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Bruce Sutter
Pitcher
Born: (1953-01-08) January 8, 1953 (age 59) Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 9, 1976 for the Chicago Cubs
Last MLB appearance
September 9, 1988 for the Atlanta Braves
Career statistics
Games pitched	661
Win–Loss record	68–71
Earned run average	2.83
Strikeouts	861
Saves	300
Teams
Chicago Cubs (1976–1980) St. Louis Cardinals (1981–1984) Atlanta Braves (1985–1986, 1988)
Career highlights and awards
6× All-Star selection (1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984) World Series champion (1982) 1979 NL Cy Young Award 4× NL Rolaids Relief Man of the Year (1979, 1981, 1982, 1984) 1982 Babe Ruth Award St. Louis Cardinals #42 retired
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	2006
Vote	76.9%

Howard Bruce Sutter ( /ˈsuːtər/; born January 8, 1953) is a former Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher. He was arguably the first pitcher to make effective use of the splitter.

One of the sport's dominant relievers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he became the only pitcher to lead the National League in saves five times (1979–1982, 1984), and retired with 300 saves – at the time, the third highest total in history, behind Rollie Fingers (341) and Rich "Goose" Gossage (302), and an NL record until broken by Lee Smith in 1993; Sutter had set the NL record in 1982 with his 194th save, surpassing the mark held by Roy Face. In his first nine seasons, only Kent Tekulve made more appearances, and he saved 133 of the Chicago Cubs' 379 wins between 1976 and 1980. In 1979, Sutter won the NL's Cy Young Award as the league's top pitcher. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 2006.

Career[link]

Sutter graduated from Donegal High School. Sutter was a member of three different teams during his career from 1976 to 1988. After being selected by the Washington Senators in the 21st round of the June 1970 draft, Sutter instead attended Old Dominion University, and later signed with the Cubs as a free agent in September 1971. He spent slightly over four seasons in the Cubs' farm system, and played on the 1975 Texas League (AA) champion Midland Cubs. It was in the Cubs' farm system that Sutter was taught the split-finger fastball by minor league pitching instructor Fred Martin. He joined the Chicago Cubs in May 1976, and after five seasons was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Leon Durham and Ken Reitz in December 1980, and then joined the Atlanta Braves in December 1984 as a free agent.

Sutter during his Cardinal days.

In 1979, Sutter saved 37 games for the Cubs, tying the NL record held by Clay Carroll (1972) and Rollie Fingers (1978). In addition to the Cy Young Award, Sutter also won both the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award and The Sporting News Fireman of the Year Award in 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1984. He was a member of the Cardinals team which won the 1982 World Series and is credited with two saves in that Series, including the Series-clinching save in Game 7 which ended with a strikeout of Gorman Thomas and a leaping hug by catcher World Series MVP Darrell Porter; Sutter also earned the save in the pennant-clinching victory in the NLCS.

In 1984, he tied Dan Quisenberry's major league record, set the previous year, for most saves in a season (45), a record broken by Dave Righetti (46) in 1986; Sutter's NL record was broken by Lee Smith (47) in 1991.

Sutter was named to the NL's All-Star team six times (1977–1981, 1984), appearing in the games of 1978 through 1981. He played a major role in all four contests, earning the win in 1978 and 1979, and saves in 1980 and 1981.

On September 8, 1977, Sutter struck out three batters on nine pitches — Ellis Valentine, Gary Carter and Larry Parrish — in the ninth inning of a 10-inning 3-2 win over the Montreal Expos. Sutter became the 12th National League pitcher and the 19th pitcher in Major League history to accomplish the nine-strike/three-strikeout half-inning. Sutter had also struck out the side (though not on nine pitches) upon entering the game in the eighth inning, giving him six consecutive strikeouts, tying the NL record for a reliever.

He was momentarily the highest paid player in baseball, although he agreed to have his Atlanta contract configured so that he was paid $750,000 for six years with the rest going into an insurance fund that was to be structured to pay him $1,000,000 for 30 years.

Upon retirement, Sutter stayed near Atlanta with his wife and three sons. He has had three shoulder surgeries, three knee surgeries, an elbow operation, and two back operations.

His son Chad was a catcher who played for Tulane University and was selected by the New York Yankees in the 23rd round (711st overall) of the 1999 amateur draft.

Bruce Sutter's number 42 was retired by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006.

On January 10, 2006, Sutter was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his 13th year of eligibility by receiving 400 votes out of a possible 520, or 76.9%. He is the first pitcher who never started a game to be elected to the Hall,^[1] and with 1042 1/3 career innings pitched he is also the first inductee to end his career with fewer than 1700 innings. Sutter's Hall of Fame plaque depicts him wearing a Cardinals cap and his trademark beard [1].

Not since Ralph Kiner in 1975 had a player been elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA so late in their eligibility period; Kiner was elected in his 15th and final opportunity.

Sutter's number 42, which he wore throughout his career, was retired by the St. Louis Cardinals during a ceremony at Busch Stadium on September 17, 2006. He shares his retired number with Jackie Robinson, whose number 42 had previously been retired by "all" Major League teams in 1997.[2].

On August 23, 2010 it was announced that he would be a consultant for the Philadelphia Phillies minor league teams.^[2]

Quotes[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Bruce Sutter

• "What a pitcher! What a pitcher!" - Chicago Cubs TV broadcaster Jack Brickhouse, at the close of one of many Sutter saves as a Cub
• "Three more saves and he ties John the Baptist." - Hank Greenwald
• "He was the Sandy Koufax of relievers." - former manager Whitey Herzog
• "I don't think people grasp how impressive it was for him to go two or three innings for a save. When you have to get six, seven or eight outs, so many things can go wrong for a closer." -- former teammate Tom Herr
• "Without (the split-finger fastball), I would've been, at best, a Double-A player. If they told me it would hurt my arm if I threw it, I'd do it all over again." - Sutter
• "I remember going through the minor leagues with Mike Krukow. All we wanted was to pitch one day in the major leagues. Once we both did that, we both wanted to give up 100 home runs. If we gave up 100 home runs, we figured that we would have stuck around a while." - Sutter (However, Sutter only gave up 77 home runs)
• "You never think that giving up two home runs to the same guy helped you get in the Hall of Fame. But ... that's what might have happened." - Sutter commenting on how TV replays just prior to the 2005 Hall of Fame induction of Ryne Sandberg showed the two national-televised Wrigley Field home runs he gave up on June 23, 1984. That was the year that Sutter created a new single-season save record while Sandberg was voted National League MVP.

See also[link]

• List of Major League Baseball saves champions
• Pitchers who have struck out three batters on nine pitches
• List of Major League Baseball all-time saves leaders
• Major League Baseball titles leaders

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bruce Sutter at the Baseball Hall of Fame
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Baseball Library

David Gene "The Cobra" Parker (born June 9, 1951 in Calhoun, Mississippi) is an American former player in Major League Baseball. He was the 1978 National League MVP and a two-time batting champion. Parker was the first professional athlete to earn an average of one million dollars per year, having signed a 5-year, $5 million dollar contract in January 1979. Parker's career achievements include 2712 hits, 339 home runs, 1493 runs batted in and a lifetime batting average of .290. Parker was also known as a solid defensive outfielder during the first half of his career, with a powerful arm. From 1975 to 1979, he threw out 72 runners, including 26 in 1977.

He was a baseball All-Star in 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, and 1990. In the 1979 All-Star Game, Parker showcased his defensive ability and powerful arm by throwing out Jim Rice at third base and Angels catcher Brian Downing at home. Parker also contributed an RBI on a sacrifice fly and was named the game's MVP.

Playing career[link]

Pittsburgh Pirates[link]

In the early 1970s, as a member of the Pirates AAA minor league ball team Charleston (WV) Charlies, Parker hit a home run that landed on a coal car on a passing train and the ball was later picked up in Columbus Ohio.^[1] He began his major league career on July 12, 1973 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, for whom he played from 1973 to 1983. In 1977, he was National League batting champion, a feat he repeated in 1978 when he was named the National League's MVP. This was in spite of a collision at home plate with John Stearns during a game against the Mets on June 30, 1978 in which Parker fractured his jaw and cheekbone; he wore a facemask in order to minimize his time away from the lineup.^[2] The Pirates rewarded him with baseball's first million-dollar-per-year contract.^[3][4] The following year, he was an instrumental part of the Pirates' World Series championship team.^[5]

During a game in 1979, a powerful hit he made to right field was very difficult to throw into the infield, because he had "knocked the cover off the ball." One of the seams on the ball ruptured, making nearly half of the cover come loose.^{[citation needed]}

Pittsburgh fans angered by his million-dollar contract threw "nuts and bolts and bullets and batteries" at him, as pitcher Kent Tekulve stated; a typo in a news story made it appear that they threw car batteries.^[6]

In 1981, at a point in his career when it looked as if he would one day rank among the game's all-time greats, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time.^[7] The authors, noting that Parker had succeeded Roberto Clemente at the position, wrote, "Someone must have a fondness for right field in Pittsburgh."

However, in the early 1980s, Parker's hitting suffered due to injuries, weight problems and his increasing cocaine use.^[8] He became one of the central figures in a drug scandal that spread through the major leagues. Parker was among several players who testified against a dealer in the Pittsburgh drug trials, and he was later fined by Major League Baseball for his admitted drug use.

Later career[link]

At the end of the 1983 season, Parker became a free agent and signed with the Cincinnati Reds. In Cincinnati, he returned to the form that made him an All-Star in Pittsburgh.^[6] In 1985, he enjoyed his best season since he won the 1978 MVP with a .312 batting average, 34 home runs, and 125 RBI. Parker finished second in 1985 MVP voting to Willie McGee.

After the 1987 season, Cincinnati traded Parker to the Oakland Athletics for José Rijo and Tim Birtsas. In Oakland, Parker was able to extend his career by spending most of his time as a designated hitter. Although injuries and age caught up to him to a degree – he hit just .257 with 12 homers in 377 at-bats in 1988 and .264 with 22 homers in 553 at-bats in 1989 – his veteran leadership was a significant factor in the A's consecutive World Series appearances.

Parker signed with the Milwaukee Brewers for the 1990 season and had a solid year as the Brewers' DH with a .289 average and 21 home runs in 610 at-bats. However, Milwaukee opted for youth at the end of the year and traded the aging Parker for Dante Bichette.

Parker's last season was 1991. He played for the California Angels until late in the season when he was released. The Toronto Blue Jays then signed him as insurance for the pennant race, and Parker hit .333 in limited action. However, since he was acquired too late in the season, he did not qualify for inclusion on the post-season roster and thus was unable to play in the American League Championship Series against the Minnesota Twins, which the Blue Jays lost in five games. Parker retired at the end of the season.

Retirement[link]

Parker has served as a first-base coach for the Anaheim Angels, a batting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1998, and a special hitting instructor for Pittsburgh. He owns several Popeye's Chicken franchises in Cincinnati.^[9] Parker now has had both of his knees replaced due to knee injuries from his playing career.^[10]

Parker never got more than 24% of votes on Hall of Fame ballots and his 15-year Baseball Writers Association of America eligibility was exhausted on the 2011 ballot.

See also[link]

• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
• List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
• List of Major League Baseball batting champions
• List of Major League Baseball doubles champions
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases
• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Dave Parker at lesterslegends.com