Eckersley

Dennis Eckersley, the premier reliever of the Oakland Athletics, is the runaway winner of the American League's 1992 Cy Young Award -- and fourth-place finisher Mike Mussina is among the least surprised."

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Oakland Athletics reliever Dennis Eckersley was so disturbed by Jack Morris' criticism of his celebration act, he confronted the Toronto Blue Jays pitcher yesterday before Game 5 of the American League Championship Series."

OAKLAND, Calif. -- If the Toronto Blue Jays needed any more proof that this is their year, it came in the late innings of yesterday's marathon victory over the Oakland Athletics in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series.The Blue Jays were down by five runs going into the eighth inning with super stopper Dennis Eckersley warming up in the A's bullpen, but they came back to win, 7-6, in 11 innings to put Oakland on 24-hour notice in this best-of-seven playoff.Second baseman Roberto Alomar saved the game with a dramatic two-run home run off Eckersley in the ninth and catcher Pat Borders won the game with a sacrifice fly in the 11th to put the Blue Jays up three games to one. Right-hander David Cone can put them into the World Series for the first time in club history when he faces Dave Stewart today in the last of three games at the Oakland Coliseum.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Welcome back to the sport where nothing is automatic, the sport measured not in time but outs, the sport that humbles even its greatest stars.The Eck blew it.Perot wins the election.The Eck blew it.Anything is possible now.Imagine a team making four errors and recording the greatest triumph of its 16-year history. The Toronto Blue Jays did just that yesterday, in an earthquake of a game.The Jays trailed Oakland 6-1 in the eighth inning with Dennis Eckersley warming in the bullpen.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- If the Toronto Blue Jays needed any more proof that this is their year, it came in the late innings of yesterday's marathon victory over the Oakland Athletics in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series.The Blue Jays were down by five runs going into the eighth inning with super stopper Dennis Eckersley warming up in the A's bullpen, but they came back to win, 7-6, in 11 innings to put Oakland on 24-hour notice in this best-of-seven playoff.Second baseman Roberto Alomar saved the game with a dramatic two-run home run off Eckersley in the ninth and catcher Pat Borders won the game with a sacrifice fly in the 11th to put the Blue Jays up, three games to one. Right-hander David Cone can put them into the World Series for the first time in club history when he faces Dave Stewart today in the last of three games at the Oakland Coliseum.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- It isn't unusual for Dennis Eckersley to pump his fist after an important strikeout, but yesterday he went a step further. He stared into the Toronto dugout, provoking a response he surely regrets.The Blue Jays not only screamed back, they stormed back, completing their rally from a five-run deficit to tie the score 6-6 on Roberto Alomar's two-run homer off Eckersley in the ninth inning.Eckersley lasted only three more batters, but the Blue Jays could not be stopped. They moved within one victory of the World Series, winning Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, 7-6 in 11 innings.

In his six seasons with the A's, Dennis Eckersley has gone from washed-up starter to strong Hall of Fame candidate.Eckersley, 37, has had two distinct careers in baseball -- the first 12 seasons as a starting pitcher, going from rising star to mediocre journeyman -- and the past five-plus as the premier closer in baseball.It is the second, relatively short period that has led many baseball insiders and Hall voters to rate him a lock to become one of the few pitchers elected to the Hall for his work as a reliever.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- What can Chicago White Sox reliever Bobby Thigpen do for an encore?Trust me, it's impossible for him to improve on his record 57 saves. Thigpen knows this as well as I do. He had a ready answer:"I could go 35 for 35, or 38 for 38 or 40 for 40 and we win the division. It's a better year for me and for the team."A miracle scenario, nonetheless. Absolute perfection is required to rack up 35 saves in 35 opportunities. But there is a near-precedent.In 1984, when the Detroit Tigers won the World Series, Willie Hernandez, their bullpen star, had a dream year: 32 consecutive saves.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The legendary Oakland A's never showed up in this World Series. In fact, Jose Canseco, the most legendary of them all, didn't even start last night. And Dennis Eckersley never got out of the bullpen.Are the mighty A's a myth? All I know is that the Cincinnati Reds were the team writing all the epic poetry.A sweep. Imagine. Nobody could have, and even last night, for most of a game, it didn't seem quite possible. Didn't you see all those Reds dropping like the flies that Canseco had been dropping?

CINCINNATI -- The Oakland Athletics never figured on this, and neither did the oddsmakers who made them a lopsided favorite to win the 87th World Series.The Cincinnati Reds have taken the first two games at Riverfront Stadium and with them a decided advantage in the best-of-seven series, scoring a 5-4, extra-inning victory in Game 2 last night to send the bewildered A's home empty-handed.Center fielder Billy Hatcher followed his 3-for-3 performance in Game 1 with four straight hits last night, setting a Series record for consecutive hits and tying another for most hits in back-to-back games.