Don Sutton

Career Batting Stats G AB H R HR RBI SB AVG SLG OBP OPS OPS+ 785 1354 195 64 0 64 1 .144 .157 .183 .340 48.2

Where does Don Sutton rank among baseball greats?

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.

Factoids
Don Sutton pitched eight innings in All-Star Game play and never surrendered a run.

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.

Full Bio
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 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.

Born
Donald Howard Sutton was born on April 2, 1945, in Clio, AL.

Batted:  Right
Threw:  Right

Major League Debut
4 14,

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1966
George Scott
Sal Bando
Reggie Smith
Rick Monday
Nolan Ryan
Don Sutton
Bob Watson
Nate Colbert
Stan Bahnsen

Nicknames
Black & Decker

None that we're aware of. No one ever called him "Dandy Don" or "Dangerous Don" or "Donny Baseball." Given his choice of hair style, we recommend "Afro Don."

Uniform Numbers
#20 (1966-1982 Astros, 1983-1984 Brewers, 1985 A's, 1986-1988 Angels), #21 (1982-1983 Brewers), #27 (1985 A's, 1985-1986 Angels)

Similar Players
Bert Blyleven, Gaylord Perry

Related Players
Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Claude Osteen, Tommy John, Gaylord Perry, Steve Garvey (with whom Sutton once had a wrestling match in the Dodger clubhouse)... In 1984, Sutton plunked Garvey in a spring training game betwen his Brewers and Garvey's Padres. When Sutton asked if Garvey was alright, Garvey ignored him.

Hall of Fame Voting Year Election Votes Pct 1994 BBWAA 259 56.9% 1995 BBWAA 264 57.4% 1996 BBWAA 300 63.8% 1997 BBWAA 346 73.2% 1998 BBWAA 386 81.6%

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

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 1982 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.

Awards and Honors
1977 ML AS MVP

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.

Milestones

• June 24, 1983: 3000th strikeout... Alan Bannister


• June 18, 1986: 300th Win...

Transactions
The Dodgers nearly dealt Don Sutton to the Yankees prior to the 1980 season for lefty Dave Righetti.

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).

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 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. Sutton received a World Series share.

Best Strength as a Player
Durability and consistency.

Largest Weakness as a Player
Lack of flashiness. Most baseball fans can probably tell you more about Mark Fidrych than they can Don Sutton.

Learn More about Don Sutton
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