Baseball Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter of Lancaster, Pennsylvania passed away on Thursday at the age of 69 according to Brian Murphy of the Washington Post on Saturday. Sutter, who entered Cooperstown in 2006, played 12 seasons of Major League Baseball from 1976 to 1986 and again in 1988 with the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves. The cause of death was cancer according to Ben Walker of the Associated Press.
Six-time All-Star
Sutter represented the National League in six MLB All-Star Games. He was with the Cubs in four straight All-Star Games from 1977 to 1980, and the St. Louis Cardinals in 1981 and 1984.
Elite Closer
Sutter was known as an elite closer. In fact he was the first pitcher to ever be inducted into Cooperstown without ever starting one single Major League Baseball game. Of his 661 appearances, they all came as a reliever.
Five times, Sutter led the National League in saves, which is a National League record. In 1979 with the Cubs, he had 37 saves. In 1980 with the Cubs, he had 28 saves. In 1981 with the Cardinals, Sutter had 25 saves. In 1982, he had 36 saves with the Braves. In 1984, Sutter had a career high 45 saves and led the National League that season with 63 games pitched. Sutter also led Major League Baseball in saves in 1979, 1982, and 1984. When Sutter led MLB in saves in 1982, he was not an All-Star.
1979 Cy Young Award Winner
In 1979, Sutter became the second closer to win the National League Cy Young Award following Mike Marshall of Adrian, Michigan, who won the Award with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1974. In 1979 with the Cubs, Sutter had a record of six wins and six losses with an earned run average of 2.22. His 37 saves tied a National League record at the time. Cincinnati Reds closer Clay Carroll of Clanton, Alabama had 37 saves with the Cincinnati Reds in 1972, and Milwaukee Brewers closer Rollie Fingers of Steubenville, Ohio had 37 saves with the San Diego Padres in 1978. Also in 1979, Sutter pitched 101 1/3 innings, and gave up 67 hits, 25 earned runs, and 32 walks, to go along with 110 strikeouts, and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 0.98.
Career Statistics
Sutter had a career record of 68 wins and 71 losses in 1042 innings pitched. His 300 saves ranks 30th all-time. Sutter had a career earned run average of 2.83, a career WHIP of 1.14, and gave up 879 hits, 328 earned runs, and 309 walks, to go along with 861 strikeouts. In 1982, Sutter was on the Cardinals team that won the World Series. The Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers in seven games.
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