Ellis	1964	52	32	0.615	122.1	10	3
Miller	1965	67	55	0.821	112.1	14	7
Regan	1966	65	48	0.738	116.2	14	1
Wood	1968	88	46	0.523	159.0	13	12
Pitcher	Year	GP	GF	GF%	IP	W	L
Hiller	1973	65	60	0.923	125.1	10	5
Borbon	1973	80	36	0.450	121.0	11	4
Marshall	1974	106	83	0.783	208.1	15	12
Gossage	1975	62	49	0.790	141.2	9	8
Lyle	1977	72	60	0.833	137.0	13	5
Stanley	1978	52	35	0.673	141.2	15	2
Tekulve	1979	94	67	0.713	134.1	10	8
Pitcher	Year	GP	GF	GF%	IP	W	L
Fingers	1981	47	41	0.872	78.0	6	3
Hernandez	1984	80	68	0.850	140.1	9	3
Lamp	1985	53	11	0.208	105.2	11	0
Eichhorn	1986	69	38	0.551	157.0	14	6
Henke	1987	72	62	0.861	94.0	0	6
Burke	1987	55	30	0.545	91.0	7	0
Pitcher	Year	GP	GF	GF%	IP	W	L
Eckersley	1990	63	61	0.968	73.1	4	2
Thigpen	1990	77	73	0.948	88.2	4	6
Ward	1992	79	35	0.443	101.1	7	4
Henry	1991	32	25	0.781	36.0	2	1
Wetteland	1993	70	58	0.829	85.1	9	3
Harvey	1993	59	54	0.915	69.0	1	5
Hoffman	1998	66	61	0.924	73.0	4	2
Williamson	1999	62	40	0.645	93.1	12	7
Pitcher	Year	GP	GF	GF%	IP	W	L
Rhodes	2001	71	16	0.225	68.0	8	0
Smoltz	2003	62	55	0.887	64.1	0	2
Timlin	2005	81	27	0.333	80.1	7	3
Nathan	2006	64	61	0.953	68.1	7	0
Rivera	2008	64	60	0.938	70.2	6	5
Pitcher	Year	GP	GF	GF%	IP	W	L
Bell	2010	67	57	0.851	70.0	6	1
Cook	2012	71	23	0.324	73.1	6	2
Chapman	2012	68	52	0.765	71.2	5	5
Davis	2014	70	11	0.157	72.0	9	2
Rondon	2015	72	47	0.653	70.0	6	4
Pitcher	Year	GP	GF	GF%	IP	W	L

Stat Set 2

Pitcher	Year	S	BS	S%	H	ERA	K	K/9	WHIP	WAR
Mays	1915	7	?	?	?	2.60	65	4.4	1.063	1.0
Danforth	1917	9	?	?	?	2.65	79	4.1	1.324	3.2
Pitcher	Year	S	BS	S%	H	ERA	K	K/9	WHIP	WAR
Marberry	1926	22	?	?	?	3.00	43	2.8	1.348	3.1
Pitcher	Year	S	BS	S%	H	ERA	K	K/9	WHIP	WAR
Quinn	1932	13	?	?	?	2.66	24	3.5	1.383	1.1
Russell	1933	13	?	?	?	2.69	28	2.0	1.218	3.1
Brown	1938	5	?	?	?	3.80	55	3.7	1.500	0.4
Pitcher	Year	S	BS	S%	H	ERA	K	K/9	WHIP	WAR
Beggs	1940	7	4	0.636	0	2.00	25	2.9	1.161	2.2
Murphy	1941	15	7	0.682	0	1.98	29	3.4	1.397	2.2
Maltzberger	1944	12	?	?	?	2.96	49	4.8	1.095	1.8
Page	1949	27	11	0.711	0	2.59	99	6.6	1.315	4.2
Pitcher	Year	S	BS	S%	H	ERA	K	K/9	WHIP	WAR
Konstanty	1950	22	4	0.846	0	2.66	56	3.3	1.039	4.7
Wilhelm	1952	11	1	0.917	1	2.43	108	6.1	1.155	2.7
Paige	1952	10	5	0.667	1	3.07	91	5.9	1.254	3.4
Kinder	1953	27	8	0.771	4	1.85	39	3.3	1.140	4.5
Mossi	1954	7	0	1.000	0	1.94	55	5.3	1.022	3.3
Narleski	1955	19	2	0.905	6	3.71	94	7.6	1.281	2.5
Freeman	1956	18	3	0.857	2	3.40	50	4.1	1.344	2.6
Hyde	1958	18	5	0.783	0	1.75	49	4.3	1.136	4.9
									&nnbsp;
Duren	1959	14	7	0.667	1	1.88	96	11.3	1.200	3.8
Face	1959	10	9	0.526	1	2.70	69	6.7	1.243	3.2
Pitcher	Year	S	BS	S%	H	ERA	K	K/9	WHIP	WAR
McDaniel	1960	26	6	0.813	1	1.29	95	8.2	0.863	6.0
Arroyo	1961	29	10	0.744	1	2.19	87	6.6	1.109	3.3
Radatz	1963	25	3	0.893	0	1.97	162	11.0	1.096	5.7
Perranoski	1963	21	8	0.724	0	1.67	75	5.2	1.202	4.5
Lee	1964	19	8	0.704	1	1.51	111	7.3	1.058	4.3
Ellis	1964	14	2	0.875	1	2.57	125	9.2	1.054	3.1
Miller	1965	24	1	0.960	1	1.89	104	7.8	0.997	4.3
Regan	1966	21	7	0.750	1	1.62	88	6.8	0.934	5.0
Wood	1968	16	5	0.762	7	1.87	74	4.2	1.006	5.4
Pitcher	Year	S	BS	S%	H	ERA	K	K/9	WHIP	WAR
Hiller	1973	38	0	1.000	0	1.44	124	8.9	1.021	8.1
Borbon	1973	14	5	0.737	6	2.16	60	4.5	1.421	2.5
Marshall	1974	21	12	0.636	9	2.42	143	6.2	1.186	3.1
Gossage	1975	26	5	0.839	1	1.84	130	8.3	1.193	8.2
Lyle	1977	26	8	0.765	1	2.17	68	4.5	1.197	3.7
Stanley	1978	10	5	0.667	1	2.60	38	2.2	1.242	4.1
Tekulve	1979	31	6	0.838	8	2.79	75	5.0	1.176	3.2
Pitcher	Year	S	BS	S%	H	ERA	K	K/9	WHIP	WAR
Fingers	1981	28	6	0.824	0	1.04	61	7.0	0.872	4.2
Hernandez	1984	32	1	0.970	0	1.92	112	7.2	0.941	4.8
Lamp	1985	2	5	0.286	8	3.32	68	5.8	1.164	1.3
Eichhorn	1986	10	4	0.714	7	1.72	166	9.5	0.955	7.4
Henke	1987	34	8	0.810	1	2.49	128	12.3	0.926	3.3
Burke	1987	18	4	0.818	5	1.19	58	5.7	0.890	4.3
Pitcher	Year	S	BS	S%	H	ERA	K	K/9	WHIP	WAR
Eckersley	1990	48	2	0.960	0	0.61	73	9.0	0.614	3.3
Thigpen	1990	57	8	0.877	0	1.83	70	7.1	1.038	3.4
Henry	1991	15	1	0.938	3	1.00	28	7.0	0.833	2.2
Ward	1992	12	4	0.750	24	1.95	103	9.1	1.135	3.1
Wetteland	1993	43	1	0.977	0	1.37	113	12.0	1.008	4.2
Harvey	1993	45	4	0.918	0	1.7	73	9.5	0.841	4.0
Hoffman	1998	53	1	0.981	0	1.48	86	10.6	0.849	4.1
Williamson	1999	19	7	0.731	5	2.41	107	10.3	1.039	2.8
Pitcher	Year	S	BS	S%	H	ERA	K	K/9	WHIP	WAR
Rhodes	2001	3	4	0.429	31	1.72	83	11.0	0.853	2.5
Smoltz	2003	45	4	0.918	0	1.12	73	10.2	0.870	3.3
Timlin	2005	13	7	0.650	24	2.24	59	6.6	1.320	2.9
Nathan	2006	36	2	0.947	0	1.58	95	12.5	0.790	3.3
Rivera	2008	39	1	0.975	0	1.40	77	9.8	0.665	4.3
Pitcher	Year	S	BS	S%	H	ERA	K	K/9	WHIP	WAR
Bell	2010	47	3	0.940	0	1.93	86	11.1	1.200	1.9
Cook	2012	14	7	0.667	21	2.09	80	9.8	0.941	2.6
Chapman	2012	38	5	0.884	6	1.51	122	15.3	0.809	3.6
Davis	2014	3	3	0.500	33	1.00	109	13.6	0.847	3.7
Rondon	2015	30	4	0.882	8	1.67	69	8.6	1.000	2.2
Pitcher	Year	S	BS	S%	H	ERA	K	K/9	WHIP	WAR

Notes

Danforth appeared as a starter nine times.

Paige and Mays appeared as a starter six times.

Marberry, Mossi, Lee and Ellis appeared as a starter five times.

Russell and Stanley appeared as a starter three times.

Brown, McDaniel and Wood appeared as a starter two times.

Beggs, Quinn and Narleski appeared once as a starter

Maltzberger, Hyde, Konstanty, Duren, Tekulve and Henke all wore glasses.


References

"Carl Mays" Society Of American Baseball Research. http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/99ca7c89 (Retrieved January 28, 2016)

Sports Reference LLC. "Carl Mays Statistics And History." Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/maysca01-pitch.shtml. (Retrieved January 28, 2016)