Don Sutton

Donald Howard Sutton
Born: April 2, 1945 in Clio, Alabama 
Debut: 1966 | Pos: P
Ht: 6'1" | Wt: 185 | B: R | T: R

>> Visit the Don Sutton biography on Baseball Almanac for complete statistics.

Don Sutton's 23-year career could be described in one word - consistency. The Hall of Famer never missed a start as a pitcher for the Dodgers, Astros, Athletics and Angels. 

In his career, he posted double-digit wins in 21 of his 23 seasons in the majors. He also struck out 100 or more batters in each of his first 21 seasons. At the time of his retirement, Sutton had 324 wins and he was tied for fifth on the all-time strikeout list with 3,754.

He was named to 4 All-star teams and threw 5 one-hitters in his career. In his 23 seasons, he never won a Cy Young award, he led the league in ERA just once and he was a 20-game winner just once. Still, he made his mark. His 233 wins for the Dodgers were the most in the franchise's history - in Brooklyn or Los Angeles.

One of the stranger events in his career came on June 14, 1978 in a game against the Cardinals. Umpire Doug Harvey ejected Sutton from the game for allegedly doctoring baseballs. Sutton got his revenge by threatening to file a lawsuit against MLB and Harvey for endangering his ability to make a living. He never had to file the suit. He received only a warning for the incident - no suspension and no fine.

Sutton pitched in 8 games in four World Series. He posted a 2-3 record with a 5.26 ERA in 51.1 innings. In 1978, he was 0-2 in the series with a 7.50 ERA.

In 5 league championship series, Sutton pitched 49 innings in 7 games to put together a 4-1 record, 30 strikeouts and a 2.02 ERA.

Sutton was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. Today, he is an announcer for the Atlanta Braves.