St. Louis Cardinals' Best Reliever Mustache (Contestant No. 4)

The first week of the NCAA tournament did not disappoint. My brackets did, but the games did not. I’m also still awfully focused on bacon and the new MySpace of the baconist movement (The Bacon Institute), but I digress.

Friends, it’s mustache Thursday and therefore we continue “The Monthly Mustache Shakedown.” Today marks the final week of our first “Shakedown” series as we look for the “Best St. Louis Cardinals Reliever Mustache.”

In week one, we looked at “The Mad Hungarian” Al Hrabosky. In week two, it was Jeff Kent’s taller twin brother Todd Worrell. Last week the late Dan Quisenberry was our target.

And in our final week, by popular demand, is the finest Mormon to ever win the Cy Young Award: Dennis Lee Eckersley.

As a Cubs fan, I always wondered why after productive campaigns during the 1984-'85 seasons, Eck and his cookie duster could only muster six wins for the 1986 Cubs.

He would of course go on to magically become the dominant closer of his era, saving 390 games over 11 years with the A’s, and then spending two of his final three seasons (1996 - 97) with the Cardinals.

But here’s the truth about the 1992 Cy Young Award winner—the reason he tailed off in 1986 for the Cubs before joining the A’s.  In 1986 he made a pact with NASCAR driver Kyle Petty, and the two switched places.

Petty hurled for the Cubs that season and Eckersley drove Petty’s No. 45, drank vast quantities of Mountain Dew, and slept with many women who wear tank-top tees to church to compliment their bleached blond hair.

Regardless, the two seasons that Eck, his mullet, and his deep, dark lip sweater spent in St. Louis were unspectacular—but the man is without question one of the finest mulleted mustached Americans to ever take a Major League mound.

And with that, we conclude the first “Monthly Mustache Shakedown.”

But don’t go anywhere because we need your input.  First, who among our four finalists has the “Best St. Louis Cardinals Reliever Mustache?” The choice is yours.  The winner will be enshrined in JoeSportsFan mustache infamy.

Week 1 - Al Hrabosky
Week 2 - Todd Worrell
Week 3 - Dan Quisenberry
Week 4 - Dennis Eckersley

We would also like your suggestions for next month’s “Shakedown.”  Should it be the “Best Hair & Mustache Combo” in sports? Maybe it’s the “Best NFL Coaching Mustaches.” Or how about the “Best One-Legged Dwarf with a Mustache Playing a Retired Professional Bowler?”

The options are endless and we look to you, our readers, for suggestions.

Bring it.