Don Sutton

Sutton was born in Clio, Alabama, a small town in Barbour County, on April 2, 1945, the same day as future Dodger teammate Reggie Smith. He was born to sharecroppers at the end of World War II, in a tarpaper shack. At the time Sutton was born, his father was 18 and his mother was 15. Sutton's father, Howard, gave him the strong work ethic which he carried throughout his career. Sutton and his family were Evangelical Christians. He led his baseball team to the small-school state finals two years in row, winning his junior year, 1962, and losing 2–1 in his senior year, and was named all-county, all-conference, and all-state for both of those seasons. He graduated in 1963 and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed". He wanted to attend the University of Florida, but coach Dave Fuller was not interested. He attended Gulf Coast Community College, Panama City for one year, and then Whittier College. After a good summer league, he was signed by the Dodgers. ==Baseball career==

Los Angeles Dodgers After playing for the Sioux Falls Packers in South Dakota, Sutton entered the major leagues at 21. His major league debut came with the Dodgers on April 14, 1966. On the 1966 Dodgers, Sutton was the fourth starting pitcher in a rotation that included Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and Claude Osteen. He later said that the "best thing that could have happened to me was to join a team with Drysdale and Koufax. They were obviously helpful to me as a pitcher." Sutton was selected to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game four times in the 1970s. The 1974 Dodgers made the postseason after winning 102 games during the regular season. They defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in the playoffs and Sutton accounted for two of the team's three wins. They lost the 1974 World Series four games to one, with Sutton earning the only win for the team. In 1976, Sutton had his best major league season, finishing the year with a 21–10 win–loss record. The team returned to the postseason that year. Sutton had a 15–11 record during the regular season, but he struggled in the postseason as the Dodgers lost the World Series to New York again. In 17 postseason innings that year, Sutton gave up 14 earned runs. Sutton was selected by ten teams in the 1980 free agent re-entry draft. He was courted by both the Yankees and Astros but ultimately selected Houston. One factor in Houston's favor was that Sutton would be able to play in the pitcher-friendly Astrodome. After the 1981 player strike interrupted the season, Sutton returned with seven wins and one loss. In an October 2 loss to the Dodgers, Sutton left the game with a patellar fracture, ending his season just as the Astros were about to clinch a berth in the NL postseason. Prior to the 1982 season, Sutton expressed a desire to return to play in Southern California, where he continued to live. The team did not grant his request and, in August, the Astros sent Sutton to the Milwaukee Brewers for Kevin Bass, Frank DiPino, and Mike Madden. Astros player Ray Knight was critical of the trade, saying, "My first reaction to this trade is disbelief. I don't know who are the prospects we are getting, but I would think Don Sutton would bring a big name, a real big name. Here's a guy who is going to win you 15–20 games every year, and he never misses a start... He should really help the Brewers." Sutton earned a win in a 1982 playoff game against the Angels, then started two games in the 1982 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. He pitched 10 innings in the series, gave up nine earned runs and was charged with one loss. After starting the season with a 13–8 record, Sutton was traded to the California Angels in September. In return, the Angels would send two minor league players to be named later to Oakland, Robert Sharpnack and Jerome Nelson. He appeared in two games in the 1986 ALCS against the Boston Red Sox, earning a 1.86 ERA but registering two no-decisions. In August 1988, Sutton spoke with Astros team leadership about a vacant assistant general manager position with the team. Dodgers executive vice president Fred Claire said that Sutton violated league rules by discussing such a position while under contract with a team, but Sutton said that he ran into Astros general manager Bill Wood at a game and simply mentioned his willingness to discuss the position later. The team released him on August 10. Claire said that Sutton's stamina was a major consideration in the move, as the team was looking for pitchers who could last more than five or six innings per start. Sutton holds the record for most at-bats without a home run (1,354). Sutton retains another record: seven times he pitched nine scoreless innings but got a no-decision. He also holds the major league record for most consecutive losses to one team (13 to the Chicago Cubs). Sutton also holds the Dodger franchise record for wins (233) and held the strikeouts record (2,696) for 42 years until he was passed by Clayton Kershaw in 2022. As a hitter, Sutton was about average as pitchers go, posting a .144 batting average (195-for-1354) with 64 runs batted in and 60 walks. Defensively, he was above average, recording a .968 fielding percentage which was 15 points higher than the league average at his position. ==Broadcasting career==

in 2008 Sutton started his broadcasting career in 1989, splitting duties between Dodgers cable telecasts on Z Channel and Atlanta Braves telecasts on TBS. The following year, he became a full-time commentator for the Braves. In 2002, Sutton was diagnosed with kidney cancer resulting in the removal of his left kidney. In addition, part of his lung was removed in 2003. While undergoing cancer treatment, he continued his broadcasting career. Sutton was a color commentator for the Washington Nationals on the MASN network during the 2007 and 2008 seasons. After the end of the 2008 season, Sutton still had two years left on his contract with the Nationals, but when an Atlanta Braves radio job opened up, he negotiated his release on January 27, 2009, in order to return to Atlanta, where he had many ties. His most recent broadcast partner was Jim Powell, who joined the Braves Radio Network in 2009. Sutton missed the 2019 season due to a broken femur. He was unable to return to his broadcast career before his death. ==Honors==

In 1997, Sutton appeared on the National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for the fourth time. Sutton had previously expressed his desire to be elected to the Hall of Fame. However, when he fell nine votes short of election that year, he said that the vote was not that important. When he received the results of the vote, his two-month-old daughter Jacqueline was in an Atlanta neonatal intensive care unit after she was born 16 weeks early. His daughter later recovered. On the 1998 ballot, Sutton became the only player selected for induction, receiving votes on 81.6% of ballots. Sutton was inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame in July 2015 for his work as a broadcaster. He became the fourth Braves broadcaster to be honored in this fashion, joining his mentors Ernie Johnson, Skip Caray, and Pete Van Wieren. A section of U.S. Highway 29, the main route for drivers leaving Pensacola north into Alabama, is named "Don Sutton Highway", and a youth baseball complex in Molino, FL (near his childhood home of Cantonment, FL) also bears his name. ==Personal life==

Sutton was married twice: with his first wife Patti, he had two children: son Daron (b. 1969) and daughter Staci (b. 1973). With his second wife Mary, he had a daughter Jaqueline (b. 1996). His son Daron was also a broadcaster and has served as a television host or play-by-play announcer for five different Major League Baseball organizations: the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers. Sutton was an avid golfer and wine enthusiast and frequently made references to those hobbies while broadcasting. Sutton also broadcast golf and served as a pre- and post-game analyst for NBC's coverage of the 1983 and 1987 American League Championship Series. Sutton previously served as a color commentator for NBC's coverage of the 1979 National League Championship Series. He was also a fan of the game show Match Game, even appearing as a panelist on sporadic occasions from 1976 to 1980. Sutton died of cancer on January 19, 2021, at age 75, at his home in Rancho Mirage, California. ==See also==