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player ready...All baseball fans, young or old, are aware that Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley is the best relief pitcher of these times. But until I talked to him here Monday in the A’s spring training camp, I didn’t realize he also leads the league in common sense.
Late last season, for example, when Eckersley’s contract was expiring, he agreed to a two-year extension through 1995 for $3.75 million a year. This isn’t peanuts. But if he had held out and engaged in some minor haggling, he would have walked away with a bigger deal, probably $5-to-$6 million a year.
Curious, I asked why he settled so quckly.
“To me, it wasn’t even a decision, it was bang!” he replied. “I owe these people something.”
But there is more to the story.
“I could have gotten more, a lot more,” Eckersley acknowledged. “But it’s not just the money. I’m used right. That’s why I’m good, and I know it. If I was somewhere else, I’d have a tougher time being as successful.”
When Eckersley says he is being “used right,” he is paying tribute to Tony LaRussa, the Oakland manager. LaRussa uses Eckersley in the ninth inning when the A’s are leading and need only three outs for the victory.
Equally important, LaRussa doesn’t wait until mid-inning, when there are one or two outs and after the opposition has put the tying or winning run into scoring position. LaRussa opens the inning with Eckersley.
“He gives me some room,” Eckerlsey said. “He doesn’t wait until it’s do or die.”
Eckersley’s save totals are staggering: 51 last season, 43 the year before and 48 the year before that-142 saves in 155 opportunites over the last three seasons, a remarkable 92 percent success ratio.
Last year, when he won both the AL’s Most Valuable Player award and the Cy Young, a rare double, he had one of his best seasons. But it was not his best. The year that I’ll never forget was in 1990 when he had 48 saves and allowed only 45 base runners. To me, that’s probably the most remarkable stat in bullpen history.
Eckersley agreed. “It will never happen again,” he said.
Except for their bullpen, the A’s are in transition. Seven frontliners are gone from last year’s club: outfielders Jose Canseco and Willie Wilson, infielders Walt Weiss and Carney Lansford, designated hitter Harold Baines and pitchers Dave Stewart and Mike Moore.
Ruben Sierra, one of the league’s best all-around players, was acquired in the Canseco deal late last season. He will bat third and open in right field. The Hendersons, holdovers Rickey and Dave, are the other starting outfielders and will bat first and second.
Mark McGuire, a slugging first baseman, will hit fourth, behind Sierra. This should give the A’s considerable offensive strength at the top of the order. If they get decent pitching from their starters, they would have an excellent chance of opening an early lead.
General Manager Sandy Alderson insists the A’s still have what he characterizes as their “nucleus players,” a belief shared by LaRussa.
Alderson concedes that some rebuilding of the club’s starting rotation will be necessary. Speaking of his starting pitching, at this point a definite weakness, Alderson said, “We don’t know how it will work out until we take it out of the oven.”
Bob Welch, Ron Darling, Bobby Witt and Storm Davis currently comprise the Oakland rotation. The fifth starter is not expected to be determined until the last week or two of spring training.
“Some of the experts have counted us out,” LaRussa said. “They’re going to be in for a surprise.”
The bullpen is the one area that isn’t expected to offer any surprises. According to LaRussa, the 38-year old Eckersley will have another blockbuster year.
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“The other night, I was talking with some of my coaches about Eckersley, about how much longer he can go,” LaRussa said. “Nobody really knows, but we decided the key is the desire to compete. It isn’t the legs that go first, it’s the enthusiasm.
“I think Eckersley will be pitching into his 40s because he is such a great competitor. He’s like Carlton Fisk and Nolan Ryan and Goose Gossage. The fire is still burning, and that’s what makes the difference.”