Don Sutton Stats & Facts
Don Sutton
Position: Pitcher
Bats: Right • Throws: Right
6-1, 185lb (185cm, 83kg)
Born: April 2, 1945 in Clio, AL
High School: Gonzalez Tate HS (Pensacola, FL)
Schools: Gulf Coast Community College (Panama City, FL), Mississippi College (Clinton, MS), University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA), Whittier College (Whittier, CA)
Debut: April 14, 1966 (10,068th in MLB history)
vs. HOU 7.0 IP, 7 H, 7 SO, 1 BB, 2 ER, L
Last Game: August 9, 1988
vs. CIN 7.0 IP, 7 H, 5 SO, 3 BB, 5 ER, L
Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 1998. (Voted by BBWAA on 386/473 ballots)
View Don Sutton’s Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos).
Full Name: Donald Howard Sutton
Nicknames: Black & Decker or The Mechanic
Nine Players Who Debuted in 1966
George Scott
Sal Bando
Reggie Smith
Rick Monday
Nolan Ryan
Don Sutton
Bob Watson
Nate Colbert
Stan Bahnsen
The Don Sutton Teammate Team
C: Bob Boone
1B: Rod Carew
2B: Bobby Grich
3B: Paul Molitor
SS: Robin Yount
LF: Dusty Baker
CF: Willie Davis
RF: Frank Robinson
DH: Reggie Jackson
SP: Sandy Koufax
SP: Don Drysdale
SP: Nolan Ryan
SP: Tommy John
SP: Orel Hershiser
RP: Mike Marshall
M: Walter Alston
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Notable Events and Chronology for Don Sutton Career
Few modern pitchers have generated as much controversy concerning their place in the Hall of Fame than Don Sutton, who never won a Cy Young Award, and garnered 20 wins just once. However, he did perform at a very high level for more than two decades, finishing in the top five in Cy Young voting five times (the same number of times as Robin Roberts, and four more than Whitey Ford or Catfish Hunter). Sutton won at least 15 games in a season twelve times and was part of four World Series pitching staffs on his way to 324 victories.
Biography:
Don Sutton never spent one day on the disabled list, keeping his body and mind in tip-top shape and enabling him to start at least 30 games in 20 of his 22 seasons. A tall, lean right-hander, Sutton used a low-90s fastball, a sweeping curveball, and (some say) a scuff ball or spitter.
In 1966, Sutton joined Koufax, Drysdale and Osteen to form a super-rotation, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers to the pennant. Sutton was named Rookie Pitcher of the Year on the strength of his 209 strikeouts. It began an unprecedented his string of 20 straight years with at least 100 K’s (later broken by Nolan Ryan).
In his first four seasons, Sutton was a victim of bad luck and poor run support. His career record stood at 51-60 through 1969, but his ERA was a sparkling 3.28, and he had tossed 11 shutouts and 35 complete games. Finally, in the early 1970s, Sutton and the team began to fire on all cylinders. From 1971-1978, Sutton’s 2.86 ERA ranked second to Tom Seaver in the NL, and his 139 victories were bested only by Seaver and Steve Carlton.
Sutton established himself as a clutch performer, going 3-0 in his four post-season starts in 1974, including a win in the deciding Game Four of the NL Playoffs. He won Game Two of the World Series that year and left Game Five with his team in a 2-2 tie. In 1977, he won two more games in the post-season. He finished his career with a 6-4 post-season record and a 3.66 ERA in more than 100 innings. His biggest win came on the final day of the 1982 season when he pitched the Brewers to a 10-2 win over the Orioles to win the AL East title. Sutton allowed eight hits and two runs in eight innings.
After stints with the Astros and Brewers, Sutton returned to the west coast in 1985 and pitched for the A’s and Angels before coming back full circle to the Dodgers for his final campaign, in 1988. He started 3-2 for LA in ’88 as a fifth starter, but went winless in his next nine starts and was released. He was LA’s all-time leader in wins, starts, and complete games. At the time of his release, the team was a one-half game in front in the NL West. The Dodgers went on to win the division, pennant, and a dramatic World Series, but Sutton had missed his chance at a World Series ring.
He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.
Growing up and minor leagues:
Sutton was born in Clio, Alabama, a small town in Barbour County, and on the same date as future Dodger teammate Reggie Smith. He was born to sharecroppers at the end of World War II, in a tar-paper shack. At the time Sutton was born his father was 18 and his mother was 15. Sutton’s father, Howard, gave him the strong work ethic that he had throughout his career. His father tried logging and construction work, and in looking for work, moved the family to Molino, Florida, just north of Pensacola.
Sutton attended J. M. Tate High School in Cantonment/Gonzalez, Florida where he played baseball, basketball, and football. He led his baseball team to the small-school state finals two years in a row, winning his junior year, 1962, and losing 2–1 in his senior year, and was named all-county, all-conference, and all-state for both of those seasons. He graduated in 1963, and was voted “Most Likely to Succeed”. He wanted to attend the University of Florida, but then-coach Dave Fuller was not interested. Instead, he attended Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Florida for one year, and then after a good summer league, was signed by the Dodgers.
Sutton played for the Sioux Falls Packers as a minor leaguer and entered the major league at the age of 21. Sutton’s major league debut was on April 14, 1966, the same day that future 300-game winner Greg Maddux was born.
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Factoids, Quotes, Milestones and Odd Facts
Best Season, 1972
The gritty right-hander threw nine shutouts and posted a 2.08 ERA, leading the National League in the former category. He completed 18 games and pitched more than 270 innings, allowing an amazingly low 186 hits. Sutton had a very good hits to innings ratio for much of his prime – leading the league in ’72 (6.14 per 9 IP), and finishing second twice. Ten times he finished a season allowing eight hits or less per nine innings.
Awards and Honors
1977 ML AS MVP
Post-Season Appearances
1974 National League Championship Series
1974 World Series
1977 National League Championship Series
1977 World Series
1978 National League Championship Series
1978 World Series
1982 American League Championship Series
1982 World Series
1986 American League Championship Series
Factoid
Don Sutton pitched eight innings in All-Star Game play and never surrendered a run.
Big League Debut: April 14, 1966
When Sutton debuted, he joined aces Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, along with Claude Osteen, to form a talented four-man pitching rotation. The four are the only rotation in baseball history to all record at least 40 shutouts in their careers.
Post-Season Notes
The Dodgers won the World Series the year after Sutton left (1981), and he was part of four losing WS teams… Sutton started and won the final game of the ’82 season, leading the Brewers past the Orioles and Jim Palmer to win the AL East title. Sutton pitched in relief in Game Seven of the 1986 ALCS, which the Angels lost to the Red Sox.
Feats: Sutton had two shutout streaks of 30 innings or more in 1972. From September 10 to October 3, he strung together 36 shutout innings, including three shutouts. In April and earyl May, he had a 30 2/3 innings shutout streak. As late as July 29 of that season, his ERA was under 2.00. He hurled nine shutouts during the season.
Transactions
Signed as an amateur free agent by Los Angeles Dodgers (September 11, 1964); Granted free agency (October 23, 1980); Signed by Houston Astros (December 4, 1980); Traded by Houston Astros to Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for cash and 3 players to be named later (August 30, 1982) – Houston Astros received Kevin Bass, Frank DiPino and Mike Madden (September 3, 1982); Traded by Milwaukee Brewers to Oakland Athletics in exchange for Ray Burris, Eric Barry and a player to be named later (December 7, 1984) – Milwaukee Brewers received Ed Myers (March 25, 1985); Traded by Oakland Athletics to California Angels in exchange for 2 players to be named later (September 10, 1985) – Oakland Athletics received Robert Sharpnack and Jerome Nelson (September 25, 1985); Granted free agency (November 12, 1985); Signed by California Angels (December 5, 1985); Released by California Angels (October 30, 1987); Signed by Los Angeles Dodgers (January 5, 1988); Released by Los Angeles Dodgers (August 10, 1988).
Factoid
Sutton recorded his 3,000th strikeout on June 24, 1983, fanning Alan Bannister of the Indians… Won his 300th game on June 18, 1986. Pitching for the Angels, he defeated the Texas Rangers, 3-1, surrendering just three hits.
All-Star Selections
1972 NL
1973 NL
1975 NL
1977 NL
Replaced
Veteran Johnny Podres, who was dealt to the Detroit Tigers on May 10, 1966, for future considerations. Podres, who had won Game Seven of the 1955 World Series for the Dodgers, was just 33 years old, but would win just 12 games the rest of his career.
Replaced By
Released by the Dodgers as they were in the midst of a division race in 1988, Sutton was replaced by no one. Sutton was the Dodgers #5 starter, and after he was jettisoned, LA went to a four-man rotation. The Dodgers won the NL West, claimed the pennant in seven games against the New York Mets, and upset the Oakland A’s in the World Series.
Best Strength as a Player
Durability and consistency.
Largest Weakness as a Player
Lack of flashiness. More casual baseball fans have probably heard of Mark Fidrych than they have Don Sutton.
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