The 1990s had the best run of Cy Young winners ever

The 1990s were the peak of the steroid era. But while we all experienced gaudy offensive numbers during the decade, we may have witnessed the best Cy Young era in baseball history. Let me explain.

The current run of Cy Young winners include some great young aces and one who I think is already Hall of Fame bound.

Justin Verlander, Tim Lincecum, Clayton Kershaw and Felix Hernandez are all off to amazing starts to their careers. But as I wrote last night, Brandon Webb and Jake Peavy got off to amazing starts too.

CC Sabathia and Roy Halladay are, I think, either Hall of Fame bound or damn close to it. (Cliff Lee and Zack Greinke will need to pile up some more ace seasons to get Cooperstown talk.)

If Verlander, Lincecum, Kershaw and King Felix keep up their great careers, then we could be in the middle of one of the great stretches of Cy Young winners ever.

Or it could be like the 1980s, where pitchers like Fernando Valenzuela, Bret Saberhagen, Frank Viola, Doc Gooden and Orel Hershiser put together great starts to their career but couldn't translate them into Cooperstown.

I started thinking about when was the best era of Cy Young winners. And I don't mean best stats but rather the most straight years of future Hall of Famers.

I figured it would have been the first few years of the Cy Young (1956-1966) when they gave out only one award for both leagues. And indeed there were Warren Spahn, Early Wynn, Whitey Ford, Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax winning awards.

But Don Newcombe, Bob Turley, Vern Law and Dean Chance also won as well.

1968 to 1973 saw 6 straight years of future Hall of Famers winning the National League Cy Young Award. (Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Fergie Jenkins and Steve Carlton.) In that same stretch the American League had Jim Lonborg, Denny McLain, Mike Cuellar and Jim Perry, none of whom are in the Hall.

Between 1972 and 1976, Hall of Famers Gaylord Perry, Catfish Hunter and Jim Palmer won the American League Cy Young Award while Randy Jones and Mike Marshall broke up the Hall of Fame streak in the National League.

The National League started a future Hall of Fame streak between 1977 and 1980 with Steve Carlton, Gaylord Perry and Bruce Sutter winning. The late Mike Flanagan won in the American League as well as non Hall of Famers Sparky Lyle, Ron Guidry and Steve Stone.

Then between 1981 and 1990 came a run where Rollie Fingers and Steve Carlton were the only future Hall of Famers to win (although steroids or not, I think Clemens will eventually get in.)

Then comes the run that should catch all of our eyes.

From 1991 to 2001 the American League Cy Young Award winners were Roger Clemens, Dennis Eckersley, Jack McDowell, David Cone, Randy Johnson, Pat Hentgen and Pedro Martinez.

The National League Cy Young Award winners in that stretch were Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson.

Assuming Roger Clemens gets in EVENTUALLY, then only Jack McDowell, Pat Hentgen and David Cone are NOT Hall of Famers in the bunch.

That's 19 out of 22 Cy Young Awards handed out to Hall of Fame pitchers (Eckersley is already in.)

Seriously, Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson should get 100% of the Hall of Fame or some writers should get their credentials revoked. Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz all deserve to get in as well.

And someday Roger Clemens (and Barry Bonds for that matter) will get in.

Did we realize it when we saw it what a great run we were watching?
Did we note how great the PITCHING was in the steroid era? Or at least what star power there was?

Let's root for Felix Hernandez, Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, Zack Grienke, Tim Lincecum, CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay to continue to put up ace numbers. It would be cool to see ANOTHER great Hall of Famers winning the Cy Young era.

Post Season MVPs versus their past or future teams - Another insane Sully Baseball list

For those of you who read my blog regularly, you know that every once in a while an idle thought would enter my cranium and it would evolve into me doing an elaborate list writing entry here.

My entire 800 page Home Grown vs Acquired Series started from the simple question "I wonder if the Red Sox had better luck acquiring players from other teams or developing their own talent."

I chronicled how my ideas can germinate into a blog post with my "Making of a Blog Post" entry. Well it happened again.

While on the treadmill watching coverage of the Yankees and Rangers courtship of Cliff Lee, I thought "The Yankees are trying to bring in a guy who consistently beat them in October. I wonder how many players have joined a team they beat in the playoffs."

Later I got more specific. "I wonder how many times a playoff MVP joined the team that he beat."

Then I thought "I wonder how many playoff MVPs won their award against a team they USED to play for."

And finally the question "How many players won a playoff MVP and then later played in the post season AGAINST the team that he won the award for?"

This is how my mind works, people.

And I can't just leave these thoughts hanging.
I have to list them.

And I did.

Post Season MVPs who joined the team they beat

FRANK ROBINSON
1966 World Series MVP for the Baltimore Orioles against the
Los Angeles Dodgers.
Joined the Dodgers in 1972





KIRK GIBSON
1984 ALCS MVP for the Detroit Tigers against the
Kansas City Royals
Joined the Royals in 1991





DENNIS ECKERSLEY
1988 ALCS MVP for the Oakland Athletics against the
Boston Red Sox
Joined the Red Sox in 1998




OREL HERSHISER
1988 NLCS MVP for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the
New York Mets
Joined the Mets in 1999.





RICKEY HENDERSON
1989 ALCS MVP for the Oakland Athletics against the
Toronto Blue Jays
Joined the Blue Jays in 1993





RANDY JOHNSON
2001 World Series Co-MVP for the Arizona Diamondbacks against the New York Yankees
Joined the Yankees in 2005.

Post Season MVPs who beat
a team they used to play for

LEW BURDETTE
1957 World Series MVP for the Milwaukee Braves against the
New York Yankees.
Played for the Yankees in 1950.





MIKE SCOTT
1986 NLCS MVP for the Houston Astros against the
New York Mets.
Played for the Mets from 1979-1982





DENNIS ECKERSLEY
1988 ALCS MVP for the Oakland Athletics against the
Boston Red Sox
Played for the Red Sox from 1978-1984





JOSE RIJO
1990 World Series MVP for the Cincinnati Reds against the Oakland Athletics
Played for the Athletics from 1985-1987

Post Season MVPs who later played against their team in the Post Season

DON LARSEN
1956 World Series MVP for the
New York Yankees
Pitched in the 1962 World Series for the San Francisco Giants against the Yankees





REGGIE JACKSON
1973 World Series MVP for the
Oakland A’s
Played in the 1981 ALCS for the New York Yankees against the A’s






I find it interesting that Dennis Eckersley appeared on the list twice.
I am guessing you did too.

Cliff Lee's Trade is the Sequel to the Mark Langston trade

The Mariners went into the season with some optimism and some solid talent... but a slow start took them out of the race early and not even the presence of Ken Griffey Jr. could turn things around.

So Seattle took their left handed ace who was in his walk year and traded him off. It seemed like New York, looking for another October run, was the likely landing spot, but instead sent him to a team that had never won a pennant before and despite financial troubles was going all in.

The Mariners fell apart after the trade but some good solid talent came back giving them some optimism for the future.

Meanwhile the ace flourished at first, but then came back down to earth.

Which Mariners team am I talking about?
This year's team? Or the 1989 team?

Which left handed ace am I talking about?
Cliff Lee? Mark Langston?

In 1989 there was some optimism with the arrival of manager Jim Lefebvre and rookie Ken Griffey Jr. And a quick glance sees there was some talent on that team.

An infield of Jim Presley at third, Harold Reynolds at second and Alvin Davis at first is nothing to sneeze at. And oh yeah, they had a young shortstop named Omar Vizquel.

Griffey anchored the outfield that had Hac Man Leonard and a young Jay Buhner.

Plus pitchers who had some success in their careers like Billy Swift, Erik Hanson, Scott Bankhead and Mike Jackson were all on the staff.

But they fell into 5th place well behind the A's when it was clear that Mark Langston, their best pitcher and a legit #1 starter, wasn't coming back.

The Mets looked like the likely landing spot as they had tons of young pitching talent they seemed ready to move. (They ultimately would trade Rick Aguilera, Kevin Tapani and David West that summer to the Twins for Frank Viola... a move that helped clinch a World Series for Minnesota, not New York.)

Instead they found a partner with the Expos who were jammed packed with talent and had their eyes set on unseating the Mets.

Langston dominated the Padres in his first start, striking out 13 and giving up 1 earned run over 8 innings.

He began his Expos career with a 10-3 record and people declaring him the second coming of Steve Carlton. The Expos were in first by the All Star break and at the height of Langston's winning ways, the Expos built up a 3 1/2 game lead and remained in first place by themselves as late as August 4.

When Langston threw a complete game shutout on July 25th against Philadelphia, the Expos were riding a 6 game winning streak and matched their 3 1/2 game lead for the widest margin of the year.

Then the roof caved in.

The Expos lost 40 of their last 62 games. Langston lost 6 of his last 8 decisions and the Expos, who seemed to have everything in line to win the National League East for the first time in a non Strike Shortened season, finished the year at .500, 4th place and 12 games behind the Cubs.

Langston left Montreal for the Angels.
Meanwhile one of the players in the haul from Montreal became a more fearsome pitcher than Langston ever was... future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson who did indeed lead the Mariners to their first ever post season berths.

Which brings us to 2010.

The bookends of Ken Griffey's career has him see aces dealt from the Mariners.
Cliff Lee is sent not to the Yankees but to the Rangers, who like the Expos, are pushing their chips to the center of the table.

Like Langston, Lee came out smoking but has slowed down considerably.

Now with an 8 1/2 game lead heading into the last day of August, it is safe to say the Rangers aren't going away. But can Lee turn things around to help deliver a pennant?

And there seems to be little doubt that, like Langston in Quebec, his stay there is temporary.

I wonder who in the haul back be the future Hall of Famer? I've got my eye on you, Justin Smoak.

By the way... there's another part to this analogy of the Mariners dealing ace left handed starters.

Remember when the Mariners had to deal Randy Johnson when HE was facing free agency?

Once again they found an unlikely trading partner looking to finally win a pennant (The Astros)... the ace pitched well but fell short of a pennant (Johnson lost to the Padres twice in the Division Series)... and left town (to the Diamondbacks)... and the Mariners got back a nice haul (Freddy Garcia and Carlos Guillen were big parts of the 2000 and 2001 playoff teams.)

What I am saying is... the Mariners are good at this whole "trading a left handed ace away" thing.

Getting October relief from Starters

One of my favorite aspects of playoff baseball is seeing pitchers being used in unusual roles.

Recently, especially since LaRussa regimented the bullpen roles in Oakland in the late 80s, pitchers are given very specific jobs.

Starters are supposed to give about 6 innings.

There is a middle reliever.

An 8th inning set up guy.

And a closer whose sole job is to pitch the 9th.

And you hear players whine when their roles change. "I'm not used to my new job."

I always thought their job was to get the batters out.

Well often in the post season, those roles go out the window and you'll see starters coming out of the bullpen. And not for the Joba Chamberlain reason, in that he's a great reliever who should never have been in the rotation.

Sometimes a manager will turn to a starting pitcher to get his team out of a jam. And there is always a roll of the dice element to it that I can't help but love.

So here is the latest Sully Baseball insane list...

PITCHERS WHO STARTED A GAME AND GOT EITHER A SAVE OR A RELIEF WIN IN THE SAME POST SEASON SERIES

DOC WHITE, White Sox

1906 World Series
White Sox over Cubs, 4-2.

Started and lost Game 2.

Relieved Ed Walsh in Game 5 and pitched 3 shutout innings for the save as the White Sox won 8-6 and took a 3-2 lead in the series.

Started the very next day and threw a complete game clincher in Game 6.

MORDECAI "THREE FINGER" BROWN, Cubs

1908 World Series
Cubs over Tigers, 4-1

Blew a save in Game 1 but held on for the win as the Cubs scored 5 in the 9th to won.

Started Game 4 and threw a complete game shutout.

1910 World Series

Athletics over Cubs, 4-1

Started and lost Game 2.

Pitched the 9th and 10th innings for the Game 4 win out of the bullpen.

Lost the clinching Game 5.

SMOKEY JOE WOOD, Red Sox

1912 World Series

Red Sox over Giants, 4-3 with 1 tie.

Started and won Games 1 and 4.

Started and lost Game 7.

Pitched final three innings and won the clinching Game 8.

SEATTLE BILL JAMES, Braves

1914 World Series

Braves over Athletics, 4-0

Started and threw a complete game shutout in Game 2.

Pitched 2 innings in relief to win Game 3.

RED FABER, White Sox

1917 World Series

White Sox over Giants, 4-2

Started and won game 2.

Started and lost game 4.

Pitched the final 2 innings to win game 5 in relief.

Started and won the Game 6 clincher.

JOE BUSH, Red Sox

1918 World Series

Red Sox over Cubs, 4-2

Started and lost Game 2.

Relieved Babe Ruth in Game 4 in the 9th inning and a one run lead with 2 on and nobody out. He retired the first batter and got the second to hit into a game ending double play for the save.

WALTER JOHNSON, Senators

1924 World Series

Senators over Giants, 4-3

Started and lost games 1 and 5.

Pitched 4 shutout innings in relief to win the Game 7 clincher in extra innings.

REY KREMER, Pirates

1925 World Series.

Pirates over Senators, 4-3

Started and lost game 3.

Started and won game 6.

Pitched 4 innings letting up 1 run in relief to win the Game 7 clincher.

GROVER CLEVELAND ALEXANDER, Cardinals

1926 World Series
Cardinals over Yankees, 4-3.

Threw complete game victories in Games 2 and 6.

Relieved Jesse Haines in Game 7 for one of the most famous World Series saves of all time.

Leading by one with the bases loaded in the 7th, he struck out future Hall of Famer Tony Lazzeri. He retired the next 5 batters before walking Babe Ruth with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th. Ruth was caught stealing to end the World Series, giving Alexander the clinching save.

LEFTY GROVE, Athletics

1930 World Series

Athletics over Cardinals, 4-2

Started and won Game 1.

Started and lost Game 4.

Pitched the final two innings to win Game 5 in relief.



BILL HALLAHAN, Cardinals

1931 World Series
Cardinals over Athletics, 4-3

Started and won games 2 and 5.

Came out of the bullpen to record the final out of Game 7 and get the save

SCHOOLBOY ROWE, Tigers

1935 World Series
Tigers over Cubs, 4-2

Started and lost Games 1 and 5.

Pitched the final 4 innings and got the win in relief for the 11 innings Game 3 victory.

SPUD CHANDLER, Yankees

1942 World Series

Cardinals over Yankees, 4-1

Recorded the final out for a save in the Yankees 7-4 Game 1 victory.

Started and lost Game 3.

HANK BOROWY, Cubs

1945 World Series.

Tigers over Cubs, 4-3

Started and won game 1.

Started and lost game 5.

Pitched final 4 innings in relief to win Game 6.

Started and lasted only three batters for the Game 7 loss.

HARRY BRECHEEN, Cardinals

1946 World Series.

Cardinals over Red Sox, 4-3

Started and won games 2 and 6.

Pitched the final two innings of Game 7, earning the win in relief and clinching the World Series.

RALPH BRANCA, Dodgers

1947 World Series

Yankees over Dodgers, 4-3.

Started and lost Game 1.

Came out of the bullpen to win Game 6.

WARREN SPAHN, Braves

1948 World Series

Indians over Braves, 4-2

Started and lost Game 2.

Pitched the final 5 2/3 shutout innings out of the pen with the Braves on the verge of elimination to win Game 5.

GENE BEARDEN, Indians

1948 World Series

Indians over Braves, 4-2.

Started and threw a complete game victory in Game 3.

Relieved Bob Lemon in the 8th inning of Game 6 with the bases loaded and the go ahead run at the plate.

He escaped the inning with the lead and the next inning got the save as the Indians won their last World Series as of this writing.

ALLIE REYNOLDS, Yankees

1950 World Series

Yankees over Phillies 4-0

Won a 10 inning complete game in Game 2.

Finished the 9th inning for the save in the clinching Game 4.

1952 World Series

Yankees over Dodgers 4-3

Started and lost Game 1.

Started and won Game 4.

Pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to get the save in Game 6.

Threw three innings in relief to win Game 7.

1953 World Series

Yankees over Dodgers, 4-2.

Started Game 1.

Recorded the final two outs for the save in Game 5.

Pitched the final two innings for the clinching Game 6 victory out of the bullpen.

JOHNNY ANTONELLI, Giants

1954 World Series.
Giants over Indians. 4-0.

Pitched complete game victory to win Game 2.

Pitched the final 1 2/3 innings to earn the save in Game 4 and be, as of this writing, the last pitcher to ever clinch a World Series for the Giants.

BOB GRIM, Yankees

1955 World Series

Dodgers over Yankees. 4-3

Pitched the 9th inning for the save in Game 1.

Started and lost game 5.

DON LARSEN, Yankees

1957 World Series

Braves over Yankees. 4-3

Won Game 3 in relief, pitching the final 7 1/3 innings.

Started Game 7 and lost.

BOB TURLEY, Yankees


1958 World Series.
Yankees over Braves, 4-3.

Started and lasted only 5 batters in Game 2.

Started and threw a complete game shutout to stave off elimination in Game 5.

Ended a potential World Series winning rally by getting the last out and the save in Game 6.

Pitched the final 6 2/3 innings out of the bullpen to clinch Game 7 and earn Series MVP honors.

DICK DONOVAN, White Sox

1959 World Series
Dodgers over White Sox, 4-2

Started and lost Game 3.

Came into the 8th inning with the bases loaded, one out and the White Sox up 1-0 trying to hold off elimination.

Donovan retired Furillo and Zimmer and then threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning for the save.

HARVEY HADDIX, Pirates

1960 World Series

Pirates over Yankees, 4-3.

Started and won Game 5.

Blew the save in Game 7 but was the winning pitcher when Bill Mazeroski homered.

GARY BELL, Red Sox

1967 World Series

Cardinals over Red Sox, 4-3

Started and lost Game 3.

Pitched the final two innings for the save in Game 6.

DAVE McNALLY, Orioles

1971 World Series
Pirates over Orioles, 4-3.

Started and won Game 1.

Started and lost Game 5.

In the 10th with the Pirates putting together a potential World Series winning rally, McNally got Al Oliver to fly out to end the threat. In the bottom of the 10th the Orioles won, giving McNally the victory in relief.

VIDA BLUE, A's

1972 World Series.
A's over Reds, 4-2

Pitched the final 2 1/3 innings for the save in Game 1.

Started and lost Game 6.

JIM "CATFISH" HUNTER, A's

1972 World Series.
A's over Reds, 4-2

Started and won Game 1.

Started Game 5.

Pitched 2 2/3 innings of relief to win the clinching Game 7.

1974 World Series

A's over Dodgers, 4-1

Recorded the final out to save Game 1.

Started and won Game 3.

RICK WISE, Red Sox

1975 World Series.

Reds over Red Sox. 4-3

Started Game 3.

Pitched in relief in Game 6, working out of a jam and becoming the winning pitcher when Fisk homered off of the foul pole.

BERT BLYLEVEN, Pirates

1979 World Series.
Pirates over Orioles. 4-3.

Started Game 2.

Down 1-0 and facing elimination in game 5, Blyleven came out of the bullpen in the 6th inning throwing 4 shutout innings. The Pirates rallied and Blyleven got the win in relief, saving the series.

DICK RUTHVEN, Phillies

1980 NLCS

Phillies over Astros, 3-2.

Started Game 2.

Entered the deciding game in the bottom of the 9th with the game tied at 7. He retired all three batters who could have clinched the pennant. When the Phillies scored in the 10th, he retired the Astros in order to get the win and clinch the pennant.

CHARLIE LEIBRANDT, Royals

1985 ALCS

Royals over Blue Jays. 4-3

Started and lost Games 1 and 4.

Entered Game 7 in the 4th inning and pitched into the 9th inning. He got the win and the Royals won the pennant.

OREL HERSHISER, Dodgers

1988 NLCS

Dodgers over Mets, 4-3

Started games 1 and 3.

In game 4 with closer Jay Howell suspended and set up man Alejandro Pena already thrown 3 innings, Lasorda tried to use Tim Leary and Jesse Orosco to close out in the 12th with a 1 run lead.

The Mets loaded the bases and Hershiser came in. He closed out the game and got an unlikely save.

He threw a complete game shutout in Game 7 to clinch the pennant and win the MVP.

JIMMY KEY, Blue Jays

1992 World Series.

Blue Jays over Braves. 4-2

Started and won Game 4.

Relieved closer Tom Henke in Game 6 in the 10th inning. When the Blue Jays took the lead in the 11th, Key pitched in the bottom of the 11th. He gave way to reliever Mike Timlin who got the save and Key got the win for the World Series clincher.

RANDY JOHNSON, Mariners

1995 AL Division Series.

Mariners over Yankees, 3-2.

Started and won Game 3.

Was brought into the 9th inning on one day's rest for the Game 5 clincher. He stopped a Yankee rally and pitched into 11th inning. He let up a run in the 11th but the Mariners scored 2 in the bottom of the 11th ending the series and giving Johnson the win.

LIVAN HERNANDEZ, Marlins

1997 NLCS

Marlins over Braves. 4-2

Relieved Tony Saunders in Game 3 and got the win after the Marlins rallied off of John Smoltz in the 6th.

2 days later threw a complete game victory in Game 5 where he struck out 15 batters (aided by Eric Gregg's generous strike zone) and earned the series MVP.

GREG MADDUX, Braves

1998 NLCS

Padres over Braves, 4-2

Started and lost Game 3.

Came into the bottom of the 9th with a 1 run lead facing elimination. Maddux retired the first two batters before walking Finley. Got Tony Gwynn, who represented the pennant at the plate, to ground out and earn the only save in his big league career.

KEVIN MILLWOOD, Braves

1999 NL Division Series

Braves over Astros. 3-1

Threw complete game 1 hit victory in Game 2.

Retired the Astros 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 12 inning to record a save in Game 3.

PEDRO MARTINEZ, Red Sox

1999 AL Division Series.

Red Sox over Indians, 3-2.

Started Game 1.

Came into a wild slug fest do or die Game 5 in the 4th inning. He proceeded to throw 6 no hit innings as the Red Sox rallied to take the game and the series. Pedro finished off the series and got the deciding Game 5 win.

JOHN SMOLTZ, Braves

1999 NLCS

Braves over Mets. 4-2.

Threw 1-2-3 ninth inning to record a save in Game 2.

Started Game 4.

RANDY JOHNSON, Diamondbacks

2001 World Series
Diamondbacks over Yankees, 4-3

Started Game 2 and threw a complete game shutout.

Started and won Game 6.

With no days rest and the Diamondbacks 6 outs from elimination, Johnson came into the 8th and retired Chuck Knoblauch to end a Yankee threat. He then shut down the Yankees 1-2-3 in the 9th.

Then the Diamondbacks rallied for 2 in the bottom of the 9th, Johnson was the winning pitcher. Not only did he become the first pitcher on this list to do it for two different teams, he also was the winning pitcher of two heart stopping deciding playoff games against the Yankees.

DEREK LOWE, Red Sox

2003 AL Division Series
Red Sox def. A's, 3-2

Started Game 3 (the day I got married.)

Relieved Scott Williamson in the bottom of the 9th with a 1 run lead, 2 on nobody out. After loading the bases with 2 outs, Lowe got Terrence Long to strike out looking for the series clinching save... which included an interesting gesture to the Oakland dugout.

BRAD PENNY, Marlins

2003 NLCS

Marlins over Cubs, 4-3

Started and lost Game 2.

Relieved Mark Redman in the 4th inning of Game 7 with the Marlins trailing 5-3. He recorded a 1-2-3 fourth. The Marlins rallied to take the lead in the 5th as they clinched the pennant. Penny was credited with the win for the clincher out of the pen.

(It should be noted that Josh Beckett also came out of the bullpen that day and pitched 4 innings just 3 days after throwing a complete game shutout. Why HE didn't get the win is anyone's guess.)

ROGER CLEMENS, Astros

2005 NL Division Series
Astros over Braves, 3-1

Started and lost Game 2.

Came in as a pinch hitter in the 15th inning and executed a sacrifice bunt, moving the potential series winning run into scoring position. The Braves wiggled out of the jam and Clemens remained in the game as a pitcher.

He threw 3 innings of 1 hit shutout relief, earning the win when Chris Burke ended the series with a home run.

MARK BUEHRLE

2005 World Series

White Sox over Astros, 4-0

Started Game 2.

Relieved Damaso Marte with 2 outs and 2 on in the bottom of the 14th inning of Game 3. He got Adam Everett to pop up to earn the save.

So there you have it...

A bunch of Hall of Famers and future Hall of Famers... and a bunch of guys who were unlikely heroes (I'm looking at YOU Brad Penny!)

Let's hope the 2009 playoffs have more crazy relief appearances that would make Grover Cleveland Alexander proud.