"He could hit a gnat in the butt with a pitch if he
wanted to."
-Rich "Goose" Gossage
Eck the Starter
Dennis Eckersley is a legendary relief pitcher and closer, playing twenty-four seasons in Major League Baseball. He began his
carreer as a starting pitcher for the Cleveland Indians in 1975. He won thirteen games in his first season, with a 2.60
ERA, his lowest ERA as a starter. In 1978 he was traded to the Boston Red Sox, but not before
no-hitting the
Anaheim Angels in 1977. For Boston, Eckersley continued his solid work as a starter, finishing below .500 only twice during
his six and a half year run with Boston. He was traded mid-season to the Chicago Cubs in 1984, where he would spend a slow three
years. His numbers beginning to dwindle, Eck found himself tossing up a 4.57 ERA in his last year as a Cub. This would also be his
last year as a starter.
Eck the Closer
The Cubs shipped Eckersley out to Oakland in 1987 after putting up an unimpressive
6-11 record in 1986. Tony
LaRussa, the Athletics' skipper, gave Eckersley a second life by transforming him into a closing pitcher. The closer role began to
shape Eckersley into a superstar and in return, Eckersley began to shape the closer role. Today, many would consider Eckersley to be the
platonic form of a closer. He is the complete package. With years under his belt as a starter, he knew how to finish the job, and with
the added benefit of being able to enter late in the game at top form, he was deadly. Raw talent and seasoned expertise aside, Eckersley
looks like a closer. Tall and forboding, Eckersley sported long untamed jet black hair and a fiery goatee, like some
mad scientist-general obsessed with final victory.
Eckersley saved 320 games for the Athletics over nine seasons, during which he commanded the A's to four division titles, three
American League pennants, and a World Series title in 1989. He played for the A's during their Bash Brothers era, closing for
the likes of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire.
Following LaRussa to the Midwest, Eckersley wound up with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1996, where he played his last two seasons as a closer. I had the opportunity
to watch Eckersley play during his last two seasons in St. Louis, and I can attest to his
presence on the mound. Eck returned to the Red Sox for his last year, the
first time in his career he signed with a different team during free
agency.
Eck the Hall of Famer
He played his last game for the Red Sox, breaking the major league record for
most appearances in that game. He extended
Hoyt Wilhelm's mark by one
game, setting the record at 1,071 games.
Recently elected to the Hall of Fame
with 421 ballots (8.2 percent above the required 75 percent), Eckersley joined Paul Molitor as the only two members of the 2004 class. Eckersley
enjoys a place at the top of many career statistics categories, including second
most seasons with thirty or more saves with eight (behind Lee Smith's
nine). Even though Eck became a closer halfway through his career, he is
still third in the all-time saves list with 390 (behind John Franco's 424 and
Smith's 478). Eckersley resides tied for twelfth on the all-time games
finished list with 577. His eleven saves in League Championship series
with the A's are a Major League record.
Eck represented the American League with six All-Star appearances
in 1977, 1982, 1988, and 1990-1992. He received the AL MVP and AL Cy Young Award in 1992, when he led the league in games
finished and saves (for the second time since 1988).
Statistics:
(Thanks to baseball-reference.com)
Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA
_________________________________________________________________________________________
1975 20 CLE AL 13 7 34 24 5 6 2 2 186.7 147 61 54 16 90 152 2.60
1976 21 CLE AL 13 12 36 30 3 9 3 1 199.3 155 82 76 13 78 200 3.43
1977 22 CLE AL 14 13 33 33 0 12 3 0 247.3 214 100 97 31 54 191 3.53
1978 23 BOS AL 20 8 35 35 0 16 3 0 268.3 258 99 89 30 71 162 2.99
1979 24 BOS AL 17 10 33 33 0 17 2 0 246.7 234 89 82 29 59 150 2.99
1980 25 BOS AL 12 14 30 30 0 8 0 0 197.7 188 101 94 25 44 121 4.28
1981 26 BOS AL 9 8 23 23 0 8 2 0 154.0 160 82 73 9 35 79 4.27
1982 27 BOS AL 13 13 33 33 0 11 3 0 224.3 228 101 93 31 43 127 3.73
1983 28 BOS AL 9 13 28 28 0 2 0 0 176.3 223 119 110 27 39 77 5.61
1984 29 BOS AL 4 4 9 9 0 2 0 0 64.7 71 38 36 10 13 33 5.01
CHC NL 10 8 24 24 0 2 0 0 160.3 152 59 54 11 36 81 3.03
TOT 14 12 33 33 0 4 0 0 225.0 223 97 90 21 49 114 3.60
1985 30 CHC NL 11 7 25 25 0 6 2 0 169.3 145 61 58 15 19 117 3.08
1986 31 CHC NL 6 11 33 32 0 1 0 0 201.0 226 109 102 21 43 137 4.57
1987 32 OAK AL 6 8 54 2 33 0 0 16 115.7 99 41 39 11 17 113 3.03
1988 33 OAK AL 4 2 60 0 53 0 0 45 72.7 52 20 19 5 11 70 2.35
1989 34 OAK AL 4 0 51 0 46 0 0 33 57.7 32 10 10 5 3 55 1.56
1990 35 OAK AL 4 2 63 0 61 0 0 48 73.3 41 9 5 2 4 73 0.61
1991 36 OAK AL 5 4 67 0 59 0 0 43 76.0 60 26 25 11 9 87 2.96
1992 37 OAK AL 7 1 69 0 65 0 0 51 80.0 62 17 17 5 11 93 1.91
1993 38 OAK AL 2 4 64 0 52 0 0 36 67.0 67 32 31 7 13 80 4.16
1994 39 OAK AL 5 4 45 0 39 0 0 19 44.3 49 26 21 5 13 47 4.26
1995 40 OAK AL 4 6 52 0 48 0 0 29 50.3 53 29 27 5 11 40 4.83
1996 41 STL NL 0 6 63 0 53 0 0 30 60.0 65 26 22 8 6 49 3.30
1997 42 STL NL 1 5 57 0 47 0 0 36 53.0 49 24 23 9 8 45 3.91
1998 43 BOS AL 4 1 50 0 13 0 0 1 39.7 46 21 21 6 8 22 4.76
_________________________________________________________________________________________
24 Years 171 361 100 390 3076 1278 738 3.50
WL%= .535 197 1071 577 20 3285.7 1382 347 2401
_________________________________________________________________________________________
162 Game Avg 9 8 50 17 27 4 0 18 156.0 146 65 60 16 35 114 3.50
Career High 20 14 69 35 65 17 3 51 268.3 258 119 110 31 90 200 0.61
_________________________________________________________________________________________
W L G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA
(That means he is really good.)
Sources:
www.baseball-reference.com/e/eckerde01.shtml
www.thebaseballpage.com/past/pp/eckersleydennis/
www.baseballhalloffame.org/
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