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Thread: Top 10 bullpens in MLB history

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    Member Captain Hook's Avatar
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    Top 10 bullpens in MLB history

    Buster Olney just posted what he thinks are the top 10 bullpens in MLB history. Olney has the 1990 Reds coming in at number two on the list with the 2012 Reds just missing the top 10. The article is for insiders only but I'll list his top 10 and let RZ weigh in.

    1. 1998 Yankees

    2. 1990 Reds

    3. 2003 Astros

    4. 2003 Dodgers

    5. 1990 Athletics

    6. 1972 Athletics

    7. 2002 Angels

    8. 2010 Giants

    9. 2012 Rays

    10. 2002 Braves

    Here's the link for those with access.
    http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog/...lb-history-mlb
    Last edited by Captain Hook; 01-21-2013 at 09:23 PM.


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    Re: Top 10 bullpens in MLB history

    I'd take the '75 Reds over the nasty boys. Eastwick, McEnaney, Carroll and Borbon was a deeper unit and all provided over 90 innings with ERAs below 3.00. People forget that Charlton spent half the season in the rotation. After that, the pen wasn't nearly so deep and they didn't give as many dominant innings that the '75 team did.
    All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!

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    Re: Top 10 bullpens in MLB history

    Quote Originally Posted by mth123 View Post
    I'd take the '75 Reds over the nasty boys. Eastwick, McEnaney, Carroll and Borbon was a deeper unit and all provided over 90 innings with ERAs below 3.00. People forget that Charlton spent half the season in the rotation. After that, the pen wasn't nearly so deep and they didn't give as many dominant innings that the '75 team did.
    I disagree.

    Those guys were all 'good', but none of them were 'great' despite their shiny ERAs (which can be misleading for relievers). Borbon in particular was rather 'meh'. He was the Logan Ondrusek of the Big Red Machine. Sure, his ERA looked nice, but as a fan you never felt confident when he entered the game.

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    Re: Top 10 bullpens in MLB history

    I remember attending a Reds-Astros game in Cincinnati in 2003 and watching the parade of Lidge, Dotel, and Wagner pitch the 7th-8th-9th and thinking it was the most dominant pitching I had ever seen in my young baseball fanhood. It made quite the impact on me.

    FanGraphs had a good article about Brad Lidge's 2004 season last week...

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    Beer is good!! George Anderson's Avatar
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    Re: Top 10 bullpens in MLB history

    I would add the 81' yankees to the list. Rich Gossage and Ron Davis had quite the year.
    "Boys, I'm one of those umpires that misses 'em every once in a while so if it's close, you'd better hit it." Cal Hubbard

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    Re: Top 10 bullpens in MLB history

    Quote Originally Posted by Steve4192 View Post
    I disagree.

    Those guys were all 'good', but none of them were 'great' despite their shiny ERAs (which can be misleading for relievers). Borbon in particular was rather 'meh'. He was the Logan Ondrusek of the Big Red Machine. Sure, his ERA looked nice, but as a fan you never felt confident when he entered the game.
    I was confident with any of those guys. The '90 team was a 2 man show for half the season.
    All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!

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    Churlish Johnny Footstool's Avatar
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    Re: Top 10 bullpens in MLB history

    Quote Originally Posted by mth123 View Post
    I was confident with any of those guys. The '90 team was a 2 man show for half the season.
    No love for Scott Scudder? The Scud Missile? Really?
    "I prefer books and movies where the conflict isn't of the extreme cannibal apocalypse variety I guess." Redsfaithful

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    Re: Top 10 bullpens in MLB history

    Quote Originally Posted by mth123 View Post
    I was confident with any of those guys. The '90 team was a 2 man show for half the season.
    I was the opposite.

    As a kid growing up watching the Big Red Machine, I always cringed when Borbon came into a close game. Pedro gave up 10.4 H/9 and only delivered 2.1 K/9. He was constantly pitching himself into trouble. He had a real knack for getting out of that trouble, but it was nerve wracking watching him try and protect a lead.

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    Re: Top 10 bullpens in MLB history

    Quote Originally Posted by mth123 View Post
    I'd take the '75 Reds over the nasty boys. Eastwick, McEnaney, Carroll and Borbon was a deeper unit and all provided over 90 innings with ERAs below 3.00. People forget that Charlton spent half the season in the rotation. After that, the pen wasn't nearly so deep and they didn't give as many dominant innings that the '75 team did.
    I agree the BRM pen was underrated, but the game was so different back then it's hard to compare the two pens. Sparky was one of the first managers to rely heavily on his pen, with multiple relievers in specific roles. Still the roles were not as nearly as defined as they are now, and more relievers were needed to finish games. The difference in quality between the end of the game relievers and middle relievers wasn't that great for any team. Very few teams has a single dominant closer back then.

    By 1990, you had a closer and a set up guy who got nearly all the key outs late in the game. Middle relievers were mostly used in mop up situations, so they didn't have to be as dominant. Most teams by then would only have one dominant reliever, so the Reds having three (four if you count the underrated Tim Layana) was a rarity, and a seperated their pen from everyone else's in the league.
    Hoping to change my username to 75769023

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    Re: Top 10 bullpens in MLB history

    Quote Originally Posted by Steve4192 View Post
    I was the opposite.

    As a kid growing up watching the Big Red Machine, I always cringed when Borbon came into a close game. Pedro gave up 10.4 H/9 and only delivered 2.1 K/9. He was constantly pitching himself into trouble. He had a real knack for getting out of that trouble, but it was nerve wracking watching him try and protect a lead.
    Borbon's biggest contribution was 6 consecutive seasons of 120+ innings, all in relief, and with an ERA below 3.35. That's 750 innings over six seasons. How many starters have done that over the last decade, let alone a reliever?
    Hoping to change my username to 75769023

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    Re: Top 10 bullpens in MLB history

    Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Footstool View Post
    No love for Scott Scudder? The Scud Missile? Really?
    And don't forget about Tim "wow, a rule 5 draft pick who kept his job all year" Layana.

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    Re: Top 10 bullpens in MLB history

    Quote Originally Posted by 757690 View Post
    Borbon's biggest contribution was 6 consecutive seasons of 120+ innings, all in relief, and with an ERA below 3.35. That's 750 innings over six seasons. How many starters have done that over the last decade, let alone a reliever?
    Bronson Arroyo... 1,247.2 IP over last 6 seasons.

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    Re: Top 10 bullpens in MLB history

    Quote Originally Posted by 757690 View Post
    Borbon's biggest contribution was 6 consecutive seasons of 120+ innings, all in relief, and with an ERA below 3.35. That's 750 innings over six seasons. How many starters have done that over the last decade, let alone a reliever?
    Right.

    Borbon was an 'innings eater', not a guy who was considered dominant. Every team in baseball had a guy like him. He was a character and a fan favorite, but he wasn't anything special.

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    I wear Elly colored glass WrongVerb's Avatar
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    Re: Top 10 bullpens in MLB history

    Quote Originally Posted by Steve4192 View Post
    Right.

    Borbon was an 'innings eater', not a guy who was considered dominant. Every team in baseball had a guy like him. He was a character and a fan favorite, but he wasn't anything special.
    Borbon was Sam Lecure
    Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. -- Carl Sagan (Pale Blue Dot)

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    Re: Top 10 bullpens in MLB history

    Quote Originally Posted by Steve4192 View Post
    Right.

    Borbon was an 'innings eater', not a guy who was considered dominant. Every team in baseball had a guy like him. He was a character and a fan favorite, but he wasn't anything special.
    I'd say all those innings with that ERA made him pretty special.


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