Bruce Sutter

Quotes About Sutter
"I don't think Johnny Carson got a lot of hate mail when he signed for $5 million. But Bruce Sutter probably did. Why? Well, Johnny's a lot funnier than Bruce. I mean, Bruce is a wonderful guy, but his Karnak is weak." — pitcher Steve Stone, after Sutter signed a multi-million dollar deal in 1980.

Quotes From Sutter
"If Fred Martin doesn't show me the splitter, I'm never make it to the Hall of Fame. No way. My other stuff [pitches] were just AA-ball quality."

Played For
Chicago Cubs (1976-1980)
St. Louis Cardinals (1981-1984)
Atlanta Braves (1985-1988)

All-Time Rankings
Bruce Sutter ranks #6 among the Top 50 all-time at RP. Rankings ⇒

Best Season: 1977
In 62 games, Sutter averaged more than two innings per outing, posting a 1.34 ERA. He saved 31 games and surrendered just 69 hits in 107 1/3 IP. His 1984 season was also very, very good.

Factoids
In one 39-day period in 1984, Bruce Sutter had more two-inning saves (nine) than Trevor Hoffman had in his entire career, and as many as Mariano Rivera had in his career.

Description
Sutter was a tall, lanky pitcher, with long arms and long fingers, which was one of the reasons he could throw the split-fingered fastball so well. He often wore a beard, though he shaved it in Chicago because the Cubs had a policy forbidding facial hair.

Where He Played
Sutter became the first pitcher to be elected to the Hall of Fame who had never started at least one game in the big leagues.

Born
Howard Bruce Sutter was born on January 8, 1953, in Lancaster, PA.

Batted:  Right
Threw:  Right

Primary Position:  P

Primary Team:  CHN

Major League Debut
May 9, 1976

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1976
Andre Dawson
Dale Murphy
Willie Wilson
Garry Templeton
Dennis Martinez
Bruce Sutter
Rick Sutcliffe
Joaquin Andujar
Mark Fidrych

Nicknames
The Undertaker

Uniform Numbers
Sutter wore #42 for most of his career, but briefly donned #40 with the Braves, because teammate Rick Mahler refused to part with it.

Family Tree
Sutter's son played college baseball and later coached at the college level.

Similar Players
No one.

Related Players
Sutter has been vocal in his support of Goose Gossage for the Hall of Fame... A fan of the game in retirement, Sutter has praised Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.

Hall of Fame Voting Year Election Votes Pct 1994 BBWAA 109 24.0% 1995 BBWAA 137 29.8% 1996 BBWAA 137 29.1% 1997 BBWAA 130 27.5% 1998 BBWAA 147 31.1% 1999 BBWAA 121 24.3% 2000 BBWAA 192 38.5% 2001 BBWAA 245 47.6% 2002 BBWAA 238 50.4% 2003 BBWAA 266 53.6% 2004 BBWAA 301 59.5% 2005 BBWAA 344 66.7% 2006 BBWAA 400 76.9%

Post-Season Appearances
1982 National League Championship Series
1982 World Series

The Pitches He Threw
Sutter helped make the split-fingered fastball the pitch of the late 1970s and 1980s. Gripped between the index and middle fingers and thrown with a fastball motion, the ball appears to the batter as a fastball until the last few feet, when it tumbles straight down. Jack Morris and Mike Scott both had remarkable success with the pitch in the 1980s. Sutter learned the pitch from Cubs minor league pitching coach Fred Martin.

Post-Season Notes
In Game Two of the 1982 World Series, Sutter entered in the 7th inning in a 4-4 tie. He hurled 2 1/3 shutout innings and got the victory. In Game Three he pitched 2 1/3 innings and earned the save. He pitched in a losing cause in Game Five, and got the save in Game Seven.

Awards and Honors
1979 NL Cy Young
1979 NL Rolaids Relief
1981 NL Rolaids Relief
1982 NL Rolaids Relief
1984 NL Rolaids Relief

Injuries and Explanation for Missed Playing Time
In 1972, when he suffered his arm injury in the minor leagues, Sutter paid for his own operation, hoping to keep the seriousness of the injury quiet.

All-Star Selections
1977 NL
1978 NL
1979 NL
1980 NL
1981 NL
1984 NL

Best Strength as a Player
The ability to control the split-fingered fastball. He threw it in such a way that it was almost unhittable.

Largest Weakness as a Player
Sutter had a below-average major league fastball. However, since his splitter was so good, he could often throw his fastball outside of the strike zone and coax over-eager batters into chasing it. When he fanned Gorman Thomas for the final out of the 1982 World Series, Sutter threw a high fastball.

Learn More about Bruce Sutter
Search Amazon.com for Books about Bruce Sutter ⇒
Search for Bruce Sutter at Google ⇒
View a map of his hometown at Mapquest ⇒

Sources used for the Bruce Sutter Player Page:
Gabriel Schechter of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum provided data on saves and blown saves, from his groundbreaking research on the subject of closers and usage of relief pitchers.