Top 30 Cy Young Award Winners of all-time
By Jason Evans
26. Dennis Eckersley 1992
AL MVP and Cy Young Award Winner
51 saves
1.91 ERA
The modern era of specialized bullpens started with Tony LaRussa and the late 1980’s and early 1990’s Oakland A’s. A big part of that was the emergence of Dennis Eckersley as a dominant closer and his 1992, at age 37, may have been his best and comes in at 26 on our list.
Eckersley had one of the most interesting pitching careers. Came up as a starter. Was an All-Star. Went to Oakland in his late 30’s and became a dominant reliever, and helped get Oakland a World Series title and three AL pennants.
Even though they couldn’t beat the Blue Jays in the ALCS, it doesn’t take away from what he did for the A’s in 1992.
Eckersley led the league in saves with 51 and finished 68 games which led the AL as well. He pitched in 80 innings and gave up just 73 baserunners (walks plus hits). He averaged 10.5 K/9 innings, which was the second highest of his career.
His WHIP for the season was 0.91.
This was the last dominant season of Eckersley’s career. Maybe because he was at age 37. He would pitch until 1998, but would never have an ERA under three again. He remained a closer and followed LaRussa over to St.Louis before finishing his career where it all began in Boston.