http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1859386


OAKLAND, Calif. -- Dennis Eckersley got another standing ovation from Oakland
Athletics fans Saturday -- only this time it came before a game.





Eckersley, who saved a franchise-record 320 games for the A's and closed out
their 1989 World Series win over San Francisco, was honored before Saturday's
game against Kansas City for last month's induction into the Hall of Fame.



"The time I spent in Oakland were the greatest years of my life," he said. "I'll
always be appreciative of how the fans supported me in good times and God knows
bad times."



Former teammates Dave Henderson and Terry Steinbach gave him a crystal to
commemorate the day. Rickey Henderson, Mike Moore, Ron Darling and Rick
Honeycutt were also on hand.



Eckersley had 390 career saves but his most memorable came in his first
postseason trip, when he struck out Wade Boggs with runners on first and second
to preserve a one-run lead and win Game 1 of the 1988 ALCS against his former
team, the Boston Red Sox.



"That's one game I don't forget," he said. "But there are a lot of saves I
should have gotten but didn't that I don't forget."



Eckersley seldom blew a save, but two of those rare occasions came on the big
stage of the postseason.



In Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, he allowed a pinch-hit, game-winning homer
to a hobbling Kirk Gibson that propelled the Los Angeles Dodgers to a World
Series upset.



Four years later, Eckersley served up a game-tying shot to Toronto's Roberto
Alomar in Game 4 of the ALCS.



"When I gave up a homer, I didn't even want to stop at the gas station on the
way home because they would know I gave up a bomb," Eckersley said. "At the time
there was so much pressure it was hard to enjoy it."



But usually when Eckersley came in for the A's, he worked quickly, threw strikes
and closed out another victory.



"He was Mr. Automatic," Henderson said. "He got it done really quick."



With his shaggy black hair and distinct mustache, the fiery Eckersley relied on
pinpoint control and was the most effective reliever in baseball from 1988-92,
helping the A's win four division titles, three AL pennants and one World
Series. He won the AL MVP and Cy Young Awards in 1992, going 7-1 with 51 saves
and a 1.91 ERA.



"It was magic," Eckersley said. "We expected to win and I expected to save
games. That's how it was."



Eckersley is third on baseball's career saves list behind Lee Smith (478) and
John Franco (424).



The A's also honored former announcer Lon Simmons, who received the Ford C.
Frick Award and was the 29th broadcaster inducted into the broadcast wing of the
Hall of Fame.


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