The First Year Of The Saving Pitcher, Pilots at Angels, April 8th, 1969

Classic Baseball Radio

Bill Singer picked up the first ever save for the Dodgers in their game against the Reds on April 7th 1969. Four more pitchers joined Singer on April 8th; the Red Sox's Juan Pizarro, the Expos' Carroll Sembera, the Pirates' Chuck Hartenstein, and the Pilots' Jack Aker.

It's to the Seattle Pilots' game we head to this week. Not only is it one of the first games to have a saving pitchers, it's also the very first game for the Pilots in their one and only season.

To keep the league numbers balanced, the team's introduction was brought forwards to bring them into America's game alongside Kansas City Royals. This caused significant problems on and off the field for the Pilots. The team would be declared bankrupt seven days before the 1970 season, a financial move which allowed the team to be acquired from the courts by a certain Bud Sellig; he relocated the team to Milwaukee, and renamed them the Brewers.

That's for the future. Right now the Pilots are opening up the season against the California Angels, and while we're missing the third and fourth innings, let's head over to the booth with Dick Enberg, Don Wells and Buddy Blattner.

You can find the boxscore here, https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL196904080.shtml

This game was played on April 8th, 1969.