Wednesday, May 28, 2014

BILL CAMPBELL

Bill Campbell spent his first four big league seasons with the Twins, culminating with a season for the ages in 1976.  His stat line for that season is clearly from a bygone era: 17 relief wins and 20 saves in the same year.  He also posted a cool 3.01 ERA while leading the league with 78 appearances.  He was then one of the first free agency casualties of penny-pinching owner Calvin Griffith.  Campbell signed a big contract with the Boston Red Sox in 1977 and picked up right where he left off the year before, going 13-9 with a league-leading 31 saves and his only All-Star berth.  Injuries cut short his next few years in Boston and, while he was an effective relief pitcher for another decade, he never again displayed the form that won back-to-back Rolaids Relief Man Awards in those '76 and '77 seasons.

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