The prestigious Dennis Eckersley
Award, named after the former Vancouver and Toledo
star pitcher who dominated in the early 1990s, is
given to the most astounding Relief Pitcher in the
DMBL. A series of points are given to score a
reliever's Eckersley standings. Two points are
awarded for each save and each victory earned in
relief and one point is subtracted for each blown
save and each loss.
And the award
goes to....
Sean Doolittle, Vancouver Iron Fist
Taking over closing duties for the Iron Fist in 2015,
Sean Doolittle ended up leading the league in saves with 39, more than
doubling Vancouver's save leader from 2014 (Koji Uehara with 18). The flamethrowing
Doolittle struck out an impressive 108 in 68 innings, while compiling a 1.72 ERA,
0.72 WHIP, and 9.8 K/BB. Doolittle began his DMBL career drafted in the 10th
round of the 2013 draft. He had a solid rookie season with the Iron Fist and
followed it up with a workhorse 2014 season that saw him pitch over 103 innings.
Doolittle's closest competition came from Tucson closer
Ken Giles who save 33 games and finishing 5 relief points behind. Marietta's
Pat Neshek finished third with 66 points and leading the league in save percentage (.939).
In a three-way, fourth place tie was Hopatcong's Aroldis Chapman, who struck out an impressive 133 batters.
Chapman tied up Arkansas' Zack Britton and Allentown's Craig Kimbrel.
Final Relief Points Standings
|
Reliever |
ERA |
W |
SV |
L |
BS |
Pts |
S.Doolittle, VAN
|
1.72
|
5
|
36
|
2
|
3 |
77
|
K.Giles,TUC
|
1.28
|
5
|
33
|
2
|
2
|
72
|
Neshek, MAR
|
1.20
|
4
|
31
|
2
|
2
|
66
|
Chapman,HPG
|
1.76
|
7
|
25
|
1
|
2
|
61
|
Kimbrel,ALN
|
2.00
|
5
|
29
|
2 |
5
|
61
|
Britton,ARK
|
2.14
|
4
|
31
|
4
|
5
|
61
|
De Fratus, POO
|
2.23
|
2
|
27
|
5
|
3
|
50
|
Melancon,HBK
|
3.07 |
4
|
27
|
5
|
7
|
49
|
Davis,LIV
|
1.29
|
3
|
18
|
2 |
1
|
39
|
Storen,EP
|
2.30
|
3
|
19
|
3
|
2
|
39
|
The Eck Award has been presented 19
times through the years. (No award was given in
1991, 1992 or 1997, as blown save data wasn't
available; no award was given in 1995 due to the
strike.)
PREVIOUS WINNERS OF THE
ECK |
YEAR |
PLAYER |
TEAM |
W |
SV |
L |
BS |
PTS |
2015 |
Doolittle |
VAN |
5
|
36 |
2
|
3
|
77 |
2012 |
M.Rivera |
MAR |
10 |
43 |
3 |
6 |
97 |
2011 |
Thornton |
PHI |
2
|
38 |
4
|
2
|
74 |
2010 |
Wuertz |
SAR |
4 |
50 |
6 |
3 |
99 |
2009 |
Devine |
NWK |
5
|
35 |
2
|
2
|
76 |
2008 |
Papelbon |
DC |
4 |
31 |
3 |
3 |
64 |
2007 |
F.Rodriguez |
PHI |
4 |
34 |
5 |
6 |
65 |
2006 |
F.Rodriguez |
PHI |
4 |
34 |
5 |
5 |
66 |
2005 |
Isringhausen |
HBK |
8 |
33 |
4 |
6 |
72 |
2004 |
Smoltz |
NWK |
8 |
34 |
6 |
5 |
73 |
2003 |
Smoltz |
NWK |
4 |
45 |
1 |
3 |
94 |
2002 |
Percival |
PHX |
4 |
34 |
2 |
5 |
69 |
2001 |
M.Rivera |
STP |
5 |
38 |
3 |
4 |
79 |
2000 |
B.Wagner |
VAN |
6 |
41 |
4 |
4 |
86 |
1999 |
M.Rivera |
JER |
9 |
35 |
4 |
8 |
76 |
1998 |
Wetteland |
NWK |
5 |
34 |
2 |
3 |
73 |
1996 |
Wetteland |
NWK |
13 |
7 |
5 |
3 |
32 |
1994 |
R.Beck |
ARK |
12 |
11 |
6 |
5 |
35 |
1993 |
R.Hernandez |
VAN |
12 |
11 |
2 |
6 |
38 |
Here's a look at the top seasons by
closers in DMBL history. As noted above, Rivera is
on the list five times, but has only won The Eck
three times; he was beaten out in 2010 by Wuertz's
record-setting 99 RP, and in 2000 by Billy Wagner's then-record
86 RP. The same fate befell Robb
Nen in 2003, whose 80 RP was crushed by
Smoltz's then-record 94.
TOP 10 RELIEF SEASONS OF
ALL TIME |
# |
PLAYER |
YEAR |
TEAM |
W |
SV |
L |
BS |
PTS |
1 |
Wuertz |
2010 |
SAR |
4 |
50 |
6 |
3 |
99 |
2 |
M.Rivera |
2012 |
MAR |
10 |
43 |
3 |
6 |
97 |
3 |
Smoltz |
2003 |
NWK |
4 |
45 |
1 |
3 |
94 |
4 |
M.Rivera* |
2010 |
MAR |
10 |
40 |
3 |
6 |
91 |
5 |
B.Wagner |
2000 |
VAN |
6 |
41 |
4 |
4 |
86 |
6 |
Nen* |
2003 |
BRK |
3 |
41 |
4 |
4 |
80 |
7 |
M.Rivera |
2001 |
STP |
5 |
38 |
3 |
4 |
79 |
8 |
M.Rivera* |
2000 |
JER |
14 |
27 |
2 |
3 |
77 |
8T |
S.Doolittle |
2015 |
VAN |
5 |
36 |
2 |
3 |
77 |
9 |
M.Rivera |
1999 |
JER |
9 |
35 |
4 |
8 |
76 |
9T |
Devine |
2009 |
NWK |
5 |
35 |
2 |
2 |
76 |
*Did not win Eck Award |
|