The
Rolaids Relief Man Award was an annual
Major League Baseball (MLB) award given from
1976 to
2012 to the top
relief pitchers of the regular season, one in the
American League (AL) and one in the
National League (NL). Relief pitchers are the pitchers who enter the game after the
starting pitcher is removed. The award was sponsored by
Rolaids, whose
slogan was "R-O-L-A-I-D-S spells relief." Because the first
closers were nicknamed "firemen," a reference to "putting out the fire" of another team's rally, the trophy was a gold-plated firefighter's helmet. Unlike other awards, such as the
Cy Young Award or the
MLB Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, the Relief Man was based on statistical performance, rather than votes. Each
save was worth three points; each
win was worth two points; and each
loss was worth negative two points. Beginning with the
1987 MLB season, negative two points were given for
blown saves. In the
2000 MLB season, the term "tough save", which was worth an additional point, was introduced by Rolaids. A "tough save" happened when a relief pitcher entered the game already having the potential tying
run on base, and got the save. The player with the highest point total won the award.