Rick Sutcliffe

Background

Sutcliffe attended Van Horn High School, where he received All-American honors as an infielder. He was the 21st pick in the 1974 amateur draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sutcliffe won 17 games for the Dodgers in 1979 and was the first of four consecutive Rookies of the Year for the Dodgers from 1979–1981. He was traded to the Cleveland Indians after the 1981 season.

In mid-1984, Cleveland traded Sutcliffe to the Chicago Cubs for Mel Hall and Joe Carter. Sutcliffe won 16 games for the Cubs while losing only one, helping them to the division championship. On October 2, 1984, he started the first game of the NLCS against the San Diego Padres, giving up two hits and no runs, gaining the victory. Five days later, Sutcliffe pitched the final game of the series at Jack Murphy Stadium, but posted the loss after giving up four runs in the seventh inning.

Sutcliffe won the Cy Young Award with a unanimous vote. He also finished fourth in the league MVP voting. When he re-signed with the Cubs as a free agent the following year, his contract briefly made him the highest-paid pitcher in baseball. In 1987, he bounced back to win 18 games and finished second in the league's Cy Young voting to Steve Bedrosian despite playing for a last-place Cubs team.

He also was presented 1987's Roberto Clemente Award. On July 29, 1988, in Philadelphia, Sutcliffe stole home plate during an 8–3 win over the Phillies. In 1989, Sutcliffe won 16 games and made his final All-Star appearance. Recurring arm injuries caused Sutcliffe to miss most of the 1990 and 1991 seasons.

Signing with the Baltimore Orioles, Sutcliffe went 16–15 and 10–10 in 1992 and 1993, starting the first game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. He ended his career by signing a one-year minor league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1994, going 6–4 in an injury-plagued season. He retired with a career record of 171–139, with an ERA of 4.08. He holds the unique distinction of having won each of the following league awards, once each, and each in a different season: Rookie of the Year (1979), Cy Young Award (1984), ERA leader (1982), and wins leader (1987).

Sutcliffe also has the distinction of being the pitcher who faced all-time MLB home run leader Barry Bonds the most times without giving up a home run once, with 51 plate appearances between the two.