Hall of Fame Pitcher Don Sutton Dies at 75
Hall of Fame pitcher and Los Angeles Dodgers great Don Sutton has died at the age of 75, his family announced Tuesday.
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RIP Don Sutton
- Thread starter PimTac
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I always liked to watch the Dodgers come to Wrigley to play the Cubs. Koufax, Drysdale and later Sutton, & Fernando Valenzuela. They always had an imposing pitching staff. Tommy Lasorda was a manager who was also a real gentleman. Rip to all the players gone lately.
I knew he was good and played a long time, but this blew me away!
More than 30 years after his retirement, he still owns the Dodgers franchise records in wins (233) and strikeouts (2,696). Speaking to his remarkable durability and consistency, he is third on the all-time leaderboard in games started (756) -- behind just Cy Young and Nolan Ryan -- and seventh in innings pitched (5,282 1/3). He is one of 18 members of the 3,000-strikeout club, finishing with 3,574 punchouts, good for seventh all time.
More than 30 years after his retirement, he still owns the Dodgers franchise records in wins (233) and strikeouts (2,696). Speaking to his remarkable durability and consistency, he is third on the all-time leaderboard in games started (756) -- behind just Cy Young and Nolan Ryan -- and seventh in innings pitched (5,282 1/3). He is one of 18 members of the 3,000-strikeout club, finishing with 3,574 punchouts, good for seventh all time.
Don Sutton played high school ball in my hometown of Pensacola, Florida at Tate High School. He was from a small rural farm community just north of Pensacola. We have an adult baseball league here that my son plays in. The founder of this adult league posted this story about Don on the league's Facebook page yesterday. He also posted a personal story about Tommy Lasorda after he passed. A long post but a very interesting story:
"In 1989, I started the Pensacola Men’s Baseball League as a 30yr+ league that played actual baseball as an alternative to slow pitch softball. The City of Pensacola was great about it. They gave us a field to use so long as we were self sufficient. We found sponsors, recruited players, and had 4 teams that first year. Before our 2nd season we decided we wanted to do something to benefit the community and build a broader awareness of our league. We were going to play a 50 inning marathon. Players would get sponsored for the innings they played, etc. I had a good friend Kevin Grace who sat on the board of the local Red Cross. I met with the board, told them our plan, and that we’d like the proceeds to benefit the Red Cross. They enthusiastically approved the partnership and the chair at the time was Buz Windham and he had an idea. He said his wife Pat and Don Sutton were very close friends and had gone to Tate High School in Pensacola together. He said Don spent time on the gulf coast during the off season and that he’d ask his wife to call Don and see if he was available to come by our baseball marathon. I said that it would be great if he could come by and maybe he could sign autographs for $5 a piece with the money going to the Red Cross. Buz liked that idea too.
Well, a few days later Buz calls me and says, I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news. Don is available and wants to come by, but he doesn’t want to sign autographs. He wants to play! He wants to pitch. My heart leapt. That wasn’t bad news, that was terrific news! I devised a plan where our players would put their names in a hat, names would be drawn to bat against Don, if your name was pulled you made a $20 donation to the Red Cross and then step up to the plate. We would have a video camera there, video the hitters and give each a copy. (I wish I could find one of those VCR tapes today. I lost mine in Hurricane Ivan).
That Saturday morning comes in mid February of 1990. We started our game early in the morning (how else are you gonna get in 50 innings?) and I’m pacing around waiting for Don to show. He pulls up dressed like he’s ready to go play golf. He says he’s actually on his way to visit his son who was playing ball at Univ. Of Auburn-Montgomery. He had a couple of hours to spend with us before he needed to hit the road. He apologizes for not coming better prepared. He had no gear or even clothes to play ball in. Our guys found him sweat pants, a t shirt, cleats that fit, and he used my fielding glove. He could not have been a nicer guy. My son James Schmitz, who is now 31, was about 8 months old at the time. I have a picture somewhere of Don holding him up above his head face-to-face cooing with him like you do babies. We had a chance to have a nice chat about his career and what he wanted to do next. Unforgettable.
Now remember, he’s only been retired for a little over a year, so he still has some game. As president of the league, and a catcher, I gave myself the honor of warming him up in the bullpen and then catching him. I’ve caught a lot of pitchers in my day, but I’ve never seen a 12 to 6 curve ball like that. He threw a circle change-up to one left handed hitter that started right down the middle and ended up a good six inches beyond the end of the batter’s bat when he swung. Don made sure every hitter saw a pitch he couldn’t touch and then gracefully grooved a straight hittable fast ball. We were playing a game, this wasn’t batting practice. He fielded his position, backed up throws to home, gave up a couple of runs, and just made sure everyone had a great time. Our guys asked and he gave them tips on how to throw a curve and the change up. He pitched to 13 batters that day. I caught him for 8 and then turned it over to one of our other guys, Chris Bush, for the remaining 5.
As I had told him about our league, when he signed a baseball for me he wrote the note you see on the ball, “One way to stay young!” I love the picture (in case you can’t tell, that’s me in the catcher’s gear). It almost looks like I’m telling him, “Ok Don, just keep the ball down and we won’t get in any trouble.” Well, maybe it doesn’t look like that, but I do think you can tell he was enjoying himself.
Thanks again Don and when you see Tommy, tell him I said hello. RIP good sir, you made a lot of people quite happy with your generosity and big heart."
"In 1989, I started the Pensacola Men’s Baseball League as a 30yr+ league that played actual baseball as an alternative to slow pitch softball. The City of Pensacola was great about it. They gave us a field to use so long as we were self sufficient. We found sponsors, recruited players, and had 4 teams that first year. Before our 2nd season we decided we wanted to do something to benefit the community and build a broader awareness of our league. We were going to play a 50 inning marathon. Players would get sponsored for the innings they played, etc. I had a good friend Kevin Grace who sat on the board of the local Red Cross. I met with the board, told them our plan, and that we’d like the proceeds to benefit the Red Cross. They enthusiastically approved the partnership and the chair at the time was Buz Windham and he had an idea. He said his wife Pat and Don Sutton were very close friends and had gone to Tate High School in Pensacola together. He said Don spent time on the gulf coast during the off season and that he’d ask his wife to call Don and see if he was available to come by our baseball marathon. I said that it would be great if he could come by and maybe he could sign autographs for $5 a piece with the money going to the Red Cross. Buz liked that idea too.
Well, a few days later Buz calls me and says, I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news. Don is available and wants to come by, but he doesn’t want to sign autographs. He wants to play! He wants to pitch. My heart leapt. That wasn’t bad news, that was terrific news! I devised a plan where our players would put their names in a hat, names would be drawn to bat against Don, if your name was pulled you made a $20 donation to the Red Cross and then step up to the plate. We would have a video camera there, video the hitters and give each a copy. (I wish I could find one of those VCR tapes today. I lost mine in Hurricane Ivan).
That Saturday morning comes in mid February of 1990. We started our game early in the morning (how else are you gonna get in 50 innings?) and I’m pacing around waiting for Don to show. He pulls up dressed like he’s ready to go play golf. He says he’s actually on his way to visit his son who was playing ball at Univ. Of Auburn-Montgomery. He had a couple of hours to spend with us before he needed to hit the road. He apologizes for not coming better prepared. He had no gear or even clothes to play ball in. Our guys found him sweat pants, a t shirt, cleats that fit, and he used my fielding glove. He could not have been a nicer guy. My son James Schmitz, who is now 31, was about 8 months old at the time. I have a picture somewhere of Don holding him up above his head face-to-face cooing with him like you do babies. We had a chance to have a nice chat about his career and what he wanted to do next. Unforgettable.
Now remember, he’s only been retired for a little over a year, so he still has some game. As president of the league, and a catcher, I gave myself the honor of warming him up in the bullpen and then catching him. I’ve caught a lot of pitchers in my day, but I’ve never seen a 12 to 6 curve ball like that. He threw a circle change-up to one left handed hitter that started right down the middle and ended up a good six inches beyond the end of the batter’s bat when he swung. Don made sure every hitter saw a pitch he couldn’t touch and then gracefully grooved a straight hittable fast ball. We were playing a game, this wasn’t batting practice. He fielded his position, backed up throws to home, gave up a couple of runs, and just made sure everyone had a great time. Our guys asked and he gave them tips on how to throw a curve and the change up. He pitched to 13 batters that day. I caught him for 8 and then turned it over to one of our other guys, Chris Bush, for the remaining 5.
As I had told him about our league, when he signed a baseball for me he wrote the note you see on the ball, “One way to stay young!” I love the picture (in case you can’t tell, that’s me in the catcher’s gear). It almost looks like I’m telling him, “Ok Don, just keep the ball down and we won’t get in any trouble.” Well, maybe it doesn’t look like that, but I do think you can tell he was enjoying himself.
Thanks again Don and when you see Tommy, tell him I said hello. RIP good sir, you made a lot of people quite happy with your generosity and big heart."
Cat Fish Hunter used to come to my town to watch the Little Leaguers play. He was an interesting fellow. There are lots of players in baseball, most of the special ones (not all) are pitchers. Only the pitcher is involved in EVERY play.
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