Bruce Sutter: Lights out closer

Bruce Sutter, here pitching with the St. Louis Cardinals,
was one of the best relief pitchers of the '80s, and all time.
Source: David Durochik / AP file
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/
bruce-sutter-hall-fame-pitcher-cy-young-winner-dies-69-rcna52341
(May be subject to copyright)

It wasn’t until he came along that I really knew what a “closer” or a “stopper” was. The first baseball cards I ever got, had some devoted to the league leaders in various categories. There was one about “Firemen” and the picture on the card was of Rollie Fingers.

As it turns out a “closer”, “stopper”, and “fireman” are synonyms for the relief pitcher who comes in late in a game to get the last few outs and preserve the win for his team. Often he comes in when the other team is threatening to score or even win the game. Hence he is called on to put out a fire, making him a “fireman”.

I only learned all of that after I started hearing about a pitcher with the Chicago Cubs who was making a name for himself as the pre-eminent closer of the time. If Bruce Sutter was called in, it was usually lights out. He would close every game.

It was with sadness I heard recently that Bruce Sutter had passed away, at the age of 69.

What’s in name?
The year I started watching baseball, 1979, I was really into hockey. There was a family beginning to make a name for itself in the NHL, but it was already a household name in Southern Alberta – the Sutters.

When I started watching baseball, the Chicago Cubs had this pitcher named Bruce Sutter. I quickly learned three things. He was not related to the hockey-playing Sutters, and wasn’t even Canadian; he pronounced his name Sooter, not Sutter like butter; and he utilized this pitch called a forkball to become the best relief pitcher in baseball.

Chicago
In 1979, I cheered for the Montreal Expos in the National League. They periodically played the Chicago Cubs, and that was my first exposure to Bruce Sutter, and that wicked forkball.

That year, the Cubs acquired relief pitcher Dick Tidrow. They would bring him in to pitch a couple innings in what is now called middle relief. He was the set-up man. Then Sutter would come in for the save.

Sutter had 37 saves that season, tying the National League record and winning the National League Cy Young award for the league’s best pitcher. He was also the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year and the Sporting News Fireman of the Year.

In 1980, he appeared in 60 games, recording 28 saves to lead the National League again, posting a 2.64 earned run average, winning five, losing eight and striking out 76 batters.

St. Louis success
At the end of 1980, Sutter was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals who were a team on the rise. In the subsequent 1981 season, Sutter had 25 saves, a 2.62 earned run average, 57 strike outs, finished fifth in Cy Young balloting and was named to his fifth consecutive all-star game. He again was the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year and the Sporting News Fireman of the Year.

In 1982, the Cardinals won the World Series, defeating the Milwaukee Brewers. Sutter had 36 saves and 61 strike outs, finishing third in Cy young voting. He saved the pennant-clinching game, against the Atlanta Braves in the National League Championship Series. He also saved two games in the World Series, including Game 7, when he struck out Gorman Thomas. For the third time he was the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year and the Sporting News Fireman of the Year.

In 1983, Sutter’s numbers declined. He saved 21 games, posted an earned run average of 4.23, struck out 64 batters, and had a 9-10 win-loss record.

What followed, in 1984, was one of his best seasons. He tied the Major League save record of 45, struck out 77 batters, and pitched a career-high 122 2/3 innings. For the fourth time he was the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year and the Sporting News Fireman of the Year.

Brave new world
Sutter signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves in 1985, where he had 23 saves, a 4.48 earned run average, 52 strike outs, and started to have shoulder trouble.

He began 1986 with a 2-0 record, 16 strike outs, and a 4.34 earned run average in 16 games. However, he began to have arm problems and, after being placed on the disabled list, did not pitch again that season. He had surgery early in 1987 and missed the entire 1987 season to recover.

Sutter returned to the line-up in 1988, where he recorded 14 saves, a 4.76 earned run average, struck out 40 batters, and had a 1-4 record in 38 games. In September, he had knee surgery.

Bruce Sutter never pitched another game, retiring in 1989. He finished with exactly 300 saves, third all-time behind Rollie Fingers and Rich “Goose” Gossage. It was the National League record as well. He also had 861 strike outs, an earned run average of 2.83, and a record of 68-71.

He was the only pitcher to lead the National League in saves five times – 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, and 1984.

He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Parting thoughts
When the opposing team was threatening and the game was on the line, there was no one better at closing it out than Bruce Sutter.

Utilizing that nasty forkball, he would get a much-needed strike out, induce a ground out or double play, or force the batter to pop up, extinguishing the hopes of any comeback.

My greatest memories of him were after he joined the St. Louis Cardinals and pitched against the Montreal Expos in the regular season, the Atlanta Braves in the national League Championship Series, and the Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series. On the farm, we never got games on TV beyond these.

Every time he came into a game, with that big bushy beard, he loomed on the mound, menacing all opposing batters.

Sutter was also the first relief pitcher I ever saw, and really taught me about that part of the game.

When my beloved Blue Jays have had bull-pen problems over the years, I have found myself muttering more than once, “I sure wish we had Bruce Sutter”.