Another Clutch Moment for This Duo

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 AL champion Brewers. Nicknamed “The Ignitor,” 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 AL in runs scored and hits three times each and had a 39-game hitting streak in 1987, fourth-longest in AL 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 afford to 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, a deal that would never have happened if he had stayed in Milwaukee.

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, and impressively, 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. At the time, his career seemed all but over.

Kirk, I’m in the Hall of Fame.”

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Hall of Fame Inductees

DENNIS LEE ECKERSLEY

* Born Oct. 3, 1954 in Oakland, Calif.

* All-Star in 1977, 1982, 1988, 1990-92.

* Won 1992 American League MVP Award and Cy Young Award.

* Posted overall record of 197-171, 48-41 as a reliever and

started 361 games and had 100 complete games, 2,401 strikeouts and a 3.50 ERA .

* Elected to Hall of Fame in first year of eligibility.

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PAUL LEO MOLITOR

* Born Aug. 22, 1956 in St. Paul, Minn.

* All-Star in 1980, 1985, 1988, 1991 and 1992.

* Finished 21-year career with 3,319 hits, 1,782 runs, 605 doubles, 114 triples, 234 home runs, 1,307 RBIs, 504 stolen bases, and .306 batting average.

* Only third player, along with Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner, to reach 3,000 hits, 600 doubles and 500 stolen bases.

* Retired after 1998 season.

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LON SIMMONS

* Broadcaster for more than four decades, began radio career in Elko, Nev.

* Called games for San Francisco and Oakland for 41 years.

* Described home runs with his trademark call of “Tell it goodbye!”

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MURRAY CHASS

* New York Times writer who was a pioneer in the coverage of business and labor issues within baseball.

* New York Yankees beat writer for the Times from 1970-86.