Don Sutton | |
---|---|
Pitcher | |
Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
Born: Template:Birth date | |
MLB Debut | |
April 14, 1966 for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
Final game | |
August 9, 1988 for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
Career Statistics | |
Win-Loss | 324-256 |
ERA | 3.26 |
Strikeouts | 3574 |
Teams | |
| |
Career Highlights and Awards | |
|
Donald Howard Sutton (April 2, 1945 – January 19, 2021) was a Major League Baseball player and television sportscaster.
A right-handed pitcher, Sutton played for the Sioux Falls Packers as a minor leaguer, and entered the major league at the age of 21. In the majors, he played 23 years for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, and California Angels. He won a total of 324 games, 58 of them shutouts and five of them one-hitters, and he is eighth on baseball's all-time strikeout list with 3,574 K's. He also holds the major league record for number of consecutive losses to one team, having lost 13 straight games to the Chicago Cubs.
He was known for doctoring baseballs. His nickname was "Black & Decker"; legend has it that when Sutton met notorious greaseballer Gaylord Perry, Perry handed him a tube of Vaseline, and Sutton responded with a thank-you, then handed him a sheet of sandpaper.
A 4-time All-Star, Sutton was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. His candidacy and subsequent election were controversial, with critics pointing out that he had never won a Cy Young Award, had won 20 games only once, and had rarely led his league in any statistical category. However, supporters noted that no pitcher with either 300 victories or 3000 strikeouts had ever failed to be elected to the Hall of Fame, and that his 324 wins were, at the time of his retirement, the most by any right-handed pitcher since the 1920s, and many pitchers with worse records were in the Hall of Fame.
Stats[]
- Height: 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
- Weight: 185 lb (85 kg)
- Throws: Right
- Bats: Right
- Wins: 324 - Losses: 256
- Lifetime ERA: 3.26
- Total Innings: 5,282.1
- Strikeouts: 3,574
- One-Hitters: 5
- Two-Hitters: 9
- All-time Dodger leader in:
- Wins (233)
- Games Pitched (550)
- Games Started (533)
- Innings Pitched (3,814)
- Strikeouts (2,696)
- Shutouts (52)
- Opening Day Starts (7)
- LC Series Games
- Record: 4-1
- ERA: 2.02
- Total Innings: 49
- World Series Games
- Record: 2-3
- ERA: 5.26
- Total Innings: 51
- All-Star Games
- ERA: 0.00
- Total Innings: 8
- Record 1-0 (NL 4-0)
Broadcasting career[]
Sutton started his broadcasting career in 1989 with the Atlanta Braves on TBS, a position that he held through 2006. He left TBS after the 2006 season, mainly because the network will broadcast fewer games in future seasons. Sutton became a color commentator for the Washington Nationals on the MASN network.[1]
Sutton has also broadcast golf and served as a pre- and post-game analyst for NBC's coverage of the 1987 League Championship Series.
Trivia[]
Sutton was born on the same date as former Dodger teammate Reggie Smith.
He also appeared on episodes of the Match Game between 1976 & 1978.
His son, Daron, is a broadcaster for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Sutton was born in Clio, Alabama, a small town in Barbour County. It can be argued that Sutton is the second most famous person born in Clio, since it is also the birthplace of the late Alabama governor George Wallace.
April 14, 1966 was the date of Don Sutton's major league debut. April 14, 1966 is also the same day that Greg Maddux was born.
References[]
See also[]
- List of Washington Nationals broadcasters
- List of Atlanta Braves broadcasters
- 300 win club
- 3000 strikeout club
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
- List of Major League Baseball ERA champions
- Top 100 strikeout pitchers of all time
External links[]
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube
Preceded by: Bill Singer |
Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day Starting pitcher 1972-1978 |
Succeeded by: Burt Hooton |
Preceded by: Joe Torre |
Major League Player of the Month April, 1972 |
Succeeded by: Bob Watson |
Preceded by: Johnny Bench |
Lou Gehrig Memorial Award 1976 |
Succeeded by: Lou Brock |
Preceded by: George Foster |
Major League Baseball All-Star Game Most Valuable Player 1977 |
Succeeded by: Steve Garvey |
Preceded by: J.R. Richard |
National League ERA Champion 1980 |
Succeeded by: Nolan Ryan |