Most Dominant Bullpen (1980's-Present) Debate

[Randu]

I've looked around the Web to see if there were any articles which ranked the game's top bullpen's of our era, but was surprised to find nothing of that kind. As we all know, the role of the relief pitcher has become more and more specialized and vital to a team's succes due to factors like expansion teams, 5-man rotations, mediocre starters, steriod induced batters, etc. The bullpen has become a team within a team and is only as strong as its weakest member.

I, myself, do not have a very wide knowledge of teams like of the 70's and 80's because ive only recently become a big fan of baseball, so bear with me if I leave a few important teams out. Ive only done a small amount of research and with my own knowledge of the sport, Ive come up with a few recent bullpens which I think rank among the best. I want to know what bullpens you guys think have been the most dominant in our era. Note: this is about dominating bullpens, not dominating closers. You can have a dominating closer but if the rest of your relievers are junk you have no bullpen.

In no particular order:

1. 1997 New York Yankees

Games ERA Win Loss Saves IP Hits Runs ER BB SO

Mariano Rivera- 66 1.88 6 4 43 71.7 65 17 15 20 68

Jeff Nelson- 30 2.86 3 7 2 78.7 53 32 25 37 81

Mike Stanton- 30 2.56 6 1 3 66.7 50 19 19 34 70

Graeme Lloyd- 30 3.31 1 1 1 49.0 55 24 18 20 26 Brian Boehringer- 28 2.62 3 2 0 48.0 39 16 14 32 53

2. 2004 Anehiem Angels

Games ERA Win Loss Saves IP Hits Runs ER BB SO

Troy Percival- 34 2.90 2 3 33 49.7 43 19 16 19 33

F. Rodriguez- 22 1.82 4 1 12 84.0 51 21 17 33 123

Scot Shields- 28 3.33 8 2 4 105.3 97 42 39 40 109

Brendan Donnelly- 32 3.00 5 2 0 42.0 34 14 14 15 56

Kevin Gregg- 26 4.21 5 2 1 87.7 86 43 41 28 84

3. 2003 Houston Astros

Games ERA Win Loss Saves IP Hits Runs ER BB SO

Billy Wagner- 31 1.78 1 4 44 86.0 52 18 17 23 105

Brad Lidge- 26 3.60 6 3 1 85.0 60 36 34 42 97

Octavio Dotel- 29 2.48 6 4 4 87.0 53 25 24 31 97

Ricky Stone- 28 3.69 6 4 1 83.0 76 36 34 31 47

Peter Munro- 28 4.67 3 4 0 54.0 63 30 28 26 27

4. 2004 St. Louis Cardinals

Games ERA Win Loss Saves IP Hits Runs ER BB SO

J. Isringhausen- 31 2.87 4 2 47 75.3 55 27 24 23 71

Ray King- 30 2.61 5 2 0 62.0 43 19 18 24 40

Julian Tavarez- 31 2.38 7 4 4 64.3 57 21 17 19 48

Steve Kline- 31 1.79 2 2 3 50.3 37 12 10 17 35

Cal Eldred- 36 3.76 4 2 1 67.0 71 31 28 17 54

5. 2003 Los Angeles Dodgers

Games ERA Win Loss Saves IP Hits Runs ER BB SO

Eric Gagne- 27 1.20 2 3 55 82.3 37 12 11 20 137

Paul Quantrill- 34 1.75 2 5 1 77.3 61 18 15 15 44

Guillermo Mota- 29 1.97 6 3 1 105.0 78 23 23 26 99 Tom Martin- 33 3.53 1 2 0 51.0 36 21 20 24 51

Paul Shuey- 32 3.00 6 4 0 69.0 50 24 23 33 60

6. 2002 Atlanta Braves

Games ERA Win Loss Saves IP Hits Runs ER BB SO

John Smoltz- 35 3.25 3 2 55 80.3 59 30 29 24 85

Mike Remlinger- 36 1.99 7 3 0 68.0 48 17 15 28 69

Chris Hammond- 36 0.95 7 2 0 76.0 53 15 8 31 63

Kevin Gryboski- 28 3.48 2 1 0 51.7 50 20 20 37 33

Darren Holmes- 36 1.81 2 2 1 54.7 41 12 11 12 47

(more to come once i look around a bit longer) (most of these stats from baseball-reference.com/mlb.com)

[alcoholicstepfather]

I don't have any specific stats in front of me, but the Reds Bullpen of the late 80's/early 90's probably top my list. The Nasty Boys had Rob Dibble, Randy Myers, and some others. The all threw heat and had no problem throwing at a batter. Dibble actually got into a fight with their manager, Sweet Lou Pinella. It seemed like all of them had nasty stuff, and a nasty attitude to go with it.

[tebjr]

Yeah, I'd say the 1990 Nasty Boys. The stats may not show it, but they struck fear into every team they faced. They shortened the game to six innings, which made them tough to beat.

[angryrat]

i too vote nasty boys.