Leever To Sam Out Of The Pirates' Bullpen! Part 1

So the last time I wrote about about a Pirates' reliever, it about Deacon Phillppe in 1910. You can look at it any which way, but he was Pittsburgh's ace that year. Amazingly enough, in 1909, it was another pretty good bullpen pitcher leaving his mark on the game. Sam Leever had been quite a good starter for many years with the Pirates, leading the National League in W% and ERA in 1903. That helped Pittsburgh make it to the first ever World Series. But Sam went 0-2 in the Fall Classic.

By 1909, Pittsburgh was not only back in the World Series, but they made sure to come through this time. Sam was named to the postseason roster, but did not pitch. The Pirates beat the Tigers in a Fall Classic best remembered for Honus Wagner vs. Ty Cobb. Sam returned to Pittsburgh in 1910, but it proved to be his last season in the bigs despite some more impressive numbers.

In that World Series-winning year, Leever was pitching out of the bullpen for the first time in his career. Sam, three times the National League leader in W%, went 8-1, .889. That ran his career winning percentage to an astonishing .664. He saved only two games, but of his 15 relief appearances, he finished the game 12 times.

Stat Set 1

Pitcher	Year	GP	GF	GF%	IP	W	L
Leever	1909	19	12	0.632	70.0	8	1
Pitcher	Year	GP	GF	GF%	IP	W	L
Phillipe	1910	31	19	0.613	121.2	14	2
Baskette	1912	29	18	0.621	116.0	8	4
Crandall	1913	35	27	0.771	97.2	4	4
Wolfgang	1914	24	12	0.500	119.1	9	5
Mays	1915	38	27	0.711	131.2	6	5
Danforth	1917	50	26	0.520	173.0	11	6
Dubuc	1919	36	22	0.611	132.0	6	4
Pitcher	Year	GP	GF	GF%	IP	W	L
Morton	1921	30	15	0.500	107.2	8	3
Baumgartner	1925	37	9	0.243	113.1	6	3
Marberry	1926	64	47	0.734	138.0	12	7
Haid	1928	27	14	0.519	47.0	2	2
Pitcher	Year	GP	GF	GF%	IP	W	L
Lindsey	1931	35	19	0.543	74.2	6	4
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
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
Adams	1943	70	52	0.743	140.1	11	7
Heving	1944	63	38	0.603	119.2	8	3
Maltzberger	1944	46	41	0.891	91.1	10	5
Christopher	1947	44	38	0.864	80.2	10	7
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
Farrell	1957	52	32	0.615	83.1	10	2
Zuverink	1957	56	37	0.661	112.2	10	6
Hyde	1958	53	44	0.830	103.0	10	3
Duren	1959	41	29	0.707	76.2	3	6
Staley	1959	67	37	0.552	116.1	8	5
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
Fox	1961	39	25	0.641	57.1	5	2
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
Drabowsky	1967	43	26	0.605	95.1	7	5
Abernathy	1967	70	61	0.871	106.1	6	3
Wood	1968	88	46	0.523	159.0	13	12
Tatum	1969	45	33	0.733	86.1	7	2
Pitcher	Year	GP	GF	GF%	IP	W	L
Williams	1970	68	36	0.529	113.1	10	1
McMahon	1970	61	44	0.721	94.1	9	5
Sanders	1971	83	77	0.928	136.1	7	12
Giusti	1972	54	44	0.815	74.2	7	4
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
Eastwick	1976	71	59	0.831	107.2	11	5
Lyle	1977	72	60	0.833	137.0	13	5
Sutter	1977	62	48	0.774	107.1	7	3
Blair	1978	70	56	0.800	100.1	7	6
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
McGraw	1980	57	48	0.842	92.1	5	4
Fingers	1981	47	41	0.872	78.0	6	3
Caudill	1982	70	64	0.914	95.2	12	9
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
Henneman	1988	65	51	0.785	91.1	9	6
Lancaster	1989	42	15	0.357	72.2	4	2
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
Henry	1991	32	25	0.781	36.0	2	1
Aguilera	1991	63	60	0.952	69.0	4	5
Ward	1992	79	35	0.443	101.1	7	4
Rojas	1992	68	26	0.382	100.2	7	1
Wetteland	1993	70	58	0.829	85.1	9	3
Harvey	1993	59	54	0.915	69.0	1	5
Beck	1993	76	71	0.934	79.1	3	1
Hoffman	1998	66	61	0.924	73.0	4	2
Urbina	1998	64	59	0.922	69.1	6	3
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
Putz	2007	68	65	0.956	71.2	6	1
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
Johnson	2012	71	63	0.887	68.2	2	1
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

Notes

Baumgartner appeared as a starter twelve times

Wolfgang and Baskette appeared as a starter eleven times.

Danforth appeared as a starter nine times.

Phillipe appeared as a starter eight times.

Morton appeared as a starter seven times.

Paige and Mays appeared as a starter six times.

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

Leever appeared as a starter four times.

Russell, Stanley and Adams appeared as a starter three times.

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

Beggs, Quinn, Narleski and McGraw appeared once as a starter.

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


References

Armour, Mark. "Sam Leever." Society for American Baseball Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 June 2016. <http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/3cf96cc4>

Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-by-play of Every Game, 1903-1989. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. "Sam Leever Pitching Statistics And History." Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/leevesa01-pitch.shtml. Web. 22 June. 2016.