Dennis Eckersley on how 'walk-off' has changed

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In modern baseball vernacular, the Giants produced their seventh "walk-off" victory of the season Sunday against the A's.

But the man who coined the term didn't give a hoot about hitters jumping around in exultation. The whole point was the pitcher's immediate, lonely, devastating walk off the field.

Dennis Eckersley was talking about a "walk-off" loss, not a win.

"It was a drag, man," he said Monday. "It really is a low feeling."

Eckersley, the Hall of Famer who grew up in Fremont (as a Giants fan) and became the game's best closer with the A's, called it a "walk-off piece." He meant a pitcher, on the road, relinquishing a game-ending home run in the ninth or extra innings.

It happened to Eckersley, most memorably, in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series at Dodger Stadium. He apparently first uttered the phrase - part of his ever-colorful vocabulary - earlier in the '88 season, before Kirk Gibson's famous home run.

The highlight shows Gibson limping and fist-pumping his way around the bases. It doesn't show Eckersley walking slowly toward the first-base dugout, head down, crushed. He made the trip several times in his career, 390 saves and all.

"There's nothing like it," Eckersley said. "It's so final. And it centers strictly on you (the pitcher), unless it's a grounder between the third baseman's legs or something. Ultimately, you're the one."

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Tim Lincecum and other 21st century starters seldom experience the feeling because they rarely reach the ninth inning. Eckersley wondered if Roger Clemens or Pedro Martinez ever surrendered a walk-off piece. Cy Young had a ton of complete games (749), Eck mused, so he must have endured at least a few walk-offs.

Eckersley seemed amused by the notion that he invented a phrase now as ingrained in the game as "double play." He wishes it reflected better on pitchers, but he realizes most baseball fans view "walk-off" in a positive light.

"It doesn't sound so bad now," he said. "It sounds great."