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Highest number of Win-Save Combos

Posted by Sean Forman on August 1, 2007

I got a question as to which pitchers have combined for the most wins and saves. Since our db goes back 50 years, this is almost certainly the all-time top list. This is a list I did special and can't be done on the Play Index.

 | Winner            | Saver              | Team | Years     | games |
 +-------------------+--------------------+------+-----------+-------+
 | Bob Welch         | Dennis Eckersley   | OAK  | 1988-1994 |    57 |
 | Andy Pettitte     | Mariano Rivera     | NYY  | 1996-2003 |    45 |
 | Dave Stewart      | Dennis Eckersley   | OAK  | 1987-1995 |    43 |
 | Mike Mussina      | Mariano Rivera     | NYY  | 2001-2007 |    37 |
 | Kevin Tapani      | Rick Aguilera      | MIN  | 1990-2000 |    37 |
 | Jimmy Key         | Tom Henke          | TOR  | 1985-1992 |    37 |
 | Wilson Alvarez    | Roberto Hernandez  | CHW  | 1992-1999 |    36 |
 | Kevin Appier      | Jeff Montgomery    | KCR  | 1990-1999 |    36 |
 | Joey Hamilton     | Trevor Hoffman     | SDP  | 1994-1998 |    35 |
 | Roger Clemens     | Mariano Rivera     | NYY  | 1999-2003 |    33 |
 | Tom Gordon        | Jeff Montgomery    | KCR  | 1989-1995 |    33 |
 | Mike Moore        | Dennis Eckersley   | OAK  | 1989-1992 |    32 |
 | Johan Santana     | Joe Nathan         | MIN  | 2004-2007 |    32 |
 | Orlando Hernandez | Mariano Rivera     | NYY  | 1998-2004 |    32 |
 | Woody Williams    | Trevor Hoffman     | SDP  | 1999-2006 |    31 |
 | Ron Guidry        | Rich Gossage       | NYY  | 1978-1983 |    31 |
 | Mike Scott        | Dave Smith         | HOU  | 1983-1990 |    30 |
 | Bobby Jones       | John Franco        | NYM  | 1994-2000 |    30 |
 | Rick Reuschel     | Bruce Sutter       | CHC  | 1976-1980 |    30 |
 | Andy Ashby        | Trevor Hoffman     | SDP  | 1994-1999 |    30 |
 | Russ Ortiz        | Robb Nen           | SFG  | 1998-2002 |    30 |
 | Dock Ellis        | Dave Giusti        | PIT  | 1970-1975 |    28 |
 | Chan Ho Park      | Jeff Shaw          | LAD  | 1998-2001 |    28 |
 | Livan Hernandez   | Robb Nen           | FLA  | 1997-2002 |    28 |
 | Scott Erickson    | Rick Aguilera      | MIN  | 1990-1995 |    28 |
 | Shane Reynolds    | Billy Wagner       | HOU  | 1996-2002 |    27 |
 | Bud Black         | Dan Quisenberry    | KCR  | 1982-1987 |    27 |
 | Roy Oswalt        | Brad Lidge         | HOU  | 2004-2007 |    27 |
 | Greg Swindell     | Doug Jones         | CLE  | 1988-1993 |    27 |
 | Dennis Leonard    | Dan Quisenberry    | KCR  | 1979-1986 |    27 |
 | Don Sutton        | Jim Brewer         | LAD  | 1968-1975 |    27 |
 | Mark Mulder       | Jason Isringhausen | OAK  | 2000-2006 |    27 |
 | Bob Tewksbury     | Lee Smith          | STL  | 1990-1993 |    26 |
 | Chuck Finley      | Troy Percival      | CAL  | 1996-1999 |    26 |
 | Dave Stieb        | Tom Henke          | TOR  | 1985-1992 |    26 |
 | Larry Gura        | Dan Quisenberry    | KCR  | 1979-1984 |    26 |
 | Tom Glavine       | Mark Wohlers       | ATL  | 1991-1998 |    26 |
 | Joe Hesketh       | Jeff Reardon       | MON  | 1984-1992 |    25 |
 | Hideo Nomo        | Eric Gagne         | LAD  | 2002-2004 |    25 |
 | David Wells       | Mariano Rivera     | NYY  | 1997-2003 |    25 |

Related posts:

    Highest WHIP, 45+ saves
    Highest WPA in a blown save
    Nine Is Usually The Magic Number For Torre’s Yanks
    Highest OPS+ for 2B or SS 35 or older
    Highest HR rate

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 1st, 2007 at 9:36 am and is filed under Game Finders. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “Highest number of Win-Save Combos”

  1. Timinator Says:
    August 1st, 2007 at 11:54 am

    Interesting that no starting pitcher shows up more than once on the list, while the standout closers show up multiple times, e.g., Rivera (5), Eckersley (3), Hoffman (3), Quisenberry (3), and several others with 2.

  2. Andy Says:
    August 1st, 2007 at 12:11 pm

    There are a lot of interesting things to note about this stat. The truly great pitchers who won a lot of games might not rank too high on this list because they might have been involved in a lot of complete games where no save was registered. A game having a save situation at all depends on a lot of things including (obviously) the number of runs scored and (less obviously) the quality of middle relief, the need to use middle relief in the game, etc.
    Certainly the names on this list are among the better pitchers in the game, but there are a few notable exception such as Bobby Jones, Larry Gura, Joe Hesketh, and Dennis Leonard. It's pretty clear that being an excellent closer is the dominating factor for this stat.

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