From Under the Nasty Boys' Shadows

 I was doing a separate project recently where I was looking at some of my APBA World Series teams, I came across the 1990 Oakland Athletics. While I was logging their stats, which also included WAR and ERA+, I really sat back and marveled at Oakland's bullpen.

While typing in Oakland's bullpen stats and the Cincinnati Reds' bullpen, it was then that I realized how underappreciated, unsung that Oakland bullpen truly was, while there has been numerous baseball documentaries about the Reds' 'Nasty Boys'.

More than a few years ago, I had a friendly baseball debate with Pastor Rich, he favored Oakland's bullpen, and I felt the Reds' Nasty Boys were better. Looking back, and doing these stats now, I realized I was definitely wrong. That Oakland bullpen was truly amazing, and literally carried the pitching staff and possibly the entire team to be honest.

The bullpen contributed 7.8 WAR of the team's 14.6 pitching WAR, which was pretty much only Dave Stewart (5.2 WAR) and Bob Welch (2.9 WAR) from the starting staff. The other three starters were Scott Sanderson, Mike Moore & Curt Young. While we are on the subject of Stewart and Welch, take the overrated statistic of Wins, and Stewart has Welch beat... it's a damn shame Stewart didn't win a Cy Young during that amazing stretch between 1987-1990.

I mentioned the bullpen carrying the team in its entirety because their lineup actually only batted .254, which ranked 12th out of 14 American League teams... this weakness literally contributed to their series loss to Cincinnati. When people think of Oakland's lineup, they think of Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, plus dangerous threats like Dave Henderson, or good solid vets like Carney Lansford, Harold Baines, or Willie Randolph. Most people probably would have thought that Oakland probably topped all the power categories, but they actually finished 4th in OPS (.726) and 3rd in Home Runs (164), which are still good, but that lineup gets more credit than it should... Sure, the lineup had Godzilla and King Kong, but once pass them, the lineup was streaky at times.

But let's get back on track and talk about the good stuff, the bullpen...

Let's start with the closer, Dennis Eckersley. 

Eckersley nearly logged 50 saves (48) while only allowing 5 earned runs (9 total runs) and 4 walks through 73.1 innings. 

Between 1988-1992, Eckersley would record 24 wins, 220 saves & 378 strikeouts and only 38 walks. During that period he also had a combined WAR of 12.4

His yearly average during that five-year stretch was 44 saves, 5 wins, 1.90 ERA, 76 K & 8 walks. Also while owning a 0.792 WHIP & 198 ERA+.

Not sure what is more amazing, the 0.61 ERA or the 4 walks that he allowed out of the 262 batters he faced during the 1990 season? One thing is for sure, his APBA card -- Grade (28*) A&B*-XZZ is truly amazing.

Eckersley's supporting cast (plus Eckersley) in the bullpen featured...

• Dennis Eckersley (28*/A&B*-XZZ): 0.61 ERA, 48 SV, 73 K & 4 BB (73.1 IP), 603 ERA+
• Gene Nelson (22*/A&C*-Z): 1.57 ERA, 5 SV, 38 K & 17 BB (74.2 IP), 236 ERA+
• Rick Honeycutt (14*/B*-YZ): 2.70 ERA, 7 SV, 38 K & 22 BB (63.1 IP), 137 ERA+
• Todd Burns (8/14* / C(B*): 2.97 ERA, 3 SV, 43 K & 32 BB (78.2 IP), 124 ERA+
• Joe Klink (18*/A*): 2.04 ERA, 1 SV, 19 K & 18 BB (39.2 IP), 182 ERA+

Now let's see the APBA card grades & numbers of the 1990 Cincinnati Reds...

• Randy Myers (18*/A*-XY): 2.08 ERA, 31 SV, 98 K & 38 BB (86.2 IP), 193 ERA+
• Rob Dibble (20*/A*-XY): 1.74 ERA, 11 SV, 136 K & 34 BB (98 IP), 229 ERA+
• Norm Charlton (10/15* / C(B*)-Y): 2.74 ERA, 2 SV, 117 K & 70 BB (154.1 IP), 146 ERA+
• Tim Layana (12*/B*-YW): 3.49 ERA, 2 SV, 53 K & 44 BB (80 IP), 115 ERA+

It should be noted, although Charlton's APBA grade is stronger in a relief role, he was actually more effective as a starting pitcher for the Reds (2.60 ERA, 1.264 WHIP, 103.2 IP) compared to that of the bullpen (3.02 ERA & relatively-high bullpen WHIP of 1.382 in 50.2 IP).

Over time the Reds' Nasty Boys may have got the documentaries and the glamor, but it was the underappreciated grind of Oakland's bullpen that wins out this argument.

Now is Oakland the best bullpen ever? Or APBA bullpen ever? 

That may be another debate.