The Hall of Fame Class of '99 marks the first group in 10 years to have two players who spent their entire careers with one team. Johnny Bench and Carl Yastrzemski comprised the last one-team pair inducted in 1989. Heck, no player inductee since Mike Schmidt (1995) had spent his entire Major League career with one team. Phil Rizzuto and Jim Palmer were the only other one-team inductees for the 1990s.

Compare that total of four with the 11 Hall of Fame players inducted in the 1980s who spent their big-league careers with one team. In the 1970s, the total was 10.

It's no coincidence, of course, that the drop coincides with the retirement of a generation of players who played their entire careers with the benefit of free agency. Of the players inducted in the '80s who spent their entire careers with one team, only Bench, Yaz, Willie Stargell and Brooks Robinson had free agency available during the prime of their careers.

What separates many of these players, however, is more than an overbearing sense of loyalty. They've also played up to or close to their standards through the end of their career, and retired before age finally made them dead weight on their squads.

Killebrew, only a .256 career hitter, didn't hit above .242 in his final three seasons. He left Minnesota in 1975 at the age of 39 for Kansas City, where he hit .199 in 106 games and promptly retired. Marichal made just 13 starts over his final two seasons at Boston and Los Angeles after leaving the Giants.

While Brett hit .300 in only two of his final eight seasons, he still managed 19 homers and 75 RBI in his farewell season of 1993. Yount managed 77 RBI in three straight seasons before tailing off in 1993, after which he decided to hang it up at age 38.

There's also something to be said for where these legends spent their careers. Aside from Baltimore, where Robinson and Palmer thrived, or Yaz in Boston, no Hall of Famer has spent his entire career in a large-market city since the golden age of free agency. Of the Hall of Fame candidates who could garner votes in the next few years, only ex-Yankee Don Mattingly could fit that category.

Fans in Kansas City sign a giant jersey in honor of Hall of Famer George Brett. (AP)

That standard even applies to many current one-team players who could feasibly make a run at the Hall. Of the 12 players who have played their entire careers with one team and have played at least 10 years, only Anaheim's Chuck Finley, Chicago's Mark Grace, Texas' Juan Gonzalez and Atlanta's Tom Glavine and John Smoltz play in large markets where they can realistically command the highest dollar. Whether Seattle can boast the same with Ken Griffey Jr. will be seen next year.

The two players with the longest career-long tenures on their current clubs are sure Hall of Famers in Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn. The most surprising name may be Finley, who has made 423 pitching appearances for the Angels since his debut as a reliever on May 29, 1986.

Save yourself

Don't ask how far the quality of relievers have fallen when a knuckleballer can become a closer. Think about how much importance the closer's role has gained when a successful starter gains the job for a playoff contender in Boston.

Tim Wakefield wasn't exactly on his last legs as a starting hurler. He had a 15-7 record last season. Though it seemed like lunacy when the Red Sox put him in the bullpen to replace injured closer Tom Gordon, Wakefield has handled the job well enough to step on the verge of history. And no, it's not for the closer with the slowest fastball ever.

With 12 saves through Thursday and Gordon not expected back soon, Wakefield could easily follow up last year's 15-win campaign with a 15-save campaign. He is believed to be the first player to do so since Pittsburgh's Roy Face in 1959 and 1960.

Face, however, didn't make a single start in either of those seasons. Nor did Mike Marshall, who won 15 games and saved 21 others for the 1974 Dodgers, for whom he pitched a record 106 games. He managed just 14 saves the following year.

It makes sense, since successful starters aren't normally asked to convert to relief, even temporarily, for risk of ruining the rotation and perhaps the pitcher's arm. It also makes sense for Wakefield to pull the feat, since no pitching arm seems to have the inconsistency and endurance of the knuckleballer.

Mitch Williams was the most recent reliever to nearly pull 15 wins and saves in the same year, winning 12 games and saving 30 others for Philadelphia in 1991. Boston's Bob Stanley won 16 games, mostly as a starter, in 1979 before saving 14 games in 1980.

Even more numbers

206 -- Projected innings pitched this season for Cardinals starter Kent Bottenfield, who could become the first pitcher in franchise history to win 20 games in less than 200 innings.

.266 -- Pirates' team batting average through Saturday in the 17 games since Jason Kendall was injured July 4. Pittsburgh is hitting .272 for the season.

24 -- Consecutive appearances in which Rangers reliever Jeff Zimmerman has not surrendered a run. With 27 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings, he's 18 1/3 innings away from Walter Johnson's American League record set in 1913.

227 -- Projected home runs allowed by the Cubs pitching staff entering the weekend. The 1996 Rockies hold the National League record with 198 home runs surrendered. Chicago entered Saturday's game against the Mets at 132.