MLB Closers Have Not Increased a Team's Chances of Winning

Let's go back to the thrilling 1955 season when the Brooklyn Dodgers won their only World Championship. The Dodgers won 98 games while losing 55 for a .641 percentage.

The 2009 World Champion New York Yankees won 103 games and lost 59 for a .636 percentage, which is almost identical to the Dodgers winning percentage.

There were no closers in 1955. The 2009 Yankees had the greatest closer in baseball history.

How did the 1955 Dodgers manage to win a greater percent of their games than the 2009 Yankees without a closer?

Clem Labine and Ed Roebuck were Brooklyn's top relief pitchers.

Labine appeared in 60 games, making 52 relief appearances while Roebuck, who Baseball Reference has concluded was the closer despite the fact the term didn't exist in 1955, appeared in 47 games, all in relief.

Labine pitched 144 and one-third innings, which includes eight starts. Roebuck worked 84 innings.

Brooklyn starters completed 46 games. Labine led the staff with 12 saves, followed by Roebuck's 11.

Mariano Rivera saved 44 games, making 66 appearances and working 66 and one-third innings. New York starters completed three games.

It is generally agreed today that teams must have a closer or, if that is not possible, a committee of pitchers who share the closer's role.

An inconsistency, a fallacy or both exist.

Brooklyn won 98 games, winning 64.1 percent of its games without a closer. The Yankees won 103 or 63.6 percent of its games with a closer.

Please explain how having a closer is a more efficient way of winning games.

When a starting pitcher is pitching effectively but his pitch count reaches a specific number, usually in the low 100s, he is taken out of the game. Forget that he is retiring batters. It's time for the seventh or eighth inning specialist. How many times is that the wrong move?

In the 1950s, a starting pitcher was taken out when he was no longer effective.

Today's players, pitchers and non-pitchers, are bigger and stronger than players during the 1950s. Why were pitchers from past eras allowed to try to complete what they started?

Bobby Shantz was 5'6" tall and weighed 139 lbs. In 1952, he completed 27 games. Yes, you read that correctly.

Today's pitchers are treated as if their arms are made of glass, yet the disabled list is replete with pitchers such as Craig Buchholz, Matsuzaka, Daisuke, Johann Santana, Phil Hughes, Josh Johnson and Adam Wainright.

The 2010 World Champion San Francisco Giants were an offensively challenged team. They won because of their great pitching, but how many saves would Brian Wilson have had if the rest of the Giants pitching staff resembled that of the 2010 Pittsburgh Pirates, a team that had only 31 saves?

A good starting pitcher works over 200 innings. A good closer works about 65 innings. Starting pitchers don't rely on game situations as do closers, who could go six or seven days without working.

Limiting starters to about 100 pitches and having set up men and closers has not produced more victories. It is no more and no less efficient than having starters go as deep into the game as they can.

Limiting starters' innings has not made much, if any difference with respect to health and injury. Just peek at the disabled list.