Bruce Sutter
Bruce Sutter
Howard Bruce Sutteris a former Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher. He was arguably the first pitcher to make effective use of the split-finger fastball. One of the sport's dominant relievers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he became the only pitcher to lead the National League in saves five times. In 1979, Sutter won the NL's Cy Young Award as the league's top pitcher...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth8 January 1953
CityLancaster, PA
CountryUnited States of America
I could throw pretty hard. I might strike out 16 guys, but I might walk 10. I mean, I was wild.
The three most important pitches I threw in my life were all fastballs.
Pitchers are going to break. You can limit their pitches and limit their innings, and they're still going to blow out. Pitching is hard on the arm.
Goose Gossage is a friend of mine, and he's definitely a Hall of Fame pitcher in my mind.
I'm basically a country person.
My first year in the big leagues, I made $17,000. It was easy to go out and get another $17,000 relief pitcher. I never worried about innings or pitches. I just pitched.
I was planning a hunting trip next year if I didn't get in this year. I didn't need to be around the phone, I can tell you that.
I think sometimes the voters try to compare us with the starting pitchers. We can't compete with their statistics, their innings or their strikeouts. I think if you compare us against each other, I think you'll see we're all pretty equal.
I faced Rice in All-Star Games and he was a tremendous player. And Andre Dawson could hit, run, throw.
Most everyone, the middle finger is dominant. With me, it was this one. That made it easy to throw. I got it to break real quick.
It was a call that you always hope for, but you never really expect it to happen. I didn't think it would affect me or hit me as hard as it did.
The stadium wasn't the best, and the lights weren't the best. Wallis hit the ball by the lights. And nobody ever saw the ball come down. So they gave him a home run. What else are you going to do? It was one of the strangest things I ever saw.
As long as you're on the ballot, you have a chance. Just being on the ballot is such a great honor.
It was the call you always hope for, but you never really expect it to happen. I can't tell you what in means to me, in words.