Red Sox Closers From Smith To Papelbon

The local radio guys mentioned this afternoon that Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon is just twenty saves shy of the team's all-time record as he enters his fourth season. For comparison sake, they threw out a few names from Sox bullpens past, names like Derek Lowe...Jeff Reardon...Tom Gordon...oh, the memories.

The Home Team's discussion actually helps segue into something I've been thinking about posting for awhile now - a list of the pitchers that preceded Papelbon in the closer role.

1988: Lee Smith, 29 saves
After Wes Gardner led the team with 10 saves in 1987, the team picked up Smith from the Cubs in exchange for Calvin Schiraldi and Al Nipper. There's not a lot I can remember about the deal at the time, but I do recall a big deal being made about the fact that Smith had saved 30+ games for four consecutive seasons. Of course, he missed the mark with the Sox.

1989: Lee Smith, 25 saves
He didn't get there in Year Two, either, was rendered unnecessary after the off-season acquisition of Jeff Reardon, and was eventually dealt to St. Louis in May 1990. The guy he was traded for, Tom Brunansky, was working on a string of eight straight 20-homer seasons. His first year with the Sox, he hit 15.

1990: Jeff Reardon, 21 saves
Like Smith, Reardon was working on an impressive streak when he came to Boston - five consecutive 30-save seasons, including two with 40+. He joined the Red Sox, didn't record his second save until mid-May, and missed nearly two months late in the season on his way to the lackluster total you see above.

1991: Jeff Reardon, 40 saves
Finally, a guy who was supposed to be a solid closer actually posted some good numbers. It was his third 40-save season, all with different teams.

1992: Jeff Reardon, 27 saves
Reardon set the career record for saves in 1992, notching number 342 in a 1-0 win over the Yankees on June 15, then was dealt to Atlanta at the trade deadline for a couple minor leaguers.

1993: Jeff Russell, 33 saves
Six months after being traded from Texas to Oakland in the deal that brought Jose Canseco to the Rangers, Russell signed as a free agent with the Red Sox. He had a good year (172 OPS+) that was wasted on a mediocre team (80-82).

1994: Jeff Russell, 12 saves; Ken Ryan, 13 saves
A tale of two seasons: Russell closed from April through early June, then "Closer of the Future" Ryan stepped in and handled duties for the last six weeks or so. Safe to say the latter pitcher would have hit twenty if not for the strike that started in mid-August.

1995: Rick Aguilera, 20 saves
The Sox picked up Aguilera in July, sending hot prospect Frank Rodriguez and a player to be named to Minnesota. He liked Boston so much that after helping the team to the division title, he declared free agency and immediately returned to the Twins, where they converted him into a starter for 1996 (8-6, 5.42) before sending him back to the bullpen for two seasons. They ultimately repaid his loyalty by trading him again, to the Cubs in 1999.

1996: Heathcliff Slocumb, 31 saves
Remember Ken Ryan, the "Closer of the Future"? Sure you do, it was only two years ago. Just before spring training, he and Atlantic League hero Glenn Murray were shipped off to Philadelphia for Slocumb. It paid dividends for awhile.

1997: Heathcliff Slocumb, 17 saves
Seventeen saves by the trade deadline seems decent. A 5.79 ERA doesn't. Fans were glad to see him shipped off to Seattle, even if only for a couple of no-name stiffs named Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek. It's only one of the most lopsided deals in major league history. So really, we should be thanking Heathcliff for being not very good in 1997.

1998: Tom Gordon, 46 saves
Gordon spent his first season and a half in Boston as a starter before assuming the closer role when Slocumb was shown the door. He had eleven saves in 1997, then piled up 46 in dominant fashion in 1998. Of course, that didn't translate to the playoffs: two games, three innings, four walks, three runs.

1999: Derek Lowe, 15 saves; Tim Wakefield, 15 saves
There's that Lowe guy again. The Slocumb trade might just pay off in the end. But that comes later. More importantly, this is the season that everyone points to when noting Wakefield's willingness to do anything for the good of the team. The details: eleven starts in his first fourteen appearances, then 25 straight relief outings and eleven saves, then six starts in his last ten games. He did a little bit of everything.

2000: Derek Lowe, 42 saves
And here he is, the guy who came to Boston in return for Heathcliff Slocumb. Pretty good year that could've been even better if the team had some decent starting pitching to get him the ball with the lead (the middle relief was pretty good, though - Rich Garces, Hipolito Pichardo and Rod Beck combined to go 17-4). I'm not positive, but his 42 saves out of 85 wins might be the best percentage in team history.

2001: Derek Lowe, 24 saves
2001 was a decent year on paper for Lowe, but it also featured the first widespread usage of "The Derek Lowe Face". By season's end, he was on his way to the starting rotation.

2002: Ugueth Urbina, 40 saves
Urbina came over for some spare parts at the 2001 trade deadline (say what you will about the quality of their closers, the team usually doesn't give up much to get them) and took over the role full-time the following season. I was actually in the ballpark when he recorded his fortieth save on the last day of the 2002 season. Convicted of attempted murder in his native Venezuela in 2007, he is the second Red Sox pitcher to record 40 saves in a season and be charged with a major crime - Jeff Reardon allegedly committed armed robbery in 2005 (he was later found not guilty by reason of insanity)

2003: Byung-Hyun Kim, 16 saves
Ah, the closer-by-committee. Brandon Lyon gets honorable mention here for the way he held down the fort with nine early saves. Kim took the reins for awhile, but had fallen out of favor by the playoffs, at which time Scott Williamson, Alan Embree, and Mike Timlin began kicking ass and taking names. Kim only appeared in one postseason game, throwing two-thirds of an inning in the ALDS.

2004: Keith Foulke, 32 saves
The solution to closer-by-committee. Foulke came over from Oakland as a free agent in the offseason and had a stellar regular season before taking it to another level entirely in the playoffs. Fourteen innings, one run, 19 strikeouts, countless jams evaded - they couldn't have won the ALCS or the World Series without him. He is one of the most underrated heroes in Red Sox history.

2005: Keith Foulke, 15 saves; Mike Timlin, 13 saves
Foulke wasn't the same after the 2004 postseason - he really destroyed his body for the good of the team - so it shouldn't have been a surprise when he faltered. Of course, the fans booed him. We're good like that. Fortunately, Timlin stepped in and saved the day (HA! No pun intended...really, there wasn't).

2006 and beyond: Jonathan Papelbon
He does stupid dances. He walks around with beer boxes on his head after big wins. He makes an "O" face on the mound before he pitches. He claims that his dog ate the game ball he delivered for the final out in the 2007 World Series. I get the feeling that he's the sort of guy who, if he's on another team, annoys the crap out of you. When he's on your team, however, he's like the crazy cousin who graduated from college six years ago but still heads back to campus to drink his face off every weekend and hit on teenage girls. He's a real life Wooderson.