Expert: Steve L - 10/4/2003

Question
can you explain the evolution of the four man pitching rotation to the five man rotation?  when and who started doing it and why?  

Answer
The five-man rotation was a product of the early 1970s, when an era of free experimentation in our society leeched its way into baseball and a few teams dabbled in the concept, on the premise that it would keep their starting pitchers healthy.

Most notable among these were the Dodgers, who made the switch midway through the 1971 season. In 1969, three Dodger pitchers (Claude Osteen, Don Sutton, and Bill Singer) each made 40 or 41 starts, providing just 37 leftover starts for the rest of the staff. By 1972, Sutton, Osteen, and Singer were joined by Al Downing and Tommy John, as all five pitchers started between 25 and 33 games, combining to start 150 of the Dodgers' 155 games. In retrospect, it's easy to understand why the Dodgers went with five starters - because unlike almost any other organization, they actually had five quality starters. How many teams can boast five starting pitchers whose names are still recognizable a quarter-century later?

The Dodgers' transition to a five-man rotation was not without its hiccups--they returned to using just four starters in 1974 and 1975--but it was ultimately irresistible. Since 1975, the Dodgers allowed a pitcher to make more than 35 starts in only one season, 1982. And during the 1970s, wherever the Dodgers tread, the rest of baseball was sure to soon follow. As ex-Dodgers and minor league managers trained in the Dodger Way promulgated their philosophy throughout baseball, the gospel of the five-man rotation was successfully spread to nearly every corner of the baseball map. By the early 1980s, only the Baltimore Orioles had not been successfully converted to the cause.