Who is the greatest Phillies’, and the game’s, middle reliever?

That may be a tough question to answer.

In 1986, Stats, Inc. developed the “hold” stat for the game. Before that stat, the game had its share of relievers who gained their share of wins and saves and accumulated their share of innings.

Many Phillies’ historians consider Jim Konstanty as the greatest Phillies’ reliever. He was a hybrid between a middle reliever and closer, and he was the first relief pitcher to win the MVP award.

This season, Matt Strahm (3-1, 0.96) and Jeff Hoffman (2-0, 0.89) have been a consistent and dynamic duo in middle relief. Strahm’s earned run Friday against Baltimore was his first since a pair against the Braves April 29. Hoffman hasn’t allowed an earned run since May 21.

In the week’s version of my Behind the Plate column – investigating past and present trends with the Phillies, Mets, and Yankees as well as the overall game - I’ll take a look at the role of the middle reliever through the years.

In addition, I’ll also take a glance at the state of game’s parity as well as the Astros and A’s.

Big Jim and the Turk: Konstanty put relief pitching on the baseball map when he went 16-7 with a 2.66 ERA and 22 saves in 74 games during the 1950 season. When he lost his effectiveness, the Phillies released him in August 1954, the Yankees picked him up.

In 1955, Konstanty went 7-2 with 11 saves for the Yanks. He ended his career two years later. Overall, Konstanty was 57-39 with a 3.64 ERA

Richard “Turk” Farrell spent nine seasons overall with the Phillies in two stints, one from 1956-61, and the latter from 1967-69. With the Phils, Farrell was 47-41 with a 3.25 ERA and 65 saves, and he only started two games. In his other seven seasons, Farrell made 132 starts.

Reed and the Rest: Former Phillies middle reliever Ron Reed often has been mentioned in these columns and all for a good reason. This is another one.

In the ‘70s, Reed arguably was the club’s best middle reliever as well as a closer and sometimes starter. Overall, Reed was 57-38 with a 3.06 ERA and 60 saves in pinstripes. Ron Schuler was another righthander in the same category and time frame, but he never achieved the same status as Reed’s (16-20, 4.01, four saves). Yet, Schuler started 33 of his 125 Phillies’ games.

In the ‘60s, Grant Jackson began as a middle reliever and closer before he became a full-time starter. Jack Baldschun was an innings eater from ‘61-65 and posted a 39-34, 3.18, 59 saves slate. John Boozer also was a reliever in the ‘60s with his 14-16, and 15 saves line from ‘62-69.

During the 70s and beyond, those that can fall into the category as a straight middle reliever or a hybrid are Barry Lersch, Darrell Brandon, Wayne Twitchell, Tom Hilgendorf, Gene Garber, Arthur Rhodes, Wayne Gomes, Ricky Bottalico, Warren Brusstar, Jeff Parrett, J.C. Romero, Larry Anderson, Roger Mason, David West, Chad Durbin, Ryan Madson, Paul Quantrill, and Hector Naris to name a few.

Quantrill had an uneventful Phillies career (13-14, 4.86, one save), but he established himself in the role, finishing with a 68-78, 3.83, 21-save line for his 14-year career.

Rhodes struggled in his lone Phillies season (2006, 0-5, 5.32, five saves), but he had a 20-year career with eight other teams (80-59, 4.24, 28 saves).

Middle of the Big Apple: The Mets and Yankees also have had their share of middle relievers.

As far as the Mets, you can look back at Danny Frisella, Tom Hall, Ray Sadecki, Jim McAndrew, Harry Parker, Turk Wendell, Ron Taylor, and Skip Lockwood, Doug Sisk, and Jerry DiPoto, Jason Isringhausen, and Nelson Figueroa.

On the Yankees’ front, there has been Grant Jackson (yes, Yankees in the ‘70s) Jack Aker, Fred Beene, Dick Tidrow, Lindy McDaniel, and Steve Hamilton, Tippy Martinez, Stan Bahnsen, Jeff Nelson, and Ramiro Mendoza.

The Bigger Picture: Aside from the Phillies, Mets, and Yankees, there have been numerous pitchers who have fallen into the category.

Knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm is part of that gold standard. Wilhelm played 21 seasons for nine different teams, and had an overall 143-122 record with a sterling 2.52 ERA. He recorded 228 saves and made 52 starts.

Another pitcher who comes to mind is the Reds’ Clay Carroll, who was a key player in Spark Anderson’s “Captain Hook” philosophy in the ‘70s. In his eight seasons with the Reds, Carroll was 71-43, 2.73 with 119 saves. Overall, Carroll went 91-66, 2.95 with 136 saves in 14 campaigns.

Pedro Borbon was another key factor in the Reds’ bullpen with Carroll. He went 62-33 with a 3.32 ERA and 76 saves in 10 years. Overall, Borbon had a 69-39, 3.52, 80-save slate over 12 seasons.

Others with various teams through the years are Steve Reed, Mark Eichhorn, Bethlehem’s Gary Lavelle, LaTroy Hawkins Norm Charlton, Paul Assenmacher, Bob Locker, Rick Honeycutt, Elias Sosa, Michael Jackson, Paul Lindblad, Moe Drabowsky, and Shigetoshi Hasegawa

The Elite Eleven and A Fallen Star: Through Sunday’s games, there were 11 teams over the .500 mark – seven in the AL, four in the NL.

Some teams close to the mark were the Cardinals (35-35), Reds (34-37), Cubs (34-37), Pirates (34-37), Giants (34-37), and defending league champion Diamondbacks (34-37).

Is it parity or is it mediocrity?

Through Sunday, the Astros and Padres led the NL with a .259 average and the Yankees had a top .254 clip. The Phillies topped the NL with a 3.10 ERA, while the Yankees were at 2.94.

It should be an interesting second half of the season to see how many teams break out and how many sink further.

What happened to the Astros? They got off to a 7-18 start, then inched up to 11-20. They started to rebound going 15-14 in May and won seven of their first 12 in June.

Houston has been plagued by one-run games, scoring three or fewer runs, trailing after six innings, being outhit, and losses after leading.

Overall, the team has struggled all season with their hitting, and they recently released power-hitting All-Star Jose Abreu, who deteriorated to a .124 batting average and two homers.

Justin Verlander has begun to regain his form, but fellow starters Cristian Javier and Jose Urquidy were lost to Tommy John. The bullpen has been in shambles.

Yet, this is a team that has been in the World Series five of the last seven seasons. Stay tuned.

Not All A’s: In early May, the A’s were 17-17 and had taken the baseball world by storm with a no-name lineup and a rising closer named Mason Miller.

Since then, they slipped back into obscurity losing 29 of their next 38 games. Oakland finished a franchise-worse 50-112 last season. This team could possibly hover around the same mark this season. As for Miller, he will likely soon be dealt with his 1-1, 2.27, 12-save slate.

It is a sad state to see this once baseball staple deteriorate and leave its legendary environment for Sacramento next year and eventually to Las Vegas.

Time Passages: Each week, I’ll reflect on a game from our past.

On June 17, 1976, Lavelle, Garber, and Reed were involved in the Phillies’ 3-2 walkoff victory over the Giants.

It developed into a stellar pitching matchup between the Phillies’ Larry Christenson and the Giants’ John D’Acquisto. Christenson allowed a run and three hits over five innings before giving way to Reed, who gave way to Garber in the ninth. He struck out two in the final stanza and got the victory.

Dave Cash drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly that scored Garry Maddox. Mike Schmidt earlier hit a solo home run, his 17th. Gary Matthews plated two runs for the Giants.

Feedback: Your thoughts, ideas, and comments are always welcomed.