Winning pitcher

Question
Good Morning Brian,
I know all the particulars about how the winning pitcher is determined whether it be the starter or the relief pitcher.  However, I seem to remember that the determination was different when I was growing up in the 50's.  I was between 7 and 12 at that time so maybe my memory isn't correct but I seem to remember that the rule for determining a winning pitcher was not just based on who was the pitcher of record when the team took the lead.  When a game was over, I remember the announcer saying, "We'll be right back with the decision on the winning pitcher."  Let's say the starting pitcher goes 8 scoreless innings and leaves the game with a 1-0 lead going into the top of the ninth.  His relief pitcher gives up 2 runs in the ninth but his team scores 2 runs in the bottom of the ninth for a 3-2 win.  Today the relief pitcher gets the win since he was in the game at the time his team took the lead.  Back then, I remember the win being given to the starting pitcher because he was more deserving of the win and rightly so.  Am I correct in this?  Thanks for your time, I'll be looking forward to hearing from you.

Answer
Tony,

That discretion to award a win to the most deserving pitcher still exists in the rulebook.  Unfortunately, it is very rarely used by official scorers anymore.  Which is somewhat ironic because in this era of many relief pitchers, quite frequently the guy who pitched the best doesn't get the win, even though he may be the most deserving.

Hope this helps!

Brian