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On July 30, 2006, the largest Induction Class in Hall of Fame history is honored in Cooperstown. Reliever Bruce Sutter is the 4th relief pitcher inducted along with 17 elected by a special commission on pre-Negro leagues and Negro leagues baseball. The 17 are Ray Brown, Willard Brown, Andy Cooper, Frank Grant, Pete Hill, Biz…
Relief pitcher Bruce Sutter is elected to the Hall of Fame. With 75% of the votes cast by BBWAA members needed for election. Sutter receives 76.9%, slugger Jim Rice is second with 64.8%, followed by reliever Goose Gossage at 64.6%. Sutter, who is credited with perfecting the split-fingered fastball, which is a pitch many major leaguers use in some form today, joins Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley as the only relief pitchers in Cooperstown. In a special election, seventeen Negro Leagues figures are also elected: Ray Brown, Willard Brown, Andy Cooper, Frank Grant, Pete Hill, Biz Mackey, Effa Manley, Jose Mendez, Alex Pompez, Cum Posey, Louis Santop, Mule Suttles, Ben Taylor, Cristóbal Torriente, Sol White, J.L. Wilkinson, and Jud Wilson. Manley is the first woman ever elected to the Hall, and the 18 inductees are the largest class in the Hall’s history.
2005 – Wade Boggs, a five-time batting champion, and Ryne Sandberg, a nine-time Gold Glove Award winner at second base, are elected to the Hall of Fame. Boggs becomes the 41st player elected to Cooperstown in his first year of eligibility, while receiving 474 of the record number of 516 votes cast (92%). Sandberg receives 393 votes, six more that the needed number. Relief pitchers Bruce Sutter (66.7%) and Goose Gossage (55%), and outfielders Jim Rice (59.5%) and Andre Dawson (52%), are the only other players to be named on at least half of the ballots cast. All four will be voted in over the next five years.
In his final major league game, Bruce Sutter, who missed all of last season due to shoulder problems, notches his 300th career save. The 35 year-old future Hall of Fame closer becomes the third reliever to reach the milestone when he retires the Padres in order in the 11th inning of the Braves’ 5-4 victory at Jack Murphy Stadium.
1987 – In the closest vote in Cy Young Award history, Steve Bedrosian edges Rick Sutcliffe, 57-55, to win the National League honors. Bedrosian is the third relief pitcher ever to win the award in the NL.
1986 – Down 2-0 with two outs and nobody on base in the top of the ninth, Houston rallies for a 3-2 triumph in Atlanta. Craig Reynolds gets the game-winner with a two-run single off Bruce Sutter.
1984 – At Wrigley Field, in game that will be known as “the Sandberg game”, the Cubs’ Ryne Sandberg goes 5 for 6 with game-tying home runs off Cardinals relief ace Bruce Sutter in both the 9th and 10th innings. He drives in seven runs to lead Chicago to a 12 – 11 win in 11 innings. It is the first time Sutter has given up two home runs to the same batter in the same game. Dave Owen’s bases-loaded single wins it. Willie McGee hits for the cycle and drives in six runs in a losing cause.
1984 – Fredbird, the mascot of the St. Louis Cardinals, tackles Enos Cabell in pre-game warmups. Cabell aggravates a knee injury. Heated words are exchanged between the two clubs but Houston gets revenge in the twelfth when Mark Bailey triples off Bruce Sutter to key a 4-3 victory.
Pitchers Joaquin Andujar and Bruce Sutter combined to beat Milwaukee 6-3 in Game 7 as the St. Louis Cardinals won the 1982 World Series. Cardinals C Darrell Porter was named MVP of both the NLCS and the World Series for his postseason batting, reaching base 19 times in 10 games. The Brewers defeated Baltimore on…