We lead with a Hall of Fame mustache on a list that will include several of them (both Hall of Famers and mustaches). “The Eck” complemented his flowing locks and guile on the mound with a mean dirt squirrel during his first stint with the team (1978-84). He was 20-8 with a 2.99 ERA in his debut season with the Sox, finishing fourth in the AL Cy Young vote.
Eckersley eventually fell out of favor in Boston and salvaged his career in a big way as the dominant closer for Tony La Russa’s Oakland A’s powerhouse teams of the late-80’s and early 90’s, where he collected the 1992 AL Cy Young and MVP awards. He had a second go-round with the Sox to close out his legendary career in ’98. Just as his facial hair game hadn’t lost its fastball, Eck was a solid contributor out of the bullpen for the AL Wild Card winners.
Eckersley’s ‘stache continues to grace our TV sets in the 21st century as he works as an analyst and occasional broadcast partner of Don Orsillo on NESN and TBS.