Eckersley

Braves: Pitcher Terrell Wade, who has been out of action since sustaining a torn flexor in his left elbow June 9, is beginning a rehabilitation stint at Double-A Greenville.Brewers: The crowd of 20,074 was the team's ninth straight of more than 20,000, its longest such streak since 12 in a row from Aug. 6-23, 1992. Attendance for the four-game series was 111,634, the most since a four-game set with the Twins drew 122,605 from July 21-24, 1994.Cardinals: Closer Dennis Eckersley has walked only one in 32 2/3 innings while striking out 25.Pub Date: 7/22/97

SAN DIEGO -- Dennis Eckersley turned 42 on Thursday. He is not exactly in the middle of a mid-life crisis.His hair is rock-star long. And as jet-black as a teen-ager's. You have to look very hard for a gray hair -- or a deep wrinkle. He looks as if he just stepped out of a tanning salon or a health club.Eckersley looks so young because he likes his job. Especially at this time of year. Walking onto a field before 50,000 fans and protecting a late-inning lead might sound pretty stressful.Eckersley is having the time of his life.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- He still sees himself as he was in 1989, throwing that knee-buckling curve, freezing another hitter, celebrating another save. Gregg Olson clings to that memory. It's the reason he's now with his fifth major-league team, the St. Louis Cardinals.He isn't the same, he'll never be the same, a torn elbow ligament having sent him into a downward spiral. Yet, humbling as the past two years have been, Olson still can't let go. He keeps making poor career moves, so desperate is he to return to a closer's role.

Jose Mesa and Dennis Eckersley.Bet you never thought you'd see those names in the same sentence when the Orioles traded Mesa for Kyle Washington three years ago.But now here's Mesa, needing just two more saves to tie Eckersley's record of 36 consecutive saves in a season.He's not just a Cy Young candidate, he's an MVP candidate. No other team has more saves.Mesa earned No. 34 with a perfect ninth inning last night in Cleveland's 9-6 victory over the Orioles.He could tie Eckersley before he leaves town.

Opinion: Dennis Eckersley gets my Hall of Fame vote, first ballot, for a remarkable and truly singular career spanning five U.S. presidencies: 187 wins, 301 saves, a 20-win season in 1978, a no-hitter in 1977, AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner in 1992, ALCS MVP in 1988.Fact: In the CFL's recent dispersal draft of players from the defunct Las Vegas Posse, the Ottawa Rough Riders selected a defensive end who died in an auto accident in 1994. The headline in the local paper read: "Rough Riders Draft a Real Stiff."

When Dennis Eckersley ran his career saves total to 301 with back-to-back pickups against the Orioles this week, he once again helped put into perspective the value of what possibly is baseball's most overrated statistic.The 300 number has become almost as magical to relievers as it is to bowlers, which is an injustice since it reflects perfection in the latter instance. Even after exhaustive research to accommodate those who pitched when saves were not officially recognized, only six pitchers have reached that level.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Athletics closer Dennis Eckersley earned his 299th save on May 11, and then for two weeks, he waited. And waited. And waited.But No. 300 finally came last night, in Oakland's 5-3 victory over the Orioles. After Oakland rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the seventh and eighth innings against Mike Mussina (3-2), Eckersley pitched a scoreless ninth to become the sixth pitcher inmajor-league history to save 300 games.It was a night for milestones. Orioles left fielder Brady Anderson stole third base in the third inning -- his 32nd straight successful attempt, which ties an AL record held by Willie Wilson (1980)

If it works, don't change.The Oakland Athletics may have recorded a major-league first Thursday night because manager Tony La Russa followed that philosophy with his strategy.This one will require more than a little research, but it's doubtful that any team ever used seven relief pitchers in a game without any allowing a run. But that's what the A's did in a 6-4 win over the Orioles two nights ago.La Russa set the tone for this one early, using left-hander Vince Horsman to get one batter, Harold Baines, leading off the sixth inning.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Welcome to a new season, Dennis Eckersley. Please say hello to Cecil Fielder, Kirk Gibson and Rob Deer on your way through the door.Eckersley launched the Oakland A's season by breezing through the heart of Detroit's dangerous lineup last night. In the process, he saved Oakland's 9-4 victory.The margin of victory grew when Eric Fox hit a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning. That gave Eckersley a comfortable cushion for the ninth.The win went to starting pitcher Bob Welch and was the 200th of his career.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- It was just another day, another save for Oakland Athletics reliever Dennis Eckersley.During a telephone news conference with Bay area reporters yesterday, he had to cut the interview session short when his son, Jake, swallowed a dime.But, as A's fans have learned over the last six seasons, when the money's on the line, that's when Eckersley goes to work.Eckersley, the most dominant relief pitcher in baseball, became Oakland's third American League Most Valuable Player in five years when the Baseball Writers' Association of America bestowed the 1992 award to him over Kirby Puckett of the Minnesota Twins and Joe Carter of the Toronto Blue Jays.