[greymule]

Looking back at old box scores, from early in the 19th century through the 1960s, you see that, if a team had a solid lead, starters were often left in to finish a game even if they were getting hit hard.

For example, in one game Walter Johnson was ahead 7-1 after 7 innings but gave up 2 in the 8th and 1 in the 9th. Unlikely that would happen today. Same thing looking at Bob Turley many years later, even in the World Series, getting hammered late until they finally put in Bobby Shantz to earn a save in a 16-3 game. I guess the prevailing attitude was, "It's his game. Let him finish it" rather than, "Why not give some guy a chance to get some experience?"

As I've pointed out before, in the first 29 World Series games, the total number of relief pitchers used was 15. The Astros and White Sox used that many in one game in 2005.