[frankbmd]

Using your closer when your team is behind is not common since the creation of the save.

In the fifties that was not the case. Konstanty had 16 wins in 1950 with zero starts. He is credited retroactively with 22 saves and that is probably correct.

The more dramatic example is Roy Face, who in 1959, had zero starts in 57 games and was credited with 10 saves despite finishing 47 games. His record that year was 18 wins and 1 loss.

Had either Konstanty or Face been managed by a contemporary manager in the "save" era, there records in terms of saves and wins would be dramatically different. One could argue today that they were not used effectively, but one might lose that argument.

The more interesting question to me is the impact of the "save" on bullpen management. The closers are measured by the number of saves they record, but Konstanty and Face and their managers were not so obsessed. Were they mismanaged? I'm not convinced.