Off to Cooperstown

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Dennis Eckersley and Paul Molitor excelled in the clutch, so they should be used to the nerves by now. Then again, induction speeches at the Baseball Hall of Fame are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

“I’m getting a little bit more anxious,” said Molitor, contemplating today’s ceremony. “There’s a lot of things to handle.”

Eckersley, a studio analyst on cable TV for Boston Red Sox home games, said he was “uptight” about his induction.

“I feel like the kid that didn’t study for his test until the last night,” he said. “It’s going to be difficult because when you revere something like this, it’s emotional, and I’m a very emotional guy. But I’m going to try to keep it together. It’s amazing what a speech will do to you. I’d better get it done so I can have fun.”

Getting it done was what both did during their long careers. In 24 seasons, Eckersley appeared in 1,071 games, the most of any Hall of Fame pitcher, and finished with a record of 197-171 and 390 saves.

Molitor, now a batting coach for the Seattle Mariners, played 21 seasons, including 15 with the Brewers. He joins Honus Wagner and Ty Cobb as the only players in history with 3,000 hits, 600 doubles and 500 steals. He’s also the first Hall of Famer to have played over half of his games as a designated hitter.

Both Eckersley and Molitor were elected in January in their first year of eligibility. Eckersley will wear an A’s cap in the Hall of Fame, while Molitor enters as a Brewer. Longtime A’s and Giants broadcaster Lon Simmons is this year’s Ford C. Frick winner, awarded for major contributions to baseball broadcasting. The New York Times’ Murray Chass gains entrance as the J.G. Taylor Spink Award recipient for meritorious contributions to baseball writing.

Molitor emerged as a superstar in 1982, playing third base and batting leadoff for the A.L. champion Brewers. Molitor hit .302, scored a team-record 136 runs and stole 41 bases. In Game 1 of the World Series, he became the first player in history to collect five hits in one game.

A seven-time All-Star, Molitor led the A.L. in runs scored and hits three times each and had a 39-game hitting streak in 1987, fourth-longest in A.L. history. He fully expected to follow in the steps of teammate Robin Yount and play his entire career in Milwaukee. But as a free agent in 1992, the Brewers were strapped for cash and could only offer him a one-year deal for $1.5 million. When the Toronto Blue Jays countered with three years for $14 million, Molitor begrudgingly said goodbye.

“When I left for Toronto, I know I spent a good portion of the season wondering if I had done the right thing,” Molitor said.

He did. The Blue Jays won the 1993 championship and he was named World Series MVP, going 12 for 24 with two doubles, two triples, two homers and eight RBIs. Then, three years later he was traded to his hometown Minnesota Twins.

At that point, Molitor needed 211 hits to reach the magical 3,000 mark, but as a 40-year-old DH, his welcome was lukewarm at best.

“I remember the Minnesota media saying it was nice for me to come home, but why invest in an old player when you’re trying to get back to winning?” said Molitor, who grew up in St. Paul. “It wasn’t my motivation to prove those people wrong.”

But he did, collecting 225 hits and 113 RBIs in his first season as a Twin, both career highs.

Eckersley went 149-130 with a 3.71 ERA in 361 starts — including a no-hitter — but his claim to fame came after the Chicago Cubs dealt him to Oakland at the start of the 1987 season.

Eckersley had made just two relief appearance since 1976, but manager Tony La Russa slotted him as the long man out of the bullpen. An injury to Jay Howell created an opening at closer.

Eckersley became the game’s dominant closer, expected to pitch only the ninth inning when the A’s had a lead. It was a revolutionary idea at the time and transformed the position.

“My mind-set was as a starter,” Eckersley said. “I wanted to go after people. I could go back to pitch the way I did in my early 20s. I didn’t have to pace myself.”

Eckersley was the most effective reliever in baseball from 1988-92, helping the A’s win four division titles, three A.L. pennants and one World Series. He won the A.L. MVP and Cy Young Awards in 1992 with 51 saves and a 1.91 ERA.