Both Dennis Eckersley and Paul Molitor finished up strong in their respective baseball careers...
'The Eck' arguably the best closer in history and Molitor 'The Ignitor' finishing with well over 3,000 hits....but halfway thru both careers both players did not look like they'd be reaching Cooperstown without tickets ...
Molitor finished with 3,319 basehits and missed 2 full seasons due to mutiple injuries, and during the late 80's MLB drug scandal Molitor's name was mentioned......A lifetime .306 hitter, with over 1,300 RBI batting at or near the top of the order, also stealing over 500 bases!!!
Molitor's crowning moment came in 1993 at (36) his best regular season, getting 211 hits, 22 HR's , 111 RBI, and stealing 22 bases...then he batted .500 and led Toronto to a World Series title....
Eckersley perhaps the most versatile pitcher ever, began his career as a starter...winning 20 in 1978 for Boston, but never would have come close to the HOF, had it not been for a late season (1987) switch to the closer role....
From there Eckersley became the 'lights out game over' stopper that made him legendary...His demeanor on the mound was down right arrogant, opponents despised him , teammates watched in awe as he gave new meaning to the term 'control freak'
He closed every game in sight for the next decade, finishing with 390 saves all after the age of 32....
His strikeout to walk ratio was insane! At his peak Eckersley had seasons of; K/BB Ratio (1990) 73K -4BB
(1991) 87K-9BB
(1992) 93K- 11BB
.....Insane control, he came right after hitters and when he was warming in the pen, you knew the game was over...
His best season, an almost comical 0.62 ERA, striking out 73 and walking just 4
while saving 48.
Two of the best players to ever play, and both careers had strange Journey's
'The Eck' arguably the best closer in history and Molitor 'The Ignitor' finishing with well over 3,000 hits....but halfway thru both careers both players did not look like they'd be reaching Cooperstown without tickets ...
Molitor finished with 3,319 basehits and missed 2 full seasons due to mutiple injuries, and during the late 80's MLB drug scandal Molitor's name was mentioned......A lifetime .306 hitter, with over 1,300 RBI batting at or near the top of the order, also stealing over 500 bases!!!
Molitor's crowning moment came in 1993 at (36) his best regular season, getting 211 hits, 22 HR's , 111 RBI, and stealing 22 bases...then he batted .500 and led Toronto to a World Series title....
Eckersley perhaps the most versatile pitcher ever, began his career as a starter...winning 20 in 1978 for Boston, but never would have come close to the HOF, had it not been for a late season (1987) switch to the closer role....
From there Eckersley became the 'lights out game over' stopper that made him legendary...His demeanor on the mound was down right arrogant, opponents despised him , teammates watched in awe as he gave new meaning to the term 'control freak'
His strikeout to walk ratio was insane! At his peak Eckersley had seasons of; K/BB Ratio (1990) 73K -4BB
His best season, an almost comical 0.62 ERA, striking out 73 and walking just 4
Two of the best players to ever play, and both careers had strange Journey's
