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If anything, perhaps Elroy Face of the Pirates (#31 all-time, w/193 saves), could be considered the forerunner of the modern day relief pitcher.

Elroy Face should be a Hall of Famer, as I see it, and I hope he will get in at least while he is still alive. And while I am impressed by your argument overall, the record still remains that it was Joe Page and Jim Konstanty who established the root hunger for the hotsy-totsy relief ace (we're not talking who was where on the best of all time list, we are talking about who created the hunger in the first place, which is something distinct), though it certainly wasn't very long before just who or what that ace would or wouldn't be or do began taking the forms you ascribe.

You've listed actually a couple of very underrated relief pitchers, Ted Abernathy and Stu Miller in particular. Ron Perranoski may well be one of the more overrated relievers of his era - Dick Radatz at his peak was far better than Perranoski, who had the visibility advantage of pitching for a club perenially in pennant contention and predominantly so by virtue of their starting rotation. Had Dick Radatz not let himself get horribly out of shape after his three lights-out seasons in Boston, he might well have qualified as a Hall of Famer. He had that kind of talent.

And Radatz (who made Perranoski resemble a finesse pitcher) was the actual prototype for the exploding lights-out closers who cropped up beginning in the mid-to-late 1970s...Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Sparky Lyle, Bruce Sutter, Dennis (the Menace) Eckersley, and all the power relievers are, for all intent and purpose, Dick Radatz's children, which would make them just about Joe Page's grandchildren. I'd love to see closers returning along the lines of a Quisenberry or a Gene Garber - finesse pitchers who can get you out with a mixup of breaking and offspeed stuff. Or, a Tug McGraw, who could go to power when he needed to and go to the finesse material when he needed to. But once a prejudice takes hold, it is worn down only arduously.

I can't see anyone seriously rating Bryan Harvey among the all-time great relief pitchers. He was great...for only a couple of seasons, really, before his arm blew out (and there remain questions as to whether his arm blew because of his own pitching style); he is more legitimately viewed as something of the Herb Score of relief pitchers: he is not a great relief pitcher merely because he might have been a great relief pitcher. Career-ending injuries aren't exactly his fault, of course, but Bryan Harvey simply did not, because he could not, make a proper case for listing among the all-time great or impact (a la Page) relievers. Mariano Rivera belongs among the all-time greats. Bryan Harvey does not.

We'll have to agree to disagree about Page and Konstanty, although I did concede their relative importance. As you said, Dick Radaz of Boston, was one of the first true power relievers in the game, but was only effective for about three years, 1962-1964. But I never even alluded, that Brian Harvey was one of the best ever, just that he has the lowest ERA among the top 50 relievers all-time.

Let me put it this way, if I were building a team to represent the 1960`s, my first choice for a relief pitcher would be, Hoyt Wilhelm. He spanned and connected the 1950`s and 1960`s with the 1970`s and was the standout reliever of his day.