[taterjay]

yep, in the 70s. Al Hrabosky, Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage were some of them.

[boop]

I remember there was some "controversy" about relievers. In Sparky Lyle's autobiography he talked about hating to be the "set up man".

Never understood why he didn't like it.

[Alberta's Child]

Back in those days the closer was used differently than today. It wasn't unusual for a pitcher like Sparky Lyle or Rich Gossage to pitch two or three innings to close out a game. Those guys also came in late in games where their team was tied or trailing, so they had a lot of wins as relief pitchers in addition to saves.

Nowadays, a "two-inning save" is a rarity in baseball -- and closers rarely get a victory unless they're brought into a tie game in extra innings.