Building the perfect bullpen corps: majors' best relief ensemble more than the sum of its parts.

DURABILITY. CONTROL. Flexibility. Variety. Resiliency. Power and/or trickery. And we haven't even yet gotten into the intangibles of guts, confidence and selective amnesia--all equally valuable components of a topnotch bullpen.

In modern baseball, bullpens are the auto dealership sales manager, the defensive line, the "good cop." Others get most of the glory--they get results. Others insert the key--they turn it. Others set up the deal--they close it.

We're not talking about what makes a good reliever. The short list: Good arm, the ability and nerve to throw strikes. Case closed.

But, what makes a good bullpen, that quilt of arms which dictates the fates of today's teams? On that, there's unanimity.

"You start with a setup-closer tandem, having a guy to pitch in front of the closer and help you shorten games," says Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia. "Then, you look for some balance. A left-hander, maybe two, and a righty who can pitch longer, and a couple of guys for situations--when you're looking for a strikeout or a ground ball."

Indeed, a good bullpen works like a brilliant sitcom. The key is having the right ensemble cast, not headliners. So "Friends" and the Yankees have a lot more in common than a New York setting.

In the Bronx, Tom Gordon sets up Mariano Rivera, Donovan Osborne and Paul Quantrill can eat up innings, and Gabe White matches up with left-handed hitters.