On August 6th, 1988, Goose Gossage becomes the second player in major league history to record 300 career saves when he faces one batter and gets the final out in the Cubs’ 7-4 victory over Philadelphia at Wrigley Field. The future Hall of Fame right-handed reliever joins Rollie Fingers, who reached the milestone in 1982.

The Save become an official Major League pitching stat in 1969. First introduced by sports writer Jerome Holtzman in the 1960s, it was intended to reward relief pitchers who were effective at “closing out” games. That is, pitchers who came in late in a game to ensure a victory by getting the final outs of games where their team already had a lead.

Since it is possible to get a save after pitching to just one batter, as Gossage did 36 years ago today, there has always been something a little “squishy” about the stat. Like a lot of baseball stats, the Save can both reveal and conceal a number of truths about the game.

One thing that many writers and commentators on the game have pointed out over the years is that the Save stat actually had a weird and unintended consequence. It contributed to changing the way the sport was being played by creating a space for a specialist role that was not really there before the stat came along.

Before the invention of the Save stat, relief pitchers might pitch any number of innings at the end of a game to close it out. Once the Save stat became a fixture in the game though, managers began managing to the stat, by reserving one relief pitcher to get the actual final out. The creation of the stat then, actually changed the way the game was being played.

My hometown team, the Minnesota Twins, currently have as their designated closer Jhoan Duran. Duran throws 100+ mph fastballs and a rainbow curve. Most nights he is unhittable.

When Duran comes into a home game in the bottom of the ninth, it is a spectacle worthy of WWE. Bells toll, flames ripple across the video boards around the stadium, and the crowd stands up in the now dimmed stadium and wave cell phones like they at a concert. It is over the top in every way, and I love it.

Yes, the Save stat is weird. But man do I love watching a good closer!