The first music for closers was played on stadium organs and in April 1972, Sparky Lyle entered to close out a game to “Pomp and Circumstance.” The song played at graduations might not inspire an adrenaline rush but a trend was started. Bands such as AC/DC and Metallica are the most common crowd pleasers, but hard rock anthems weren’t the original choice. Intense, lights out, end-of-the-world music is what we have come to expect. The rule was modified in 1974 and again in 1975 to what is in place now.Ĭhoosing the right music for a closer is an art. In 1969, a save was earned when a relief pitcher entered the game with his team in the lead and held the lead for the remainder of the game (no matter the score) and without getting credit for a victory. The first two versions of the rule were a bit simpler than what it used today. The definition of what determines a save has changed twice since it was first created in 1969. But a reliever such as Rollie Fingers in the 1970s notched 341 career saves, with 135 of them being two innings or more (36 were three innings or more). Today’s top closers typically come in for one inning and seldom pitch more than three outs. The role of relievers has changed significantly since the 1960s. Chicago Sun-Times writer Jerome Holtzman campaigned for years for a better statistical method of tracking one of the most pressure-packed pitching situations in the game. SAVE IT UPīefore Major League Baseball recognized the save statistically there were relief wins and losses. Singer’s next save didn’t occur until six seasons later when he was pitching for the then-California Angels, and he finished his career just those two saves across 14 seasons. Singer became a starting pitcher for the Dodgers later that season and earned 20 wins. In 2013, Singer told ESPN writer, Doug Williams, “We went out and Drysdale pitched six, I went the last three and got the save and didn’t know anything about that ’til maybe 20 years later.” On April 7, 1969, Dodgers pitcher Bill Singer was the first pitcher to record an official save after preserving the Dodgers’ 3-2 Opening Day victory for three innings. Fifty years ago, the first recorded save was notched in the major league record books and the pitcher didn’t even keep the ball.
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