Glavine Has Never Relieved

Tom Glavine has set an all-time record by pitching in 681 games without a ONE of them being in relief! That's right, 681 straight starts since the beginning of his career! Next closest is Roger Clemens with only 2 games in relief among his 709 games pitched (one each in the first and last of his 24 year career).

Other starters in recent years with extremely low relief totals include Randy Johnson (10 in relief among 576 games), and Greg Maddux(4 games in relief among 726 games, all four in the first two years of his career).

It didn't used to be that way, with star pitchers used exclusively as starters. Walter Johnson pitched 136 games in relief among his 802 games; Warren Spahn 85 among 750 games; Early Wynn 79 among 691; Robin Roberts 67 among 676; and Pete Alexander 97 in relief among 696 games pitched. And each of these examples is not a case of a guy switching to relieving late in his career, or starting out in the bullpen before catching on as a starter. No, there was a time when managers used star pitchers in relief whenever they were in a pinch. And these starters often had several saves a year. (Other guys thought of mainly as starters, such as Ed Walsh and Mordacai (3-finger) Brown, often led the league in saves in the days before closer specialists.)