When Firpo Marberry pitched in 55 games in 1925, all of them in relief, people just about lost their minds. Up to that point, it just wasn’t a thing in baseball to have a relief specialist, certainly not one who was used that much. Marberry and his manager with the Washington Nationals, Bucky Harris, were essentially creating a new position.
In the 19th century, there was no such thing as a relief specialist. The record for the most games pitched in a season was 76 by Pud Galvin in 1883, but 75 of those appearances were starts (and 72 were complete games). The record for the most games pitched entirely as a reliever was 9 by Harry Wright in 1871. It just wasn’t a thing.
That didn’t really change much when the century turned. From 1900 to 1920 the most appearances purely in relief was 20 by Hooks Wiltse in 1914. Sad Sam Jones made 39 relief appearances on top of 9 starts in 1915. Two years later Dave Danforth of the White Sox relieved in 41 of the 50 games in which he appeared, and there were some other exceptions, but this was still not the norm.
Then, in 1921, Lou North of the Cardinals made 40 appearances, all in relief. A year later his teammate, Clyde Barfoot, relieved in 40 of his 42 appearances while North relieved in 43 of 53. It should come as no surprise that this innovative use of relievers sprang from the mind of Branch Rickey, who was the Cardinals’ manager in those years. Soon others were following suit, like the great John McGraw with the Giants, who used Claude Jonnard in relief 44 times in 1923. That same year, Donie Bush used Allen Russell in relief 47 times for the Nationals.
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