When Dennis Eckersley drilled his own teammate

Grantland has a terrific oral history of the 1989 World Series, which was interrupted by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake minutes before Game 3.

When it was apparent that the Series would be postponed for several days, Tony La Russa, manager of the Oakland A’s, took his team to Phoenix for an impromptu Spring Training in October.

Mike Moore: Another Tonyism was, “We’ve got the best pitching staff in baseball. So who better for our hitters to face?” I don’t think the hitters appreciated it too much.

Dave Henderson: We all hated Eckersley because he was basically a dick on the mound. I’d faced the guy for 10 years and he was a dick before. The only reason we let him live was because he was on our team.

Sandy Alderson: During that game, I think Eckersley drilled Canseco. He took a free shot at him.

Dennis Eckersley: Jose comes up to bat and he’s pointing to center like Babe Ruth. The first pitch, I drilled Canseco in the back. I dunno, I guess I just got jacked up and threw as hard as I could. Jose’s coming to the mound and he’s pissed. Finally, everything cools down. It was a strange moment.

Dave Henderson: After it was all over, Canseco comes to me and says, “Hey, Hendu, you think Eckersley hit me on purpose?” I’m like, “You idiot. He’s only walked three guys the whole year!”

I encourage you to read the whole thing. It’s as good as any magazine piece you’ll see this month.