290. Lindy McDaniel

The righthander cacked the Majors with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1955, and two years later, the Cards used him as a starter, where he went 15-9 with a 3.49 ERA.  McDaniel struggled the year after, and unsurprisingly, he went to the bullpen, but he soon learned how to make it his domain.

While people weren’t referring to Saves in the 1950s and 1960s, McDaniel nevertheless was the National League leader in 1959 and 1960 while with St. Louis.  He was an All-Star in 1960, the year he saved 27 Games, which was phenomenal for that era.  The Baseball Writers knew he was essential, as he was third in Cy Young and fifth in MVP voting that year.

McDaniel landed with the Cubs in 1963, where he again led the NL in Saves (22), and he would later play for San Francisco before traded to the New York Yankees in 1968.  With the Yanks, he had another elite year closer, putting up a career-high 29 Saves in 1970.  McDaniel played until 1975, finishing his career with the Kansas City Royals.  He closed his career with 174 Saves, which, again for his era, was spectacular.