Bruce Sutter : Death | Cause of death | Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame pitcher Bruce Sutter has died, the St. Louis Cardinals announced Friday. He was 69. Check out his cause of death here.

Bruce Sutter : Death | Cause of death | Hall of Fame

Howard Bruce Sutter was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1976 and 1988.

He was one of the sport’s dominant relievers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, making effective use of the split-finger fastball.

A six-time All-Star and 1982 World Series champion, Sutter recorded a 2.83 career earned run average and 300 saves, the third-most in MLB history at the time of his retirement.

Sutter won the National League’s (NL) Cy Young Award in 1979 as its top pitcher, and won the NL Rolaids Relief Man Award four times. He became the only pitcher to lead the NL in saves five times (1979–1982, 1984).

Bruce Sutter death 

Bruce Sutter, a Hall of Fame reliever and the 1979 Cy Young winner, has died. He was 69.

Sutter was recently diagnosed with cancer and died Thursday night in hospice, surrounded by his family, one of Sutter’s three sons, Chad, told The Associated Press. The Baseball Hall of Fame said Bruce Sutter died in Cartersville, Georgia.

“All our father ever wanted to be remembered as was being a great teammate, but he was so much more than that,” the Sutter family said in a statement Friday.

“He was also a great husband to our mother for 50 (years), he was a great father and grandfather and he was a great friend.

The right-hander played 12 seasons in the major leagues, was a six-time All-Star and ended up with 300 saves over his career.

Cause of death 

Sutter was recently diagnosed with cancer and in hospice surrounded by his family, one of Sutter’s three sons, Chad, told The Associated Press. The Baseball Hall of Fame said Bruce Sutter died in Cartersville, Georgia.

A six-time All-Star, Sutter led the National League in saves for five years and won the 1979 Cy Young Award. He posted 300 saves in a 12-year career with the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves.

Sutter played in a era when closers routinely got more than three outs. He threw more than one inning for 188 of his saves and five times pitched more than 100 innings in a season.

At his bedeviling best, he tossed two perfect innings — retiring future fellow Hall of Famers Paul Molitor, Robin Yount and Ted Simmons — to finish off the Cardinals’ Game 7 win over Milwaukee in the 1982 World Series.

The team victories, son Chad said, counted most to Sutter.

“I wouldn’t be here without that pitch,” Sutter said shortly before his Hall of Fame induction in 2006. “My other stuff was A-ball, Double-A at best. The split-finger made it equal.”

Sutter, the full-bearded closer who paid for his own elbow surgery as a low minor leaguer and later pioneered the sharp-dropping pitch that came to dominate big league hitters for decades, died Thursday. He was 69.

Hall of Fame 

Sutter was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006, his 13th year of eligibility.

He was also honored by the Cardinals with the retirement of his uniform number 42 in 2006 and induction into the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2014.

Sutter also served as a minor league consultant for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Sutter underwent shoulder surgery in February 1987, the third procedure performed on his arm, in an attempt to remove scar tissue and to promote nerve healing.

He returned to limited action with the Braves in 1988.

In late May, Sutter earned saves on consecutive nights and sportswriter Jerome Holtzman characterized his pitching as “vintage Sutter”.

He finished the year with a 1–4 record, a 4.76 ERA and 14 saves in 38 games pitched. In late September, he had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.