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Ed Shigley's avatar

Great story Patrick! Love the look back, I was pitching at Emporia State University when Quiz & Eck were just getting started. Sparky Lyle (sp) doesn't look right? From the Evil Yankees, boo. But, hey I loved pitchers...But I think he won the Rolaids Relief award several times.

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Don Lowe's avatar

Great article! I don't understand why the best relief pitchers are not used more in "put out the fire" situations or used for more than one inning.

I do think that "LaRussa rarely inserted Eckersley into a game before the ninth inning, and he hardly ever pitched more than one inning per game" is a bit of a myth, though a common one. So, for example, in 1988, he entered the game before the 9th in 22 out of 60 games. Only 25 out of 45 saves were 9th inning or later.

I think Bobby Thigpen in 1990 was where the major shift point was. He entered the game before the 9th inning in only 13 out of 77 games, and 47 out of 57 saves were 9th inning or later. And then in 1998, Rod Beck had 49 out of 51 saves in the 9th or later, entering before the 9th inning in only 4 games out of 81.

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