A Quarter of a Century Ago, Athletics' Dennis Eckersley Became Fastest to 300 Saves

Dennis Eckersley had spent more than a decade as a starting pitcher when the A's picked him up in 1987. He'd ease into closing that year, and by 1995 he got to 300 saves, at that point doing it in fewer relief games than anyone in history.

This Memorial Day weekend is the 25 anniversary of Athletics’ closer Dennis Eckersley recording his 300 big-league save.

At the time, he was the fastest ever to get to 300. A starter for a dozen years with the Indians, Red Sox and Cubs, he came to the A’s in a late spring trade with Chicago in 1987 with a grand total of three saves on his ledger, none in the previous decade.

The A’s didn’t pick him up to be a closer. He actually started a couple of games early on. His final big-league start would be on May 31, 1987 for Oakland in Yankee Stadium. He lost.

By that point, he’d already picked up a save, but not the kind he would become known for. He pitched the final 2.1 innings protecting a two-run lead for A’s starter Dave Stewart in what would be a 7-3 win over the Mariners.

But Jay Howell was the closer and represented the A’s in the All-Star Game that year, so save opportunities weren’t abundant. But mid-season Howell got hurt, and once he came back, he was ineffective, and then he got hurt again. 

A’s manger Tony La Russa went to Eckersley, who had three saves by the end of June as his closer. He would get 13 more down the stretch, later saying “I had time to find myself; it’s not like I went right from starting to closing.”

With Howell traded that winter to the Dodgers in a package that brought eventual Cy Young Award winner Bob Welch, Eckersley was among the first of a new kind of closer – guys who got the final three outs. To that point, even Hall of Fame closers like the A’s Rollie Fingers, routinely went a couple of innings.

Eckersley didn’t need to, thanks in part to strong setup work from Rick Honeycutt and Gene Nelson with help from Eric Plunk and Greg Cadaret. Eckersley would save 220 games over the next five years and win both the Cy young Award and the Most Valuable Player Award in 1992.

“I kind of surprised myself,” Eckersley said. “What happened in Oakland wasn’t what I thought would happen. I’m not sure anybody thought what happened would happen.”

No one to that point had ever put up saves at such a clip. He got his 300 save in his 499 career relief appearance. But recording No. 300 itself would take some time.

First, the season was delayed by three weeks thanks to a players’ strike. Then, when he would get to No. 299 on May 11, his opportunities dried up. From May 11-24 he’d get into just two games. Once he did, he said the wait had been “grinding.”

“It seems like it took forger to get the 1995 season started,” Eckersley said recently.” One it did, there was a wait (before 300). When it finally came, what a thrill it was, because for the longest time I only thought of myself as a starter.”

Eckersley would go on to 390 career saves, by far the highest saves total for someone who’d spent a decade as a starter. He had hoped to be in the Bay Area this weekend for celebrate Dave Stewart’s No. 34 being retired, but as that has been put off, “I’ll be there next year for Stew,” Eckersley said.

Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3

Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Inside the Athletics on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.