Just what are we talking about? You've heard us prattle on about HLRAs here from time to time--the "heroic lengthy relief appearance." The definition of a HLRA (pronounced "hell-ra") is a bit fluid: just what is lengthy, anyway? For our purposes, we've defined it as at least four innings--if only to ensure that such outings will be highly scarce in the present day.
"Heroic" implies more, however. It involves pitching really well as well as eating up a sizable number of innings. For our purpose, a HLRA means throwing 4+ relief IP and allowing no more than one run. In 1962, this occurred 234 times in MLB (118 in the NL, 116 in the AL). By contrast, there were 68 such games in MLB during 2021 (22 in the NL, 46 in the AL). Put another way, there were about 11 such games per team in 1962; in 2021, there were just over two per team.
You can see the NL games in the table at right: they're sorted by team, so scroll your eyes down till you find Miller, the only Giants pitcher to have such a game in 1962. As you can see by examining the info provided, Miller tossed seven scoreless innings from the third to the ninth in a game that the Giants eventually lost 7-6, in 11 innings.
What's interesting about this set of games is the "heroism" displayed in them often produced a win for the pitcher's team. One game on this list (the 4/25/62 game between the Cardinals and the Colts) ended in a tie; of the other 21, the team with the HULRA ("heroic ultra-lengthy relief appearance") had a 16-5 record. The relievers on the list who earned a decision for these outings had a perfect 15-0 record. (In 2021, there were only seven such games--and several of these were games where starting pitchers were being used in conjunction with an "opener"...a concept that didn't exist in 1962. Out of the 20 pitchers on the 1962 list, only four of them could be classified as starting pitchers.)
The level of involvement in such games in the '62 NL is hardly even--the Phillies had five such outings (two each from Jack Baldschun and Dallas Green). They also had it happen against them four times, so they were involved in nearly 40% of such games during this season.
Clearly pitcher usage was much different in those days than it is in 2022; it's much rarer for relievers to go more than a single inning now. How much rarer now than in 1962? Back then relievers went more than an inning in 52% of their appearances; in 2021, that figure was just 22%.
In a disappointing season for Miller (5-9 won-loss record, only 14 saves), it is sadly fitting that his best performance of the year was for naught. In the eleventh, with one out, a man on first, and the game tied 6-6, Al Dark went by the book and brought in lefty Billy Pierce to face lefty-swinging catcher Smoky Burgess, but Smoky smacked a single to center, sending the runner to third. After Dark had Pierce walk Bill Mazeroski intentionally, a third Giant reliever, Bobby Bolin was brought in. Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh sent up lefty pinch-hitter Jim Marshall, who singled in the winning run. The Bucs had not stopped winning just yet...though they were about to. Final score: Pirates 7, Giants 6 (11 innings).
SEASON RECORDS: LAD 65-34, SF 63-36, PIT 60-36
