Hall of Fame Dodgers pitcher ranks 3rd in games started
LOS ANGELES — Don Sutton, a Hall of Fame pitcher who was a stalwart of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rotation spanning an era from Sandy Koufax to Fernando Valenzuela, died Tuesday. He was 75.
The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, said Mr. Sutton died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, after a long struggle with cancer. The Atlanta Braves, for whom Mr. Sutton was a longtime broadcaster, said he died in his sleep.
A four-time All-Star, Mr. Sutton had a career record of 324-256 and an ERA of 3.26 while pitching for the Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, California Angels and the Dodgers again in 1988, his final season.
The durable Mr. Sutton never missed a turn in the rotation in 756 big league starts. Only Cy Young and Nolan Ryan made more starts than Mr. Sutton, who never landed on the injured list in his 23-year career.
A master of changing speeds and pitch location, Mr. Sutton recorded just one 20-win season but earned 10 or more wins in every year except 1983 and 1988. Of his victories, 58 were shutouts, five were one-hitters and 10 were two-hitters. The right-hander is seventh on the career strikeout list with 3,574.
“He worked as hard as anyone I’ve ever known and he treated those he encountered with great respect . . . and he took me to work a lot,” his son, Daron, wrote on Twitter. “For all these things, I am very grateful.”
Donald Howard Sutton was born April 2, 1945, in Clio, Alabama, the son of sharecroppers. The family moved to northern Florida, where Mr. Sutton was a three-sport star in high school who showed an affinity for baseball as a youngster. He played the sport in junior college before the Dodgers signed him as a free agent in September 1964, months before the first MLB draft.
Mr. Sutton won a spot in the Dodgers’ rotation in 1966. He made his big league debut for the defending World Series champions on April 14, 1966, and earned his first victory four days later.
Mr. Sutton immediately found himself in a rotation with Koufax, Don Drysdale and Claude Osteen as the fourth starter. Mr. Sutton recorded 209 strikeouts that season, the highest total for a rookie since 1911. He helped the team win the National League pennant but didn’t pitch in the World Series as the Dodgers were swept in four games by the Baltimore Orioles.
He also helped lead the Dodgers to National League pennants in 1974, 1977 and 1978. He left the Dodgers as a free agent in 1980 and signed with Houston.
He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. The Dodgers retired his number 20 the same year.