batmagadanleadoff wrote: Gil had two pitchers on his staff who would've been perfectly suited for long relief: Nolan Ryan, who had not yet transitioned to pure starting pitcher and essentially was their long RH reliever in '69, and Tug McGraw, who had not yet fully transitioned to pure reliever, and even spot started a few games in '69. But your post opens up another can of worms. The relief pitchers union that would one day successfully brainwash almost all of baseball and decree that the best relief pitchers must only pitch the 9th inning because the accumulation of their saves takes precedence over the goals of the team had not yet been born. That union couldn't exist in 1969 because Gil's players (like all the other players) were still slaves with no leverage, bound to the owners' interpretation of the reserve clause. So maybe this premise should be rephrased to ask what would Gil have done if the 1969 NL had to play their season under today's conditions. Sadly, he likely would have gone by rote as most do today..