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Jerome Holtzman began his prolific sportswriting career in 1943 with the Chicago Daily News. Working through a merger as the publication became the Sun-Times, he stayed with the outfit until 1981. From there he moved to the Chicago Tribune until the final year of the century. In 1999 Holtzman was named the official historian of Major League Baseball. He held the position for the rest of his life.

Along the way he received the most prestigious awards his profession had to offer. In 1991 the Baseball Writers Association of American bestowed upon him the J.G. Taylor Spink Award. It is the highest honor a baseball writer can receive.

Six years later he received the Red Smith Award, the country’s greatest sports writing prize. In 2004 he was elected to the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame. The following year he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Despite his many contributions and honors, Holtzman is best remembered today as the originator of the save statistic. He came up with it in 1959. A decade later it was officially adopted by baseball – the first new official stat since the adoption of the RBI in 1920.

Shown here is Holtzman’s autograph on the title page of his book entitled, There’s no Cheering in the Press Box.

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Major League Baseball recognized Jerome Holtzman’s save statistic in 1969, it was the first newly officially adopted statistic since the RBI almost half a century earlier.

Like Holtzman with the save, the RBI had its own originator and advocate. That man is the largely forgotten Ernest Lanigan. A newspaperman, official scorer, executive for the minor leagues and the Hall of Fame, Lanigan recorded RBIs for more than a decade before the statistic’s acceptance. Only when National League President John Heydler lent his support did the stat get officially adopted.

Shown here is a historic letter dated April 30, 1957. Lanigan writes in his capacity as official historian of the Baseball Hall of Fame on the Hall’s beautiful letterhead.

“I did the RBI’s in 1907 to 1919 inclusive, they were adopted by the majors in 1920 not on my say so and made their beginning into the Associated Press box score two years later when John McGraw said they were the best batting figures.”

Lanigan has been referred to as the Patron Saint of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and no wonder.

“I really don’t care much about baseball, or looking at ball games, major or minor,” Lanigan once said. “All my interest in baseball is in its statistics. I want to know something about every major league ball player, not only what he is hitting, but his full name with all middle names and initials, where they were born, and where they now live.”

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The save statistic helped revolutionize the say relief pitchers are deployed. Officially adopted in 1969, the save was retroactively awarded for all relievers who ever played.

Looking at Baseball Reference’s progressive save leaders, Hoyt Wilhelm is listed as the career save leader in ’69 with 224. Before he retired, Wilhelm extended the mark to 228.

Rollie Fingers wrested the mark away with his 229th save in 1980 and pushed it to 341 before leaving the game. Jeff Reardon broke the record in 1992, finishing the season with 357. Early in ’93 Lee Smith passed Reardon. Smith completed his career with 478 saves and held the mark until Trevor Hoffman took it. Hoffman eventually elevated the record to 601.

Hoffman was passed by Mariano Rivera in 2011. Today Mariano’s 652 saves remain the big league record.

In the collection is a photo taken of the last Major League pitch in old Yankee Stadium. Fittingly Mariano Rivera is on the hill and has signed, this image adding the inscription, “Final Out 9.21.08”. Rivera was magnificent that season, posting a 1.40 ERA with 36 saves.

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John Franco enjoyed a 21-year big league career. A four-time All Star, Franco had eight seasons with at least 30 saves. He led the NL in the category three times.

By the time he left the game in 2005, Franco had the most saves by a left-hander in baseball history. Today his 424 saves ranks 5th on the all-time list. Only Mariano Rivera (652), Trevor Hoffman (601), Lee Smith (478), and Francisco Rodriguez (437) have more.

Though the top three men on the list are in the Hall of Fame, Franco received just 4.6% of the vote in his only time on the ballot.

“It is disappointing,” Franco said according to an article on SB Nation New York article. “I was hoping for at least 5 percent. I thought I’d get five. Anyone who has the fourth-most of anything — hits, RBIs, wins, saves — you figured it had to mean something. But it’s another one of those things that you have no control over. So you just have to take it.

“I know there are a lot of guys who vote who have problems with saves. … the saves rule,” Franco said. “But you have to be a pretty good pitcher to become the closer. And saves are the only thing we have to measure how a closer does.

“I know I had a good career. I’m proud of what I accomplished. I’m proud I was on the ballot.”

Shown here is a Strat-O-Matic card from 2000 autographed by John Franco. Bucknell University math major Hal Richman originated the Strat-O-Matic game in 1961. Advertised in Sports Illustrated and sold out of Richman’s basement, Strat-O-Matic gave its players the ability to make managerial decisions based on MLB statistics.