Howard Bruce Sutter is 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.
Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Sutter briefly attended Old Dominion University and was subsequently
signed by the Chicago Cubs as an undrafted free agent in 1971.
Between 1976 and 1988, he played for the Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves.
In 1984, Sutter signed a contract with Atlanta that would pay him $4.8 million over six years
and place another $4.8 million into a deferred payment account.
The press estimated that with interest the account would pay Sutter $1.3 million per
year for 30 years.
In the mid-1980s, Sutter began to experience shoulder problems, undergoing three surgeries
and retiring in 1989.
Sutter was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 2006, his 13th year
of eligibility.
He was the fourth relief pitcher to be inducted.
He was also selected to the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2014.
He was hired by the Philadelphia Phillies as a minor league consultant.
Sutter was born to Howard and Thelma Sutter in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
His father managed a Farm Bureau warehouse in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania.
Bruce was the fifth child of six.
Sutter graduated from Donegal High School in Mount Joy, where he played baseball, football
and basketball.
He was quarterback and captain of the football team and also served as captain for the basketball
squad, which won a district championship in his senior season.
His baseball team also won the county championship.
After being selected by the Washington Senators in the 21st round of the June 1970 draft,
Sutter instead attended Old Dominion University before signing with the Cubs as a free agent
in September 1971.
He pitched in two games for the Gulf Coast League Cubs in 1972.
When he was 19, Sutter had surgery on his arm to relieve a pinched nerve.
When he recovered from surgery and returned to the mound a year later, Sutter found that
his previous pitches were no longer effective.
He learned the split-finger fastball from minor league pitching instructor Fred Martin.
Sutter's large hands helped him to use the pitch, which was a modification of the forkball.
Sutter had nearly been released by the Cubs, but found success with the new pitch.
Mike Krukow, who was also a Cubs minor league player at the time, said, "As soon as I saw
him throw it, I knew he was going to the big leagues.
Everyone wanted to throw it after he did."
He recorded a 3-3 win-loss record, a 4.13 ERA and five saves in 40 games in Class A
baseball in 1973.
Sutter split the 1974 season between the Class A Key West Conchs and the Class AA Midland
Cubs.
Though he finished the season with a combined 2-7 record, he recorded a 1.38 ERA in 65 innings.
He returned to Midland in 1975 and finished the year with a 5-7 record, a 2.15 ERA and
13 saves.
Sutter led the team in ERA and saves as they won the Texas League West Division pennant.
He started the 1976 season with the Class AAA Wichita Aeros, but he pitched only seven
games with the team before being promoted to the major leagues.
Sutter joined the Cubs in May 1976.
He pitched in 52 games and finished with a 6-3 win-loss record and 10 saves.
In 1977 he had a 1.34 ERA, earned an All-Star Game selection, and finished sixth and seventh
in NL Cy Young Award and MVP Award voting, respectively.
On September 8, 1977, Sutter struck out three batters on nine pitches Ellis Valentine, Gary
Carter and Larry Parrish in the ninth inning of a 10-inning 3-2 win over the Montreal Expos.
Sutter became the 12th NL pitcher and the 19th pitcher in MLB history to accomplish
the nine-strike/three-strikeout half-inning.
Sutter had also struck out the side upon entering the game in the eighth inning, giving him
six consecutive strikeouts, tying the NL record for a reliever.