Eckersley would take his spot as the elite Relief Pitcher in baseball in 1988. Earning the first of what would be four All-Stars as a closer, Eckersley would lead the American League in Saves in 45, while posting a WHIP of .0867. He would help Oakland win the American League pennant, and he finished second in Cy Young voting.
The A’s would win the 1989 World Series, with Eckersley being a considerable part of that success. While his Saves total went down to 33, he actually had a better season with a 1.56 ERA and a WHIP of 0.607. Oakland won the 1990 American League Pennant (though lost to Cincinnati), and Eckersley again had sick numbers with an ERA of only 0.61 and a comparable WHIP of 0.614. Perhaps because of the Save lead bias, he had fewer votes than he did for the Cy Young than he had in 1988.
After another good season in 1991, Eckersley reclaimed the Saves title with 51 (1.91 ERA & 0.913 WHIP), and that was the season he won the Cy Young and also the MVP. He would play three more seasons, but age caught up to him, and he was not the same hurler. He would sign with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1996, and played three more years, his last being with the Boston Red Sox.
With the Athletics, Dennis Eckersley had 330 Saves, won 41 Games with a WHIP of 0.953.
Eckersley would get into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004 and was named to the Athletics Hall of Fame in the first group in 2018.
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