Longtime major league reliever Bill Campbell passed away today after a battle with cancer, according to multiple reports. He was 74 years old.
A native of Highland Park, Michigan, Campbell began his professional baseball career with the Twins after a military stint in Vietnam. The war delayed his entry into pro ball until he was 22 years old, but the 6’3″ righty reached the majors within two seasons. A starting pitcher in the minors, Campbell broke into the big leagues as a reliever with Minnesota during the 1973 season. He threw 51 2/3 innings through 28 appearances as a rookie, posting a 3.14 ERA.
That kicked off a stretch in which Campbell was one of the sport’s better late-game weapons. Part of an era in which there were a number of multi-inning “fireman” relievers, Campbell served as a bullpen workhorse. He topped 120 frames in each season from 1974-76, allowing fewer than four earned runs per nine innings in all three years. During the ’76 campaign, Campbell led all big leaguers with 68 games finished and put up a 3.01 ERA over 167 2/3 innings out of the bullpen.
For his efforts, Campbell earned a seventh-place finish in AL Cy Young balloting and an eighth-place tally in MVP voting. That marked an excellent platform showing before he qualified for free agency. He signed with the Red Sox that offseason and had another great year during his first season in Boston. Campbell put up a 2.96 ERA across 140 innings, pacing the American League with 31 saves. He earned an All-Star nod and finished fifth in Cy Young voting and 10th in MVP balloting.
That was Campbell’s last elite season, as he was limited to fewer than 55 innings in each of the next four years with Boston. Campbell signed with the Cubs upon qualifying for free agency during the 1981-82 offseason. He’d top 100 frames again in his two seasons in Chicago, posting a 3.69 ERA during his first year. The Cubs traded him to the Phillies, where he pitched to a 3.43 ERA through 81 1/3 innings in 1984. He’d change teams each year for the rest of his career, following up with successive one-year stops as a Cardinal, Tiger and Expo. The ’85 campaign afforded Campbell his only opportunity to pitch in the postseason, as he tossed 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball for the National League champions.
Campbell appeared in all 15 major league seasons from 1973-87. He played for seven different clubs, particularly thriving during his early work with the Twins and Red Sox. Campbell was named the American League’s reliever of the year in both seasons in which he secured Cy Young and MVP votes. At career’s end, he owned a 3.54 ERA in 1229 1/3 innings over exactly 700 big league appearances. Campbell struck out 864 hitters, won 83 games and finished off 455 outings with 126 saves.
After his playing career concluded, Campbell had coaching stints in the Brewers and Red Sox organizations. MLBTR sends our condolences to Campbell’s family, friends, loved ones and former teammates.
Seems like every other day someone new… life is short guys, make the most of it.
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
I’m late to post. RIP and thank you. I had the opportunity to sit in box seats behind the plate at Yankee Stadium in his first season in Boston (before he was injured). Others threw it harder but his fast ball had late movement that watching on TV back than just didn’t give it justice. Sympathies to his family.
Wow
This news saddens me. My condolences to the family and friends
Great reliever!
1976-1977 combined:
147 Appearances
128 Games closed
307.2 Innings pitched
51 Saves
31 Wins
R.I.P. Bill Campbell
Thank you for your Service!
Good Guys dropping a lot lately. Another Nice guy like Nate Colbert. Never heard a bad word about him. RIP
Everyone who passes away is a “good guy.”
I recognized his name from when I was young. Good pitcher. My condolences to his family.
Coming out of the bullpen “Its Soup Time!”
Cardinals fans will remember Campbell as a member of Whitey’s Bullpen By Committee on the great 1985 team.
RIP Soup.
Thoughts and prayers to his family and friends.
Fever: Sorry for the late reply in the Devers article, but I did reply.
suit – No need to apologize, thank you for letting me know. I don’t subscribe to notifications so I wouldn’t have known. It’s too bad posters can’t private message each other like most other sites.
suit – I just scrolled three times through all 730+ comments in that thread, you sure it’s still there? Is it towards the bottom, the middle, etc?
Sometimes when a mod removes a comment, everyone who replied also has their comments removed.
Fever: Yes. It’s about a third of the way down where we were talking with Clipper. You had a great comment, so I wanted to be sure you got my reply.
suit – Thanks, I found it and replied.
Pour one out.
RIP Soup … man, those Twins team could hit but when it came to pitching: Blyleven, Soup and pray for lots of rain … condolences to his family and loved ones
Dave Goltz and Tom Burgmeier were mainstays then as well.
Loved Goltz, Tom Johnson had a huge year too if I remember right
Twins owner Calvin Griffith was an infamous for his cost cutting and for his interference. He dissolved the Twins and appointed late inning defensive sub, Quillichy, to be manager. Quillichy was a decent manager and was good at managing his pen. He used Bill Campbell heavily out of necessity because the bulk of the Twins rotation was always injured, traded or cut.
RIP. Great career.
Steal of a trade for the Cubs in ’84 – Campbell for Matthews and Dernier. Both had MVP votes.
Soup Campbell and his screwball pitch. It was the first time I ever heard of a “screwball” pitch. Had not thought about Soup in many years, but he was fun to watch on WSBK for the Boston Red Sox. RIP
Ditto what you said! “Soup” & The Sox on Channel 38 – I remember it well! There was something very magical about that era.
Soooooup !
He had a damn fine career and from all indications, he was a great guy. RIP.
167.2 IP all in relief in 1976. Amazing!
Rest in power Bill
Really excellent and reliable pitcher for a number of years. Filled just about every bullpen role well at one time or another.
RIP Bill…..
RIP Campbell-san. Thank you for your service to our country and your play on the field. Mahalo
Esa sopa tenias picantes este señor eras un verdadero relevista y como no está en HOF que dios lo tengas en el lugar que se merece RIP soooooooooup
Hey Guys! Help us all out a bit, and drop a picture of the player in here when possible. My memory is almost as gone as Bill!
I remember when Dallas Green signed him with the Cubs. Good bullpen piece for them.
Dang. Soup, Nate Colbert, Denny Doyle, Tom Browwning. I feel like I’m 100 years old. RIP, Bill. Top-notch 70’s reliever.
Don Zimmer (aka Chiang Kei Shek per Eddie Andelman of the Sports Huddle )ruined this guy with overuse..If he had a normal manager Soup would have been a hall of famer..Zimmer could not handle pitchers.He thought they were like the dogs at Wonderland Race Track in Revere that he loved to gamble on..Bill Campbell never complained.
Bill was an outstanding reliever. Saw his pitch several times. My thought are with his family
They once asked Bill if he was nervous when he entered a game. He said he was 6’3” and was a radio man in the jungles of Vietnam. The radio had a 6’ antenna. And the enemy always tried to take out the radio man first. No nerves playing in a baseball game.
Damn, awesome story. Thanks for sharing that.
That’s like the famous Warren Spahn story.
Before a World Series start for the Milwaukee Braves, a reporter asks Spahn if he’s ever been so nervous.
Spahn says: “Well, there was the Battle of the Bulge.”
How has this guy not been mentioned with some of the great relievers. 1976 1977 was no doubt one of the best seasons a relief pitcher has ever produced. He had better season than 3/4 of the mlb starting pitching staffs 2022
Bill “Soup” Campbell was a great reliever. I remember he threw a lot of innings in 1977 for the Red Sox and had over 30 saves. I think he was Rolaids Relief Man of the Year. After that many innings he was not the same pitcher anymore. I felt Don Zimmer burned him out with too many relief appearances in 1977. I did not know he served in Vietnam. He was enjoyable to watch. Rest in Peace Bill Campbell.
I never liked Zimmer, even when he was with the Yankees.
Soup! RIP
My father and I seldom missed a Red Sox game in the 1970s. We loved rooting against them. In late 1978, Soup was on the mound when a player smoked a linedrive about a foot above his head and Soup ducked slightly and snagged it for an out. According to my old Strat-o-matic cards Soup was an “e0”. That’s the best defensive rating. As a peeve, I hate pitchers who can’t field. Soup wasn’t one of those.
Loved strato….. didn’t know about eo??? Thought a “1” was the. Best fielder( error rating lower the better)advanced.. played full Redsox season as close to Ab”s per accurate… last game Jackie Gutierrez hit his one HR … best game out there bar none…