the.com/saves
the metric that lets a pitcher who barely worked longer than nine outs steal the spotlight from a starter who worked seven innings.
means a baseball statistic crediting a relief pitcher for finishing off a win under specific close-game conditions.
from invented by sportswriter jerome holtzman in 1960 to quantify what closers actually did, since wins and losses ignored them entirely; MLB made it official in 1969.
rule origincreated by a writer, not a league
three pathslead of 3 or fewer, tying run on deck, or 3+ innings
record holdermariano rivera, 652 career saves
stat criticismanalysts call it arbitrary and easily gamed