Dennis Eckersley
Dennis Eckersley
Dennis Lee Eckersley, nicknamed "Eck", is an American former Major League Baseballpitcher. Between 1975 and 1998, he pitched for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals. Eckersley had success as a starter, but gained his greatest fame as a closer, becoming the first of two pitchers in MLB history to have both a 20-win season and a 50-save season in a career...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth3 October 1954
CityPittsburgh, PA
CountryUnited States of America
I was in good control of my body, and I kept my head still.
It took me a few years to realize that throwing harder wasn't always better.
I'm proud of the fact that I pitched almost 3,300 innings.
But through experience I learned to control my body and locate the ball.
My career spanned the era when relievers started to become more important
It took a great deal of acceptance to come to terms with being an alcoholic but acceptance was the key to my sobriety... If I didn't have acceptance at that time in my life I would not be standing here today.
Pitching... sometimes I did so poorly, it brought me to tears
You aren't going to stick around long with just two pitches
I can't recall too much about pitching, but I do remember that I was anxious to get it over with. I just wanted to get that first game over with and go from there.
They developed a platform for me to put up another 12 years, and that was my ticket to Cooperstown. Those were the best years of my life. It was like magic.
When I first came up, the bullpen was pretty much where they put the guys who couldn't start.
People say baseball players should go out and have fun. No way. To me, baseball is pressure, I always feel it. This is work. The fun is afterwards, when you shake hands.
Later, I could take something off my slider and I could make my fastball sink, so I really had four pitches.
The thing that got me over the hump was accepting that I had to do whatever I could to stay in the game