2006 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....

Francisco Rodriguez, Philadelphia Endzone Animals

Francisco Rodriguez"K-Rod," at age 24, is the youngest player ever to win The Eck. (The previous record holder was Rod Beck, who was 25 when he won it in 1994.) In addition to leading the league in relief points with 66, Rodriguez also led the league in saves (34) and was 4th in save percentage (.829); he was third among all pitchers in K/9 (13.0). Rodriguez was initially drafted as an ineligible prospect by Columbia in 2003 with their second-round pick (#21 overall), but they inexpicably released him just two months into the season to make room for Sidney Ponson. The following year, his stock actually improved, as he was drafted with the 20th pick overall by the Endzone Animals, where he's remained ever since. Rodriguez actually won The Eck in his first year as a closer, having spent his first two years as a set-up man learning the trade under Danny Kolb and then Armando Benitez. Over his three-year career, Rodriguez has a 3.06 ERA and 10.4 R/9 in 196 games, with a 15-14 record, 40 saves and 340 strikeouts in 258.2 innings.

Rodriguez had led the league in relief points and saves for much of August and September, but in the final week, four closers -- Hillsborough's Chad Cordero, Marietta's Mariano Rivera, Las Vegas's Arthur Rhodes and Hoboken's Jason Isringhausen -- were within 5 relief points of the award. But K-Rod turned it up during the stretch run, allowing no runs and just 2 baserunners while striking out 9 of the 14 batters he faced. Izzy, the defending Eck winner, actually went backward the final week, picking up two losses and two blown saves against one win for -3 points, and finished behind Vancouver's Billy Wagner.

Relief Points Final Standings
Reliever ERA W SV  L BS Pts
F.Rodriguez,PHI
 3.38  4
 34  5  5 66
C.Cordero,HIL
 4.08  4
 33  6  6 62
M.Rivera,MAR
 2.35  7
 28  5  6 59
Rhodes, LV
 2.58  4
 28  3  4 57
B.Wagner,VAN
 2.66  2 29  3  4
 55
Isringhausen,HBK
 3.48  5 28  8  8 50
Shields,NWK
 3.30
 10 14
  2
  6 40
F.Cordero,CAR
 3.55
  2 25
  9
  6 39

The Eck Award has been presented 12 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.) Three relievers have won it twice.

PREVIOUS WINNERS OF THE ECK
YEAR PLAYER TEAM  W  SV  L BS PTS
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 Rivera,M 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

Rodriguez's season wasn't one of the all-time best. Here's a look at the top seasons by relievers in DMBL history:

TOP 10 RELIEF SEASONS OF ALL TIME
# PLAYER YEAR TEAM  W SV  L BS PTS
1 Smoltz 2003 NWK 4 45  1 3 94
2 Wagner,B 2000 VAN 6 41 4 4 86
3 Nen 2003 BRK 3 41 4 4 80
4 Rivera,M 2001 STP 5 38 3 4 79
5 Rivera,M 2000 JER 14 27 2 3 77
6 Rivera,M 1999 JER 9 35 4 8 76
7T Wetteland 1998 NWK 5 34 2 3 73
7T Smoltz 2004 NWK 8 34 6 5 73
9 Isringhausen 2005 HBK 8 33 4 6 72
10T Rivera 2003 STP 3 37 3 6 71
10T Urbina 2003 HON 9 31 4 5 71