Mark Eichhorn

Mark Anthony Eichhorn (born November 21, 1960) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher best known for his tenure with the Toronto Blue Jays in the late 1980s and the early 1990s when he often served as a middle reliever/set-up man for All-Star closer Tom Henke. He was the 1986 American League Rookie Pitcher of the Year for the Blue Jays, a campaign in which he set team records for rookie relief in ERA, games, wins, and strikeouts.

Eichhorn pitched with four different ballclubs during his career: the Toronto Blue Jays (1982, 1986–1988, 1992–1993), Atlanta Braves (1989), California Angels (1990–1992, 1996), and Baltimore Orioles (1994). Eichhorn appeared in his final game on September 14, 1996.

Eichhorn made his major league debut with the Blue Jays in 1982 but suffered a severe shoulder injury after which he did not return to the majors until 1986. The shoulder injury had robbed Eichhorn of most of his fastball velocity and had forced him to turn to an unconventional sidearm motion in which his arm angle was well below the belt when he released the ball. Eichhorn was notable for an exceptionally low velocity for a major league pitcher though his control and unusual delivery made him an effective player.

In his first year of the new pitching style, 1986, he was the easy American League ERA leader with 1.72, more than three-quarters of a run ahead of Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, but fell five innings pitched short of qualifying for the ERA title. Manager Jimy Williams offered him a chance to make those five innings with a start at the end of the season, but Eichhorn declined.^[1]

On March 29, 1989, the Toronto Blue Jays sold Eichhorn's contract to the Atlanta Braves. Eichhorn would pitch one season with Atlanta, pitching to a 4.35 ERA in 68.1 innings. The Braves would release Eichhorn on November 20th that year, after the season's conclusion.

On December 19, 1989, Eichhorn signed with the California Angels. Now back in the American League, Eichhorn would rebound to better form in 1990, as he had a 3.08 ERA in 84.2 innings. Eichhorn would get 13 saves this season, marking a career high. Although Eichhorn was the Angels' save leader for the first half of the season, Bryan Harvey - who was splitting save opportunites with Eichhorn up to that point - would get the remainder of the saves for the rest of the season. With Harvey being the full-time closer for the 1991 season, Eichhorn returned to a middle relief role that season and saw noticeable improvement, with Eichhorn pitching to a 1.98 ERA in 81.2 innings.

It was with the Angels that Eichhorn became particularly good at preventing home runs. Between 1990 and 1991, Eichhorn surrendered just four home runs in 166.1 innings pitched. In 1991, Eichhorn also set a major league record by not surrendering a walk across his first 30 games pitched. This record would be tied by Kenley Jansen in 2017.

Eichhorn would pitch for the Angels again for the 1992 season. He had a 2.38 ERA in 56.2 innings pitched with the Angels this season.

On July 30th, 1992, the Angels traded Eichhorn back to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Rob Ducey and Greg Myers. Reunited with the Blue Jays, Eichhorn would pitch to a 4.35 ERA in 31 innings with the Blue Jays to conclude his split 1992 season. Between the Angels and Blue Jays, Eichhorn had a 3.08 ERA in 87.2 innings in the 1992 season.

Eichhorn would pitch in the postseason for the first time in his career with the Blue Jays in the 1992 postseason. Between the 1992 ALCS and World Series, Eichhorn would make pitch one scoreless inning in each of them, pitching in Game 5 in each respective series, both times pitching in games while the Blue Jays were trailing and would ultimately lose.

At the conclusion of the 1992 season, Eichhorn - now a World Series champion - hit the free agent market once again. On January 6th, 1993, Eichhorn would re-sign with the Blue Jays. In his first full season back in Toronto in 1993, Eichhorn would fare much better for the Blue Jays, pitching to a 2.72 ERA in 71 innings.

Eichhorn would once again make two pitching appearances for the Blue Jays in the 1993 postseason, once in the ALCS and again in the World Series. Eichhorn once again only came in to pitch when the Blue Jays were trailing and ultimately lose the games he pitched in. Eichhorn's appearance in Game 3 of the ALCS was his most significant relief appearance in the postseason, as Pat Hentgen was chased early in the game. Eichhorn relieved Danny Cox, who himself pitched three innings of relief. After a clean seventh inning, Eichhorn managed to strand Tim Raines and Frank Thomas on the corners with two outs in the eighth, and was then relieved by Tony Castillo. In Game 2 of the World Series, Eichhorn was the third pitcher the Blue Jays used, with Dave Stewart and Tony Castillo already giving up 6 runs between them. Eichhorn would get just one out before being relieved by Mike Timlin, as Eichhorn would place runners on first and second. Timlin would load the bases after giving up a single to NL MVP runner-up Lenny Dykstra, but Timlin would strand the runners to escape the inning unscatched. This was Eichhorn's last postseason appearance.

At season's end, the now two-time World Series champion Eichhorn was once again a free agent.

On December 14th, 1993, Eichhorn would sign with the Baltimore Orioles. In the strike-shortened 1994 season, Eichhorn would be the team's main long reliever, leading the team in relief innings pitched. Eichhorn had a 2.15 ERA in 71 innings pitched, giving up just one home run on the season. Eichhorn was one of eleven relievers to clear the 70 inning mark that season.

Eichhorn would remain with the Orioles in 1995, but Eichhorn would miss the entire season due to a torn rotator cuff. He would be a free agent once again at the conclusion of the 1995 season.

On February 6th, 1996, Eichhorn would sign with the California Angels, reuniting with former teammates Chuck Finley and Mark Langston. Eichhorn would struggle in his last season in the major leagues, managing a 5.04 ERA in 30.1 innings. He would also suffer injury partway through the season. He would be granted free agency at the end of the season.

Between 1997 and 2000, Eichhorn would try multiple times to catch on elsewhere. In the 1997 season, Eichhorn signed with the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays on a minor-league contract for the 1998 season. He would pitch the full season at Triple-A Durham, pitching to a 4.19 ERA and 18 saves in 58 innings. Eichhorn would temporarily retire after the season due to elbow tendonitis.

In 1999, Eichhorn would attempt another comeback, this time partaking in a tryout with the Los Angeles Dodgers. After that was unsuccessful, Eichhorn would have a tryout with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2000, and would sign a minor-league contract with the Blue Jays. His hopes of being called up in September were not fulfilled, and Eichhorn would retire for good after the season.

Eichorn was a solid fielding pitcher in his 11-year major league career, posting a .992 fielding percentage, committing only two errors in 243 total chances over 885.2 innings and 563 games. His only miscues occurred on August 19, 1987, against the Oakland A's and on July 4, 1992, against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Eichhorn is currently the pitching coach for Aptos High School in Aptos, California.

Mark coached his 12-year-old son, Kevin, on the Aptos Little League team which won the Little League West Regional and played in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 2002, as chronicled in the movie Small Ball.

Kevin was later drafted in the third round, 104th overall, by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2008 MLB Draft, deciding to sign instead of attending Santa Clara University, where he had been committed since his junior year of high school.

On January 24, 2011, Kevin was traded to the Detroit Tigers organization in a deal for pitcher Armando Galarraga, pitching through the 2014 season, finishing with a career mark of 26-23 and a 3.73 ERA in 89 games.

Mark has five children, four sons and one daughter. Kevin (1990), Brian (1991), Steven (1995), Sarah (1999), and David (2001).

• Career statistics from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet

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