Obituaries

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(01-20-2021, 02:45 AM)pbrower2a Wrote: pitcher Don Sutton

Donald Howard Sutton (April 2, 1945 – January 18, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 23 seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, and California Angels.[1] Sutton won a total of 324 games, 58 of them shutouts with five of them one-hitters and 10 two-hitters, seven of which were shutouts, and he is seventh on baseball's all-time strikeout list with 3,574.


Sutton was born in Clio, Alabama. He attended high school and community college in Florida before entering professional baseball. After a year in the minor leagues, Sutton joined the Dodgers. Beginning in 1966, he was in the team's starting pitching rotation with Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and Claude Osteen. Sixteen of Sutton's 23 MLB seasons were spent with the Dodgers. He registered only one 20-win season, but earned 10 or more wins in every season except 1983 and 1988.

Sutton became a television sports broadcaster after his retirement as a player. He worked in this capacity for several teams, the majority being with the Atlanta Braves. Sutton was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.[2]

After playing for the Sioux Falls Packers in South Dakota, Sutton entered the major leagues at the age of 21. Sutton's major league debut came with the Dodgers on April 14, 1966, the same day that future 300-game winner Greg Maddux was born.[13] On the 1966 Dodgers, Sutton was the fourth starting pitcher in a rotation that included Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Claude Osteen.[14] He struck out 209 batters that season, which was the highest strikeout total for a rookie since 1911.[2]

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Don Sutton circa 1971

Sutton was selected to the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_All-Star_Game]Major League Baseball All-Star Game four times in the 1970s.[15] The 1974 Dodgers made the postseason after winning 102 games during the regular season. They beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in the playoffs and Sutton accounted for two of the team's three wins.[16] They lost the 1974 World Series four games to one, with Sutton earning the only win for the team.[17] In 1976, Sutton had his best major league season, finishing the year with a 21–10 win-loss record.[18] He was the National League's starting pitcher and MVP of the 1977 All-Star game at Yankee Stadium. He earned a complete game win in the 1977 playoffs, followed by a 1–0 record in two appearances in that year's World Series, which the team lost to the Yankees.[1]

In August 1978, Sutton captured media attention after a physical altercation with teammate Steve Garvey. Sutton had criticized what he thought was excessive media attention paid to Garvey, saying that Reggie Smith was really the team's best player. When Garvey confronted Sutton about the comments before a game against the Mets, the men came to blows and had to be separated by teammates and team officials.[19] The team returned to the postseason that year. Sutton had a 15–11 record during the regular season, but he struggled in the postseason as the Dodgers lost the World Series to New York again. In 17 postseason innings that year, Sutton gave up 14 earned runs.[1]

Los Angeles made Sutton a free agent after the 1980 season. During his time in Los Angeles, he set a team record for career wins.[18] Sutton joined the Houston Astros in 1981. After the baseball strike interrupted the season, Sutton returned with seven wins and one loss. In an October 2 loss to the Dodgers, Sutton left the game with a patellar fracture, ending his season just as the Astros were about to clinch a berth in the NL postseason.[20]

Late in the 1982 season, the Astros sent Sutton to the Milwaukee Brewers for Kevin Bass, Frank DiPino and Mike Madden.[21] Astros player Ray Knight was critical of the trade, saying, "My first reaction to this trade is disbelief. I don't know who are the prospects we are getting, but I would think Don Sutton would bring a big name, a real big name. Here's a guy who is going to win you 15–20 games every year, and he never misses a start... He should really help the Brewers."[22] Sutton earned a win in a 1982 playoff game against the Angels, then started two games in the 1982 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. He pitched 10 innings in the series, gave up nine earned runs and was charged with one loss.[1]

In 1985, Sutton was traded to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Ray Burris. He was reluctant to report to the team, as he was hoping to play for a team in Southern California so that he could live at home with his family. Sutton ultimately reported to Oakland 12 days late for spring training. He said that he had his family's approval in the decision and he mentioned his win total – he was 20 wins shy of 300 career wins – as a factor in the decision.[23] After starting the season with a 13–8 record, Sutton was traded to the California Angels in September. In return, the Angels would send two minor league players to be named later to Oakland.[18]


Don Sutton's number 20 was retired by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1998.



Coming into the 1986 season, Sutton had 295 career victories. He struggled early in the season, but earned his 300th career win on June 18 that year, pitching a complete game against the Texas Rangers in which he allowed only three hits and one run while striking out Gary Ward for the final out of the game.[24] He appeared in two games in the 1986 ALCS against the Red Sox, earning a 1.86 ERA but registering two no-decisions.[1]



Sutton finished his career where he'd started it, signing with the Dodgers again in 1988. After spending 15 straight years with Los Angeles from 1966 to 1980, Sutton had pitched for five different teams in his last eight seasons. Before the 1988 season began, Angels pitcher John Candelaria criticized him for tipping off police that Candelaria was drinking the previous year, leading to one of Candelaria's two 1987 drunk driving arrests. Sutton said that he made the report out of concern for Candelaria's safety; Candelaria said that Sutton was practicing "self-preservation" and attempting to have Candelaria removed from the Angels' starting rotation since Sutton was not pitching well.[25]



In August 1988, Sutton spoke with Astros team leadership about a vacant assistant general manager position with the team. Dodgers executive vice president Fred Claire said that Sutton violated league rules by discussing such a position while under contract with a team, but Sutton said that he ran into Astros general manager Bill Wood at a game and simply mentioned his willingness to discuss the position later.[26] The team released him on August 10. Claire said that Sutton's stamina was a major consideration in the move, as the team was looking for pitchers who could last more than five or six innings per start.[27]



Sutton has the record for most at-bats without a home run (1,354). Sutton holds another record: seven times in his career, he pitched nine scoreless innings but got a no-decision. He also holds the major league record for most consecutive losses to one team, having lost 13 straight games to the Chicago Cubs.[28] At the time of his death, he held the franchise record for most wins (233) and strikeouts (2,696) as a Dodger.[29]

You mentioned how many at bats Don Sutton had. However, pitchers of the future won’t have that opportunity. I believe the DH becomes universal next year. I am actually surprised that the AL/NL split on the issue has lasted as long as it did considering that MLB has been under one umbrella for many years now. With the advent of inter league play in the late 1990s there have been only major league umpires. They used to be separate in each league with separate strike zone boundaries. And each league had it’s own league president. There was though a commissioner over the entire operation which I don’t believe exists today. Universal DH was the name of the game in last year’s COVID shortened season but believe it officially kicks in next year, 2022.