After 1,050 Relief Appearances, Tekulve Announces Retirement

CINCINNATI — Kent Tekulve, who relieved in more games than any other pitcher in major league history, announced his retirement Monday, effective immediately.

Tekulve, 42, said he had trouble accepting his diminished role as a middle reliever with the Cincinnati Reds. His pitching recently also had suffered--he was 0-3 with one save and a 5.02 earned-run average in 37 relief appearances this season.

The Reds signed Tekulve as a free agent over the winter, expecting to make him a set-up man along with Rob Dibble for bullpen ace John Franco. Dibble has gotten the majority of the work, leaving Tekulve to pitch middle relief.

“My role on this club went down some from what we expected at the start of the season,” Tekulve said, in a statement released by the team. “After all those years of being in the middle of things, I wasn’t enjoying being on the fringe.”

The submarine-style pitcher played a major role as the bullpen ace on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 1979 championship team, saving three games in the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles.

Tekulve came up in the Pirate organization and was promoted to the majors during the 1974 season. He was traded to Philadelphia in 1985, and was released by the Phillies after last season. The Reds signed Tekulve before this season.

The right-hander finished with a 94-90 career record with 184 saves and 1,050 relief appearances. He surpassed Hoyt Wilhelm’s previous record of 1,018 career relief appearances on April 17, and was nearing Wilhelm’s record of 1,070 total appearances by a pitcher.