2015 DMBL Dennis Eckersley
Rolaids® Relief Pitcher of the Year Award

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

Sean DoolittleTaking 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