Don Sutton

Hall of Fame pitcher who spent 16 of his 23 MLB seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers and ranks seventh on the all-time strikeout list.

Donald Howard Sutton (April 2, 1945 – January 19, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sutton won a total of 324 games, pitched 58 shutouts including five one-hitters and ten two-hitters, and led the National League in walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) four times. He is seventh on baseball's all-time strikeout list with 3,574.

Quick Facts

Position: Pitcher
Bats: Right
Born: 2 April 1945
Birthplace: Clio, Alabama, U.S.
Died: 19 January 2021
Place of death: Rancho Mirage, California, U.S.
Debut league: MLB
Debut date: April 14

Facts from the source article.

Background

Sutton was born in Clio, Alabama, to sharecroppers in a tarpaper shack. He attended J. M. Tate High School in Florida, where he led his baseball team to the small-school state finals two years in a row, winning his junior year and losing 2–1 in his senior year. He graduated in 1963 and was voted 'Most Likely to Succeed'. He attended Gulf Coast Community College for one year and then Whittier College before being signed by the Dodgers.

After a year in the minor leagues, he joined the Dodgers in 1966 as the fourth starter in a rotation with Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and Claude Osteen. Sixteen of his 23 MLB seasons were with the Dodgers. He spent much of the 1980s with the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, and California Angels, before returning for a second stint with the Dodgers. He registered only one 20-win season, but earned 10 or more wins in every season except 1983 and 1988.

After retirement, he became a television sports broadcaster, working for several teams, the majority being with the Atlanta Braves. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.

Did You Know?

Sutton was born on the same day as future Dodger teammate Reggie Smith.
He struck out 209 batters in his rookie season, the highest strikeout total for a rookie since 1911.
Sutton had a physical altercation with teammate Steve Garvey in August 1978 after criticizing the media attention paid to Garvey.
He was selected by ten teams in the 1980 free agent re-entry draft before choosing the Houston Astros.