A save is an official statistic in baseball that helps measures a relief pitcher's value to the team. When a relief pitcher comes into the game in the final innings and has an opportunity to close out the game, he can earn a save if his team never surrenders the lead.
Save Rules
The save became an official baseball statistic in 1969. According to rule 10.19 of the official Major League Baseball rules, a relief pitcher gets credit for a save if he enters the game with his team leading by three runs or fewer and pitches at least one inning and closes out the game. A relief pitcher is also credited with a save if the tying run is on base, in the batter's box or on deck, regardless of what point he enters the game and he finishes the game. A relief pitcher is also credited with a save if he pitches three innings and finishes the game.
History of the Save
The save was first promoted by Chicago Tribune sportswriter Jerome Holtzman, who believed pitchers who closed out games and helped their team win a game deserved recognition. Holtzman came up with the idea in 1960 and would publish saves as an unofficial statistic in the Chicago Tribune and The Sporting News on a weekly basis. When Major League Baseball added saves as an official statistic in 1969, it became the sport's first new statistic since it added runs batted in prior to the 1920 season.
Modern Save
Most teams like to use their closer for one full inning. In typical circumstances since the mid-1980s, the closer will be brought into the game to start the ninth inning with a lead of three runs or fewer. The manager is only asking for the closer to get the final three outs of the game. Dennis Eckersley of the Oakland A's, who had previously been a starter in his career when he pitched for Cleveland, Boston and the Chicago Cubs, became the standard bearer for the one-inning save under manager Tony LaRussa. Eckersley led the American League with 45 saves in 1988 and Oakland won the pennant. Most managers followed LaRussa's lead and have used their closers for one inning since then.
Saves Leaders
Trevor Hoffman, who played the majority of his career pitching for the San Diego Padres before retiring after the 2010 season, is baseball's all-time saves leader with 601. However, Yankee relief pitcher Mariano Rivera was right on his heels with 578 saves at the time of publication. No other relief pitcher has more than 500 career saves. Lee Smith, John Franco and Billy Wagner are the next three on the all-time save list.
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