ESPN.com: MLB - Why do relievers fall short in Hall vote?

Rollie Fingers is the only closer ever voted into the Hall of Fame. Hoyt Wilhelm, who pitched in the pre-closer era, is the only other inductee who pitched primarily in relief.

Hall call

The 2003 inductees to the Hall of Fame will be announced Tuesday. A player must be named on 75 percent of the ballots cast to be elected. Voters -- 10-year-plus members of the Baseball Writers Association of America -- are permitted to vote for as many as 10 players. Here are the players on this year's ballot (x = first time on ballot):
Bert Blyleven, Don Mattingly,
(x) Brett Butler, Jack Morris,
Gary Carter, Dale Murphy,
(x) Vince Coleman, (x) Eddie Murray, Dave Concepcion,
Dave Parker, (x) Darren Daulton,
(x) Mark Davis, (x) Tony Pena,
Andre Dawson, Jim Rice,
(x) Sid Fernandez, (x) Ryne Sandberg,
Steve Garvey, (x) Lee Smith,
Rich Gossage, Bruce Sutter,
Keith Hernandez, (x) Danny Tartabull,
(x) Rick Honeycutt, (x) Mickey Tettleton,
(x) Danny Jackson, Alan Trammell,
Tommy John, (x) Fernando Valenzuela,
Jim Kaat, (x) Mitch Williams,
(x) Darryl Kile, (x) Todd Worrell.

"I don't understand that,'' said Lee Smith, the game's all-time leader in saves and a first-time-eligible name on the Hall of Fame ballot this year. "In the last 15, 20 years, no team has won anything without a good closer. If they don't have one, they don't win.''

Since Fingers' induction in 1992, 13 players, including four starting pitchers, have been voted in.

Part of the problem is, a closer has been a vital part of a bullpen for less than three decades. Even today, when teams put a premium on acquiring a reliever capable of getting the 27th out in a victory, there isn't a lot of stability in the job.

Only five of the current closers have been with the same organization for at least five years, and that tends to affect the identity of a player when the 10-year-plus members of the Baseball Writers Association of America fill out their Hall of Fame ballot each December.

The two first-year-eligible players who have received most of the attention are former first baseman/designated hitter Eddie Murray and second baseman Ryne Sandberg.

But the current voting, the results of which will be announced Tuesday, will be yet another test of the emergence of the closer as a respected part of a team.

Besides Smith, closers were represented in the current voting by repeat candidates Bruce Sutter, who ranked third in the balloting last time, and Goose Gossage, who finished fifth. Sutter is on the ballot for the 10th time, Gossage for the fourth.

Strong arguments can be made that Smith, Sutter and Gossage are as qualified -- if not more qualified -- than was Fingers.

But Fingers had one edge that kept his name prominent among voters. He was a six-time participant in the postseason -- five with Oakland and one with Milwaukee -- and won three world championships with the A's. He also won the American League Cy Young and MVP awards with Milwaukee in 1981.

But consider the accomplishments of Smith, Gossage and Sutter:

Smith earned 478 saves in his 18-year career, 56 more than all-time runner-up John Franco and 137 more than Fingers. Smith saved at least 25 games in 13 consecutive seasons, and 10 times he recorded 30 or more. He finished second in National League MVP voting in 1981.

And he was durable. From 1983 to '85, he faced an average of more than six batters an appearance and, in the 1987 All-Star Game, he pitched the final three innings of the NL's 12-inning victory.

But he also spent those 13 seasons with six teams and only twice appeared in the postseason, where he compiled an 8.49 ERA for the 1984 Chicago Cubs and 1988 Boston Red Sox, both of whom were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

Gossage was the prototype for today's late-inning closer. He was an All-Star nine times in an 11-year stretch, compiling an ERA of 2.27 or lower in eight of his first 10 seasons as a closer. His 151 strikeouts for Pittsburgh in 1977 is still an NL record for a reliever. He worked 130 innings or more out of the bullpen three times in his career. And he appeared in four postseasons, three times reaching the World Series.

But he also hung around for 22 years and pitched for nine teams, which can undermine the respect he should receive for recording 310 career saves.

Sutter pitched only 12 years in the big leagues, but revolutionized the role of closer by making the split-fingered fastball a respected pitch. He and Fingers are the only relievers to win four Rolaids Relief Awards, and he was the only relief pitcher to finish in the top 10 in MVP voting six times. He won the NL Cy Young in 1979.

So far, though, except for Fingers, no other closer has been able to win the necessary support -- being listed on 75 percent of the ballots cast -- to land a spot in Cooperstown.

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