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....
Joey Devine, Newark
Sugar Bears
Devine not only racked up the most relief points (76)
and saves (35) of any pitcher this year, but he also set a new Diamond
Mind Baseball League record for highest save percentage (.946) and had
the lowest ERA (1.55) of any closer. The 25-year-old right-hander is
the first rookie to win the Eck since Roberto
Hernandez won the first one way back in 1993; his 76 relief points
and 35 saves were the most in the league since John
Smoltz's record 94 relief points and 45 saves in 2003... Marietta's
Mariano Rivera finished second with
65 relief points, followed by Arkansas's Joakim
Soria, Hillsborough's Mike Gonzalez and
Carolina's Brian Fuentes.
Last year's winner, Jonathan
Papelbon, finished 6th, followed by New
Jersey's Bobby Jenks, Vancouver's Billy Wagner and Las Vegas's Brian
Shouse... Finishing 10th was Taylor
Buchholz, who started the year as Sardine City's closer -- but
finished as Shouse's set-up man. Buchholz had 12 saves with the
Straphangers, but just 1 with the Rats.
Final
Relief
Points Standings
|
Reliever |
ERA |
W |
SV |
L |
BS |
Pts |
Devine,NWK
|
1.55
|
5
|
35
|
2
|
2 |
76
|
M.Rivera,MAR
|
1.73
|
8
|
29
|
3
|
6
|
65
|
Soria,ARK
|
3.79
|
7
|
28
|
6
|
7
|
57
|
M.Gonzalez,HIL
|
3.88
|
3
|
28
|
1
|
6
|
55
|
Fuentes,CAR
|
2.63
|
3
|
30
|
5 |
10
|
51
|
Papelbon,DC
|
2.88
|
4
|
24
|
7
|
5
|
44
|
Jenks,NJ
|
4.95
|
8
|
19
|
3
|
5
|
46
|
Wagner,VAN
|
2.89
|
5
|
23
|
8
|
10
|
38
|
Shouse,LV
|
3.62
|
3
|
19
|
3 |
4
|
37
|
T.Buchholz,SAR/LV
|
3.45
|
6
|
13
|
4
|
0
|
34
|
The Eck Award has been presented 14 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 |
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 |
Devine's season ties with Mariano Rivera (1999) as the sixth-most relief
points in a season. 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 |
B.Wagner |
2000 |
VAN |
6 |
41 |
4 |
4 |
86 |
3 |
Nen |
2003 |
BRK |
3 |
41 |
4 |
4 |
80 |
4 |
M.Rivera |
2001 |
STP |
5 |
38 |
3 |
4 |
79 |
5 |
M.Rivera |
2000 |
JER |
14 |
27 |
2 |
3 |
77 |
6T |
M.Rivera,M |
1999 |
JER |
9 |
35 |
4 |
8 |
76 |
6T |
Devine |
2009 |
NWK |
5 |
35 |
2 |
2 |
64 |
8T |
Wetteland |
1998 |
NWK |
5 |
34 |
2 |
3 |
73 |
8T |
Smoltz |
2004 |
NWK |
8 |
34 |
6 |
5 |
73 |
10 |
Isringhausen |
2005 |
HBK |
8 |
33 |
4 |
6 |
72 |
|