Historical Season 1970's question

[daves]

Were there a lot more complete games and not as many relief pitchers in the 70's? When I ran a 1977 league my relievers did not seem fully utilized as much as they are now a days.

[Edster007]

Originally Posted by daves

Were there a lot more complete games and not as many relief pitchers in the 70's? When I ran a 1977 league my relievers did not seem fully utilized as much as they are now a days.

Yes there were a lot more complete games in the 70's. Starting pitchers pitched deeper into games and weren't held to a pitch count.
The closer even pitched more innings.

If you go to baseballreference.com you can see how many more IP starters had compared to today, also if you look at the box scores you will see many games completed in 2.5 hours or less since there were fewer pitching changes.



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[Edster007]

I was curious so I went to baseball reference. In 2016 David Price led MLB pitching 230 innings. In 1977 Phil Niekro led the majors with 330.1 IP. Jim Palmer, Dave Goltz and Steve Rogers all had over 300IP, Nolan Ryan 299. Price's 230 would have placed him 31st in IP in 1977.

[Syd Thrift]

Also, teams used waaay fewer relief pitchers. If you're carrying an 11 man staff, that's probably 2 guys too many, and teams took advantage of those extra position players, too, in the form of increased platooning.

[daves]

Originally Posted by Edster007

If you go to baseballreference.com you can see how many more IP starters had compared to today, also if you look at the box scores you will see many games completed in 2.5 hours or less since there were fewer pitching changes.



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This makes sense. Thanks.

[daves]

Originally Posted by Syd Thrift

Also, teams used waaay fewer relief pitchers. If you're carrying an 11 man staff, that's probably 2 guys too many, and teams took advantage of those extra position players, too, in the form of increased platooning.

OK thanks. I need to update my roster and not run the team like it's 1999 ( I mean 2016).

I am assuming the rotations were smaller as well? 4 starters rather than 5?

[Edster007]

Originally Posted by daves

OK thanks. I need to update my roster and not run the team like it's 1999 ( I mean 2016).



I am assuming the rotations were smaller as well? 4 starters rather than 5?

It depends on the make up of your staff. As a general rule you would have 4 starters who might average 33-35 starts each and spot a 5th starter based on schedule 20-23. The Dodgers when they had John, Rau, Rhoden, Sutton and Hooton went with a 5 man because they were that strong. If you have a work horse or 2 and not much depth you can limit the 5th starter. So bottom line your staff will dictate your rotation but in that era the 5 man wasn't strict. LA is the only team I remember that used one regularly in the 70's


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