Just a heads-up. This is the final installment of these daily Phillies history lessons. We have covered an entire year! The feature began on September 26, 2025 and continued through today. Watch for a new daily feature coming soon to Philly Baseball News.
The Main Event
- September 25, 1988 – Steve Bedrosian earned his 26th save of the season in a win over Montreal. It was his 95th save as a Phillie, which broke Tug McGraw’s team record.
Ask a Phillies fan to name the great closers in franchise history, and the answers come quickly. Tug McGraw, slapping his glove against his thigh or leaping into the air after the final out of the 1980 World Series. Mitch Williams, the “Wild Thing” of 1993. Brad Lidge, falling to his knees after a perfect 2008 season. Jonathan Papelbon, the franchise’s all-time saves leader.
Steve Bedrosian usually comes up later in the conversation, if he comes up at all. That is a strange oversight, because “Bedrock” did something in Philadelphia that none of those other pitchers ever did. He won a Cy Young Award. He also saved more games as a Phillie than McGraw, and he did it in roughly a third of the time.
Steve Bedrosian’s Phillies Saves Record
Bedrosian recorded 103 saves for the Phillies between 1986 and the middle of the 1989 season. McGraw saved 94 over ten seasons in Philadelphia, from 1975 through 1984. On September 25, 1988, in a win over the Montreal Expos, Bedrosian notched his 95th save as a Phillie and took the franchise record away from McGraw.
The record has since been passed. Papelbon (123) and José Mesa (112) sit ahead of him today. But Bedrosian still ranks third on the club’s all-time list, ahead of Mitch Williams (102), Brad Lidge (100) and McGraw, who is sixth.
None of this takes anything away from McGraw, whose place in Phillies lore is well earned. McGraw reached 20 saves in a Phillies season only once. Bedrosian did it three times in his three full seasons with the club. The gap holds up over their full careers too. Bedrosian finished with 184 career saves, and McGraw finished with 180.
Early Years in Massachusetts and the Atlanta Braves Draft
Stephen Wayne Bedrosian was born December 6, 1957, in Methuen, Massachusetts, and became one of the few major leaguers of Armenian descent. After Methuen High School and two years at Northern Essex Community College, he moved on to the University of New Haven. In 1978 he went 13-3 for the Chargers, earned Division II All-America honors and helped the team to a third-place finish at the Division II College World Series.
The Atlanta Braves took him in the third round of the 1978 draft. He climbed steadily through the Braves’ minor league system as a starter, making the Southern League All-Star team at Double-A Savannah in 1980. He made his big league debut on August 14, 1981, at Dodger Stadium, entering with the bases loaded in the fourth inning.
Bedrosian’s first full season in Atlanta was a strong one. In 1982 he went 8-6 with 11 saves and a 2.42 ERA across 64 games, and The Sporting News named him its National League Rookie Pitcher of the Year. That club won the NL West. He took over as the Braves’ closer in 1983 and saved 19 games, then added 11 more in 1984 while posting the lowest ERA on the staff.
In 1985 the Braves moved him into the starting rotation. It was an unusual season. Bedrosian made 37 starts and did not complete a single one, which set a major league record for the most starts in a season without a complete game. He finished 7-15 with a 3.83 ERA. The experiment made his future clear. He was a reliever.
How the Phillies Acquired Bedrock
On December 10, 1985, the Phillies traded catcher Ozzie Virgil and pitcher Pete Smith to Atlanta for Bedrosian and outfielder Milt Thompson. Braves general manager Bobby Cox wanted Virgil’s power bat behind the plate. Phillies president Bill Giles saw Bedrosian as the prize of the deal.
The trade worked out well for both sides at first. Virgil made the All-Star team in 1987 and hit a career-high 27 home runs for the Braves that year. But the Phillies got the better long-term return. Bedrosian became the best reliever in the league, and Thompson gave the Phillies three useful seasons in the outfield before returning later to play a key role on the 1993 pennant winner.
Bedrosian’s Phillies career did not begin smoothly. A sore arm in spring training ended any thought of keeping him in a rotation, and he went back to the bullpen. By the end of April 1986 he carried a 7.27 ERA and had become a favorite target of the Veterans Stadium boo-birds.
He turned it around in May. He finished the year 8-6 with a 3.39 ERA and 29 saves, which tied the Phillies’ single-season record at the time.
The 1987 Cy Young Season
In 1987 Bedrosian put together the season that defines his career. Beginning in May, he recorded saves in 13 consecutive appearances, which was a major league record at the time. He was named National League Pitcher of the Month for May after going 1-0 with a 1.04 ERA and 10 saves. By July 31 he had 30 saves, the fastest any pitcher had reached that mark to that point.
He made the All-Star team and finished the year with a 5-3 record, a 2.83 ERA and 40 saves, which led the major leagues and set a new Phillies record. The team finished 80-82. That means Bedrosian saved exactly half of the Phillies’ wins that season.
The Cy Young vote was the closest in the award’s history. Bedrosian received 57 points. Rick Sutcliffe of the Cubs, who went 18-10, received 55. Rick Reuschel, who split the year between Pittsburgh and San Francisco, received 54. No pitcher appeared on all 24 ballots. Bedrosian became only the third relief pitcher to win the NL Cy Young Award, following Mike Marshall and Bruce Sutter.
Some critics said he won by default in a year without a dominant starter. Bedrosian did not accept that framing. “I’m not going to say that I backed into it,” he said. “I’m not looking at what starting pitchers did or didn’t do this year. I’m looking at what I was able to accomplish.” He also picked up the Rolaids Relief Man Award and The Sporting News NL Fireman of the Year honor that winter.
1988: Walking Pneumonia and the Team Record
The 1988 season started with a scare. Chest pains in spring training were eventually diagnosed as walking pneumonia, and Bedrosian opened the year on the disabled list after pitching just one spring inning. He did not return until May 20.
Even with the late start, he saved 28 games. The 95th save of his Phillies career came on September 25 against Montreal, moving him past McGraw for the franchise record.
A year later, with the Phillies struggling, general manager Lee Thomas made a move. On June 18, 1989, he sent Bedrosian and a player to be named later (minor league pitcher Rick Parker) to the San Francisco Giants for pitchers Terry Mulholland and Dennis Cook and third baseman Charlie Hayes.
This is another part of the Bedrosian story that rarely gets proper credit. The return on the trade shaped the next several years of Phillies baseball. Mulholland threw a no-hitter against the Giants at Veterans Stadium on August 15, 1990, started the 1993 All-Star Game for the National League and won Game 2 of the 1993 World Series. He won 70 games for the Phillies. Hayes became the regular third baseman before being dealt away after the 1991 season. Bedrosian’s value as a trade chip helped supply one of the anchors of the 1993 pennant-winning rotation.
San Francisco Giants and the 1989 World Series
In San Francisco, Bedrosian did exactly what the Giants hoped. He saved 17 games with a 2.65 ERA the rest of the way, helping the Giants win the NL West. In the National League Championship Series against the Cubs, he saved the final three games as San Francisco won the pennant. He pitched sparingly in the World Series, which the Oakland Athletics swept in the series interrupted by the Loma Prieta earthquake.
The 1990 season brought far heavier concerns. Bedrosian’s two-year-old son, Cody, was diagnosed with leukemia. Bedrosian kept pitching through the ordeal, saved 17 games, and finished with a strong September. His teammates voted him the Willie Mac Award, which honors the Giant who best shows spirit and leadership.
A World Series Ring With the Minnesota Twins
On December 5, 1990, the Giants traded Bedrosian to the Minnesota Twins for pitcher Johnny Ard and a player to be named later. With Rick Aguilera established as the Twins’ closer, Bedrosian worked in a setup role, going 5-3 with six saves in 56 games.
The Twins reached the 1991 World Series against, of all teams, the Atlanta Braves. Bedrosian pitched three times in Atlanta during the series. Minnesota won in seven games, one of the most celebrated Fall Classics ever played, and Bedrosian earned his first World Series ring.
A Lost Season and an Unlikely Comeback in Atlanta
During 1991 Bedrosian began experiencing numbness in the index and middle fingers of his pitching hand, and his fastball dropped into the high 80s. He became a free agent and sat out the entire 1992 season. He later said he believed his career was over.
Then the numbness faded as suddenly as it had arrived. Bedrosian credited quitting tobacco and the relief of Cody’s remission. He returned to the Braves in 1993 and was outstanding in a setup role, going 5-0 with a 1.63 ERA in 49 games, the lowest ERA on a staff that included Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. He pitched again in 1994 and retired in August 1995. The Braves won the World Series that October and gave him a ring, his second.
Over 14 seasons Bedrosian went 76-79 with a 3.38 ERA, 921 strikeouts and 184 saves in 732 games.
Life After Baseball in Coweta County, Georgia
Bedrosian settled on a farm in Senoia, in Coweta County, Georgia, south of Atlanta. After a year coaching in the Braves’ minor league system, he served on the Coweta County Board of Education and worked as an assistant baseball coach at East Coweta High School, where his sons played.
Baseball stayed in the family. Cody recovered from leukemia with the help of a bone marrow transplant from his younger brother Cameron. Cam Bedrosian went on to become a first-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Angels in 2010 and pitched in the major leagues from 2014 to 2021, including a brief stint with the Phillies in 2021.
Why Steve Bedrosian Deserves More Credit From Phillies Fans
Because Bedrosian did not spend a minimum of five years with the Phillies, he is not on the Phillies Wall of Fame. If he were eligible, his case would be strong. He is the only reliever in Phillies history to win a Cy Young Award. He led the majors in saves, set a major league record for consecutive appearances with a save, broke the team’s career saves record in less than three full seasons, and still ranks third all-time.
The next time Phillies fans run through the great closers in team history, Bedrock belongs in that conversation.
Philadelphia Baseball Events for September 25
- September 25, 1929 – Don Hurst hit his 30th home run of the season in the first game of a doubleheader against Boston. That put him in the 30-homer club with Phillies teammates Chuck Klein and Lefty O’Doul.
- September 25, 1932 – Jimmie Foxx hit his 58th home run of the season off Washington’s Alvin “General” Crowder. Crowder still won his 15th straight game as the Senators beat the A’s 2-1. Foxx finished the year two official homers short of Babe Ruth’s record of 60. Two of his home runs had been wiped from the record books when earlier games were rained out.
- September 25, 1955 – On the last day of the season, Richie Ashburn went hitless in seven at-bats in a doubleheader at New York. He still won the NL batting title with a .338 average. In the second game, Ted Kazanski hit an inside-the-park home run and then started a triple-play to end the game as the Phillies won 3-1.
- September 25, 1956 – Brooklyn’s Sal Maglie threw a no-hitter against the Phillies in a 5-0 win.
- September 25, 1980 – Manny Trillo’s fifth-inning triple and an RBI from Garry Maddox led the Phillies past the Mets 2-1 at Veterans Stadium. Marty Bystrom allowed one run over 6.2 innings and Sparky Lyle got the save. The win put Philadelphia at 84-68 in the year it went on to win its first World Series.
- September 25, 2015 – Aaron Altherr hit an inside-the-park grand slam against Washington as the Phillies won 8-2.
- September 25, 2021 – Bryce Harper hit his 34th home run of the year against the Pirates. It was his 46th extra-base hit since the All-Star break. Since 1933, only six other players have had 45 or more extra-base hits and 60 or more walks after the break: Lou Gehrig (twice), Harlond Clift, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg, Barry Bonds and Ryan Howard. The Phillies won 3-0.
Philadelphia Baseball Birthdays for September 25
- Tad Quinn (born 1881) – An infielder who spent his whole major league career with the Philadelphia Athletics. He played in parts of the 1902 and 1903 seasons.
- Walter Anderson (born 1897) – A left-handed pitcher who pitched for the Athletics in 1917 and 1919. His short big league career ended with a 1-0 record and a 3.25 ERA in 17 games, almost all in relief.
- Bill Atwood (born 1911) – A catcher who was Philadelphia’s main starting catcher from 1936 to 1940. He played 342 games over five seasons, all with the Phillies.
- Dick Davis (born 1953) – An outfielder the Phillies got from Milwaukee in a trade for pitcher Randy Lerch. He played for the Phillies in 1981 and 1982 and hit .333 as a part-timer and pinch hitter before being traded away in June 1982.
- Rich Hunter (born 1974) – A right-handed pitcher who made the majors with the Phillies in 1996. In 1995 he had won the Paul Owens Award as the team’s top minor league pitcher. He went 3-7 with a 6.49 ERA in his only big league season.
- Wil Nieves (born 1977) – A veteran catcher who spent 2014 with the Phillies as Carlos Ruiz’ backup. He made the Opening Day roster, but a leg injury in June ended his time with the team.
- Vance Worley (born 1987) – A right-handed pitcher who started his major league career with the Phillies and pitched for them from 2010 to 2012. His best year there was a strong 2011 rookie season, and he was later traded to Minnesota.
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