"My career spanned the era when relievers started to become more important"

Dennis Eckersley's quote talks with the transforming role of alleviation pitchers in baseball. During his career, which spanned from 1975 to 1998, Eckersley saw the emergence of the alleviation pitcher as an important part of a group's success. Before this era, alleviation bottles were frequently seen as a last resort, used only when the starting pitcher was incapable to end up the video game. However, Eckersley's job coincided with the increase of the relief bottle as a key element of a group's strategy. Groups began to identify the value of having a reputable reducer to come in as well as close down the opposing group's violation in the late innings. Eckersley was one of the first to benefit from this shift in reasoning, as he had the ability to develop himself as one of the very best closers in the video game. His quote speaks to the altering duty of alleviation bottles in baseball, as well as how his job was able to capitalize on this shift.