Baseball fans point to HOF’ers Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage and Bruce Sutter as closers that often pitched more than an inning to earn a save. Since today’s closer has become a one-inning guy, we tend to forget multiple innings were exclusive to Hall of Famers.

The news that former Cub reliever passed away yesterday at the age of 74 reminded me of how important he was to most every team that he played for in his 15-year career.

It’s purely coincidental that the Phillies traded for another key closer yesterday. Gregory Soto doesn’t have the cache or the back of the baseball card that Campbell had when he was traded to the Phillies before the 1984 season, but the move was as logical.

They lost reliever Zach Eflin earlier this winter but have already replaced him with veteran Craig Kimbrel (34yrs old). Kimbrel has had a rough couple of years but is the active, career saves leader (394) and if used properly can be a force for good.

Campbell was not a HOF reliever, but that doesn’t mean that he wasn’t a valuable player. Back in 1976, he won the first AL Fireman of the Year for his 17 wins and 20 saves with the 85-win Twins. He led the team in victories and his 167.2 innings in a league-leading 78 appearances is mind-boggling.

The following year, he led the (97-64) Boston Red Sox with 13 wins and an AL best 31 saves. By the time he got to Wrigley, he was 33 years old but was able to provide the Cubs with veteran leadership and 222.1 innings in two seasons. Let those numbers sink in. As luck would have it, he wasn’t there for the 1984 season, but was a veteran presence on the ’85 Cards team that did make it to the World Series.

Nobody knows if Dave Dombrowski has figured out how to construct a winning bullpen. He is following an established blueprint-acquiring established former closers. Now it’s up to the players to perform and the manager to use them properly.