The closer is the ace reliever who specializes in closing out the game without surrendering the lead. Facing a power hitter in the ninth inning with a man on base and no outs takes nerves of steel. The pressure on the mound is intense. It takes a special breed to hold it together in these situations. Legendary manager Tony LaRusso said "Sure, games can get away from you in the seventh and eighth, but those last three outs in the ninth are the toughest."

It wasn't until the creation of "the save," the successful maintenance of a lead by a relief pitcher, in 1960 that the...