Don Sutton: Dodgers All Time Leader in Wins

Earlier this year, the Dodger family lost 2 Hall of Famers, Tommy Lasorda, and Don Sutton. To be truthful, I never was a huge Sutton fan. And in all the times over the years that I saw him pitch, no one performance stands out. He never threw a no-hitter, but he had 5 one-hitters and 10 two-hitters. He had 58 shutouts over his career. He never finished higher than 3rd in the Cy Young vote, never led the league in wins. He had one ERA title, and for those fond of newer stats, he led the league in WHIP 4 times. He also led in K to BB ratio 3 times. He won 20 games exactly once.

One thing he was though, was consistent. For 18 straight years from 1966, his rookie season, until 1983 he won 10 or more every year. He was an innings-eater as they say, and he was rarely injured, so he did not miss starts. After he missed winning in double-figure in 83, he came back and won 10 or more 5 more times. In his last season, 1988, he only pitched in 17 games in his return to the Dodgers winning 3 and losing 6.

No longer the innings horse he once was, the Dodgers released him in August with Fred Claire saying, they needed someone who would be able to go more than 5 or 6 innings. They would love him in this era. Donald Howard Sutton was born in Clio, Alabama on April 2nd, 1945 – the same day as his future teammate, Reggie Smith. Clio is a small town in Barbour County. His father was a sharecropper and Don was born in a tarpaper shack. His dad, Howard, instilled in him a strong work ethic and Sutton stuck to that his whole life.

They moved to Molino, Florida, just north of Pensacola, as his dad looked for work in the construction industry. Sutton attended J.M. Tate High school where he played baseball, basketball, and football. He led his team to the small school state finals two years in a row, winning in 1962, and losing 2-1 the next. He graduated in 1963 being selected the Most Likely to Succeed. He was also honored with all county, all-conference, and all-state for both of his seasons. He wanted to go to the University of Florida, but the coach, Dave Fuller, was not interested. So he went to Gulf Coast Community College for a year, and then to Whittier College for a year.

After a good summer season, he was signed as an amateur free agent by the Dodgers. He spent 1965 first with Santa Barbara, a single A team, going 8-1 with a 1.50 ERA and 8 complete games, then he went to Albuquerque, their AA team, and was 15-6 with a 2.78 ERA and 16 complete games. In 1966 he joined the Dodgers rotation at the age of 21 as the 4th starter behind Koufax, Drysdale, and Claude Osteen. He went 12-12 with an ERA of 2.99 and struck out 209 batters, the highest total for a rookie since 1951.

He did not pitch in the World Series, Alston passed him over with the Dodgers down 0-3, in favor of Big D, who was pitted against another future Hall of Famer, rookie, Jim Palmer. Sutton’s MLB debut came on April 14, 1966… the same day that future 300 game-winner and Hall of Famer, Greg Maddux was born. Over the next 3 seasons, he was under .500, winning in double figures each year.

His combined record from1967 through 1969, 39-48. 69 to 78 he was over the .500 mark until he went 12-15 in 1979. His post-season record as a Dodger is 5-3, one win better than Koufax and his post-season ERA with them was almost 4. He had 3 complete games in the postseason for the Dodgers. His best post-season performances came in 1974 when he went 2-0 against the Pirates, and had LA’s only win against the A’s.

Sutton went to the All-Star game 4 times and in 1976 he had his only 20 win season going 21-10. He was the starting pitcher and MVP of the 1977 All-Star game at Yankee Stadium. And he went 1-0 against the Yanks in his team’s losing effort in the World Series. He was 14-8 that year. In 1978, in August, he got media attention for his altercation with a teammate, Steve Garvey. Sutton had criticized all the media attention given to Steve Garvey, saying that Reggie Smith was really the team’s best player. Garvey confronted him before a game with the Mets, and they came to blows and had to be separated by teammates and team officials.

The team got to the Series again, but Sutton was rocked for 14 runs in 17 post-season innings. He went 12-15 in 1979, and the following year, 1980, he went 13-5 and earned his only ERA award. That winter, he became a free agent and left LA to sign with the Houston Astros. 1981 was a strike year, so his innings total was lower than it had been, he won 11 and lost 9, but missed the playoffs against the Dodgers because of a patellar fracture suffered in a loss to the Dodgers on October 2nd.

In 1982 he expressed a desire to return to the West coast to play because he wanted to be close to his family. Houston instead traded him to the Brewers for Kevin Bass, Mike Madden, and Frank DiPino. The trade was heavily criticized by Astros player Ray Knight. He felt a pitcher like Sutton should have brought a bigger name player. Sutton went 4-1 with the Brewers and beat the Angels in a playoff game. In the series with the Cardinals, Sutton got knocked around for 11 runs, 9 earned in two games.

In 1983 he won only 8 games, the first time in his career he had not won at least 10. In 1984 he rebounded and won 14. After the season, he was traded to the Oakland A’s for Ray Burris. But he was unsure he would report. He still wanted to be close to his family in Southern California. Eventually, he reported 12 days late. He started the year 13-8 and was traded again, this time to the Angels for a couple of minor leaguers. One reason Sutton reported to the A’s, he was 20 wins shy of 300.

He went 2-2 with the Angels and did not have a decision in the playoff loss to Boston in 2 games. In 1986, he was 5 wins shy of 300. He struggled to begin the year and finally won # 300 on June 18th against the Rangers with a 3 hit one-run performance and a complete game. He won 10 more for the Angels, finishing at 15-11. In 1987, he was 11-11 at the age of 42 and finished without pitching 200 innings for the first time since the strike year of 1981.

The Angels released him, and the Dodgers signed him to a free agent contract bringing their all-time wins leader home. Sutton was not very good in 88. He went 3-6 with LA, In August, he had met with Astros GM, Bill Wood to discuss an Assistant GM position with the Astros that was vacant. Fred Claire told Sutton he had violated team rules talking with another team while under contract with the Dodgers.

Sutton said he had met Wood at a game and only advised him of his interest and willingness to discuss it later. No matter, the bond was broken and Sutton was released on August 10th with Claire saying they needed someone who could pitch longer than 5 or 6 innings as I stated earlier. Sutton still holds the record for the most at-bats without a Homerun, 1,354, and he also holds this record: Seven times he pitched 9 scoreless innings and got a no-decision.

He was already the team leader in wins with 230 when he left for free agency, and he won an additional 95 before he came back His record as a Dodger, 233-184. Overall record, 324-256. He is also the team’s career leader in strikeouts, 2,696. A mark that should be eclipsed by Kershaw sometime this season. He is only 43 away. Sutton soon went into broadcasting, working for the Dodgers on the Z channel and the Braves on TBS.

He went full-time with the Braves in 1990 and stayed there until 2006. In 2007 and 8 he worked for the Nationals, but when a spot on the Braves radio team opened up, he negotiated his release and went back to work for the Braves. Sutton stayed with the Braves through 2018 but missed the 2019 season because of a broken leg.

In 1998 he was the only player selected to the Hall garnering a little over 81 % of the vote. Sutton was inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame for his broadcast work, joining only Ernie Johnson, Skip Caray, and Peter Van Wieren in the hall. His son Daron, who was recently let go by the Angels, also broadcasted for the Brewers and D-Backs, Sutton passed away on January 19, 2021, in Ranch Mirage California.

He is survived by his wife, Mary, son Daron, and his daughters, Jackie and Staci. He had been in a long fight with kidney cancer. The Dodgers are honoring both Sutton and Lasorda by wearing their uniform numbers on the sleeve of their jerseys. This is the second time I remember them doing that, In 1993 during the season, they lost Drysdale and Campy.

If nothing else, Sutton was a true workhorse. He made almost every start every year. But he never led the league in innings pitched. He averaged 235 over a 162 game season for 23 years. Personally, he was never a favorite of mine. I just thought he was good, but not great. His place in the Hall to me was simply because of longevity. But over the long run, I began to appreciate the fact that Sutton was out there every time he was called on. And although he never won more than 20 once, his consistency and his reliability cannot be denied.

Sutton to me was not a very likable fellow. I actually thought he was kind of smug. But that was my personal view. He also incurred the wrath of teammate John Candelaria. He informed the police that Candelaria was driving home intoxicated, which led to the Candy Man getting a DUI. Sutton said he did it for Candelaria’s well-being. Candelaria insisted it was because he wanted to secure his spot in Angels rotation. Whatever my personal views, Sutton was as solid as they come night in and night out.

Update from Dodger Chatter

The Great Lakes Loons (39-31) made history against the Lake County Captains (37-33) Friday night, throwing their first no-hitter since the team’s inaugural 2007 season with a 14-0 drubbing at Classic Park. A combined effort from starter Clayton Beeter and relievers Bobby Miller, Jake Cantleberry and Cameron Gibbens held the Captains both scoreless and hitless while walking three batters and striking out 13. Carson Taylor caught all nine innings and contributed a ninth-inning grand slam to punctuate a six-run frame with the 100th home run hit this season for Great Lakes.

No one in a grey uniform that read Great Lakes across the chest was sitting with two outs in the top of the ninth, and that included the 6’7” Gibbens, who took an opportunity to wipe the sweat from his brow. Gibbens, 26, stared into the strike zone of 20-year-old Jose Tena, a lefty-hitting middle infielder for Lake County. Loons first-baseman Justin Yurchak held Will Brennan aboard at first, who delayed Friday’s result a few batters longer with a one-out walk. After a brief pause, the 1-and-1 pitch to Tena was popped up, causing Yurchak to drift to his left into foul territory, flailing his hands and eyeing the ball, along with the opportunity to finalize history, into his glove.

“It was the first one I had ever been a part of, it was a very special night, and I couldn’t have been happier for the guys out there,” Loons manager Austin Chubb said. “Obviously, offensively, a huge night, but a great job by everyone on defense as well.”

Beeter: 2.0 IP, 0 hit, 0 run, 1 BB, 3 K

Miller (W): 5.0 IP, 0 hit, 0 run, 1 BB, 7 K

Cantleberry: 1.0 IP, 0 hit, 0 run, 0 BB, 1 K

Gibbens: 1.0 IP, 0 hit, 0 run, 1 BB, 2 K