The two-time All-Star was a relief ace and the unsung hero of the 1961 World Series champions.
The closer is someone baseball fans might take for granted these days. For most of organized baseball's first century, starting pitchers simply completed what they began. Every other start or so, there would be an available relief pitcher who could pick up the slack, but normal relievers were not that common. Lefty Luis Arroyo, who passed away at age 88 last Wednesday after a bout of cancer, helped make them common.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) January 14, 2016
The Yankees have always been pioneers of relief pitching though.