To Absent Friends - Don Sutton

 Don Sutton

1945 - 2021

Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton died earlier this week at the age of 76, and it proved to me that one's memory, okay, MY MEMORY, may not always know what it's talking about.

My initial thought was....Don Sutton, 300+ game winner, Hall of Famer, good pitcher...but not a guy who necessarily put the fear of God into me whenever he was going to pitch against the Pirates.  I mean, when the Bucs were slated to go up against Bob Gibson or Sandy Koufax or Tom Seaver, you said "oh, shit."  When it was Don Sutton, not so much.

But was that really the case?  A fresh spreadsheet, a few clicks of the mouse, and about 30 minutes of research told me "Bob, your memory failed you in this instance,"   Failed badly, as a matter of fact.

From 1966 through 1982, and again in 1988 when he finished up with the Dodgers after six year stint in the American League, Sutton made 57 starts against the Pirates, and compiled a record of 25-19 with an ERA of 2.71 and 16 complete games.  In terms of winning percentage, ERA, and Complete Games as a percentage of starts, Sutton's numbers against the Pirates were better than those same numbers across his career.  And keep in mind that in the meat of  Sutton's career, 1966-80, those Pirates teams that he faced were very, very good teams.  So, while my memory told me otherwise, at the time I probably actually did say "oh, shit" whenever it was Sutton's turn to face Pittsburgh.

Sutton, of course, went on to fashion a second career as a broadcaster, and he was great at that, too.

Too many Hall of Famers are leaving us these days.

RIP Don Sutton.

If you are interested, here is the spreadsheet that I compiled showing Don Sutton vs. Pittsburgh Pirates in his career.

	W	L	ND	IP	ER	ERA	CG
1966	2	2	1	29.67	11	3-34	1
1967	2	1	2	39.67	12	2.72	2
1968	2	2	0	28.00	9	2.89	0
1969	2	0	2	32.33	9	2.51	0
1970	1	0	2	25.0	5	1.80	2
1971	0	1	1	11.67	7	4.80	0
1972	1	3	0	30.67	14	4.11	2
1973	3	1	0	33.67	8	2.14	3
1974	1	2	0	20.0	5	2.25	0
1975	1	2	1	31.0	6	1.74	2
1976	2	0	0	17.0	2	1.06	1
1977	1	1	1	17.0	11	5.82	0
1978	3	1	0	31.0	8	2.32	2
1979	1	1	1	19.0	5	2.36	0
1980	1	0	1	15.0	2	1.20	0
1881	1	1	0	13.33	5	3.38	0
1982	1	1	0	17.0	3	1.59	1
1988	0	0	1	4.67	3	5.78	0
	25	19	13	415.68	125	2.71	16
Career			Vs PGH
Starts	756		57
W	324		25
L	256		19
%	0.553		0.568
ERA	3.26		2.71
CG	178		16
CG/Starts	23.5%		28.1%