Dennis Eckersley and Jason Isringhausen, the closers who contributed the most to helping Tony La Russa earn election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, also played prominent roles in his first win as Cardinals manager.
The Cardinals beat the Mets, 5-3, in New York on April 3, 1996, in La Russa’s second game as Cardinals manager. Eckersley earned a tension-filled four-out save. Isringhausen was the opposing starter, facing the Cardinals for the first time in his career.
The win was the first of a franchise-record 1,408 for La Russa in 16 years as Cardinals manager.
After successful stints managing the White Sox and Athletics, La Russa secured his Hall of Fame status with his Cardinals career. He joined another Hall of Famer, Billy Southworth, as the only managers to win two World Series titles with the Cardinals. On July 27, 2014, La Russa and another former Cardinals manager, Joe Torre, were inducted into the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, N.Y.
Converted starters
At Oakland, La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan converted a reluctant Eckersley from a starter into a closer. The move transformed Eckersley into a Hall of Fame pitcher. He earned 386 of his 390 saves with La Russa as manager _ 320 in nine years with the Athletics and 66 in two years with the Cardinals.
Isringhausen, who also successfully converted from starter to closer, joined the Cardinals in 2002. Pitching for La Russa and Duncan, Isringhausen compiled a franchise-record 217 saves in seven seasons with the Cardinals and finished his big-league career with 300 saves.
After La Russa left the Athletics to become manager of the 1996 Cardinals, Eckersley was acquired in a trade for pitcher Steve Montgomery and, at 41, became the St. Louis closer.
On April 1, 1996, in La Russa’s debut as Cardinals manager, the Mets overcame a four-run deficit and won, 7-6. Eckersley didn’t appear in that game. Boxscore
Seeking a win
Isringhausen, 23, got the start for the Mets in the season’s second game. He was 9-2 as a Mets rookie in 1995. A native of Brighton, Ill., near St. Louis, Isringhausen acknowledged that facing the Cardinals was special. “I had more butterflies (than usual),” Isringhausen said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Isringhausen pitched six innings, yielding three runs to the Cardinals. He was lifted for a pinch-hitter, with the Cardinals leading, 3-0. Bernard Gilkey, a former Cardinal, clubbed a three-run home run off starter Todd Stottlemyre in the bottom of the sixth, tying the score at 3-3.
The Cardinals scored a run in the seventh off Robert Person and another run in the eighth against Jerry DiPoto, taking a 5-3 lead. In the bottom of the eighth, the Mets had runners on first and second with two outs when La Russa replaced Stottlemyre with Eckersley.
“No matter how much experience you have, you’re a little uptight when you come into the game,” Eckersley said to the Post-Dispatch. “I felt very uncomfortable, like I’d never been in a game before.”
Solid swing
The first batter Eckersley faced in his Cardinals debut was Butch Huskey, the Mets’ cleanup batter.
With the count 1-and-2, Eckersley threw a fastball. Huskey swung and launched a drive toward center field. He knew he had made solid contact. “I thought it had a chance to go (over the wall),” Huskey said to the New York Daily News.
Center fielder Ray Lankford raced toward the wall while tracking the path of the ball. “I thought I could tell by the look on (Lankford’s) face that he was going to catch it,” Eckersley said.
The ball carried farther than Eckersley thought. As Lankford neared the 396-foot sign, he leaped, extended his glove and caught the ball, ending the inning and preserving the lead.
“Most definitely, I was robbed,” Huskey told the Post-Dispatch. “The ball jumped off my bat. I thought it was going out.”
In the bottom of the ninth, with the Cardinals still ahead by two, Eckersley retired the first two batters before Jose Vizcaino and Kevin Roberson each singled. Edgardo Alfonzo was up next, representing the potential winning run. Eckersley struck him out, earning his first National League save and preserving La Russa’s first National League win.
“In this league, it’s hard to get a hit or a save or a win,” La Russa said. “I don’t think there are any ugly ones.” Boxscore
RetroSimba 
It wasn’t always smooth sailing during those first few years. Still though, I think all of us knew that the Cardinals had turned the corner and were about to enter a new era.
Yes, good point, especially starting in 2000.