Bruce Sutter | |||
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Sutter during the 2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Red Carpet Parade
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Relief pitcher | |||
Born: Lancaster, Pennsylvania |
January 8, 1953 |||
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MLB debut | |||
May 9, 1976, for the Chicago Cubs | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
September 9, 1988, for the Atlanta Braves | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Win–loss record | 68–71 | ||
Earned run average | 2.83 | ||
Strikeouts | 861 | ||
Saves | 300 | ||
Teams | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
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Member of the National | |||
Baseball Hall of Fame | |||
Inducted | 2006 | ||
Vote | 76.9% (thirteenth ballot) |
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 split-finger fastball. 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). In 1979, Sutter won the NL's Cy Young Award as the league's top pitcher.
Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Sutter briefly attended Old Dominion University and was subsequently signed by the Chicago Cubs as an undrafted free agent in 1971. Between 1976 and 1988, he played for the Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves. In the mid-1980s, Sutter began to experience shoulder problems, undergoing three surgeries and retiring in 1989.
Sutter was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 2006, his 13th year of eligibility. He was the fourth relief pitcher to be inducted. He was also selected to the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2014. He was hired by the Philadelphia Phillies as a minor league consultant.
Sutter was born to Howard and Thelma Sutter in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His father managed a Farm Bureau warehouse in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania. Bruce was the fifth child of six.