How much is Don Sutton worth?
| Net Worth: | $20 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Baseball Athlete |
| Date of Birth: | April 2, 1945 |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 1.85 m |
About Don Sutton
American pitcher Donald Howard Sutton played baseball professionally from April 2, 1945, until his death on January 19, 2021. He spent 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a player with the California Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, and Oakland Athletics. Sutton pitched 58 shutouts, including five one-hitters and ten two-hitters, and won 324 games overall. With 3,574 strikeouts, he ranks eighth on baseball’s all-time strikeout list.
- Born: April 2, 1945
- Hometown: Clio, Ala.
- Height: 6-1
- Weight: 185 pounds
- Bats: Right
- Throws: Right
- Primary position: Starting pitcher
Ahead of the Bigs:
When Sutton was a little child, his family relocated to the Pensacola, Florida, region. Sutton was born to sharecroppers in an Alabama tar-paper shanty.
As a junior in 1962, assisted in leading J.M. Tate High School to a state championship.
The Los Angeles Dodgers signed him after he played one season of college baseball at Gulf Coast Community College.
In his lone minor-league season, which he divided between Class A Santa Barbara and Class AA Albuquerque, he went 23-7 with two teams. He has records of 15-6 with a 2.78 ERA in the Texas League and 8-1 with a 1.50 ERA in the California League.
made the Dodgers rotation in 1966 at the age of 21.
Professional Highlights:
He pitched for 23 years and went 324-256 with a 3.26 ERA and 3,574 strikeouts, ranking among the best pitchers of all time.
As of 2013, his 324 victories ranked 14th all-time, while his 705 strikeouts ranked seventh.
threw 58 shutouts in his career, ranking 10th all-time.
His 256 losses rank seventh in major league history.
He established the team lifetime records for wins, losses, innings pitched, strikeouts, and hits allowed during his 16 seasons with the Dodgers. He also started seven times on the first day.
He never won a Cy Young Award, never threw a no-hitter, and only had one season with 20 wins, yet from 1966 through 1982 and again from 1984 to 1987, he had at least 10 wins every year.
was the No. 4 starter for the Dodgers, behind fellow Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax (in his final season), Don Drysdale, and 17-game winner Claude Osteen. In 1966, when he went 12-12 with a 2.99 ERA, 209 strikeouts (the most by an NL rookie in 55 years), and two shutouts, he was named the Sporting News’ Rookie Pitcher of the Year.
His finest season statistically was in 1972 when he was 19-9 with a 2.07 ERA and an NL-record nine shutouts. He had his first winning season in 1970, went 17-12 with a 2.54 ERA in 1971, and went on to have his first winning season in 1972.
Ranked in the top five of the voting in each of the following four years after being fifth in the Cy Young voting in 1972.
Has a 1973 record of 18-10 and a 2.42 ERA.
was 1974’s National League West champion after leading the Dodgers to a 19-9 record and 3.23 ERA. dominated the Pittsburgh Pirates in two starts of the National League Championship Series. In Game 1, his first postseason start, he threw a four-hit shutout. was the victorious pitcher in Game 2 of the World Series, which the Dodgers lost in five games to the Oakland A’s.
He earned his sole 20-win season in 1976, when he went 21-10 with a 3.06 ERA and finished third in the Cy Young voting, after going 16-13 with a 2.87 ERA in 1975.
was selected MVP and the winning pitcher in the 1977 All-Star Game. He was a four-time All-Star who pitched eight innings without allowing a run.
In 1977, he made a comeback to the playoffs and won two of his three starts, including Game 5 of the World Series against the New York Yankees. Reggie Jackson’s three home runs helped the Yankees win the series in game six.
In 1980, when he went 13-5 with a 2.20 ERA, he led the NL in ERA.
Before the 1981 season began, he left the Dodgers as a free agent. He played for the Houston Astros during the strike-shortened 1981 season, going 11-9 with a 2.61 ERA. The next year, he went 13-8 with a 3.00 ERA before being moved to the Milwaukee Brewers for their pennant run. won his Game 3 start against the California Angels while posting a record of 4-1 in seven starts for the Brewers. The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series.
went 13-8 at age 40 after being dealt to the A’s in 1985, then later that year was traded to the Angels.
went 14-11 with the Angels in 1986, and at age 41, he started his final postseason game in the ALCS, allowing one run over 6 1/3 innings.
went 11-11 in 1987 and spent one final season with the Dodgers in 1988. Despite the fact that the Dodgers won the World Series that season, Sutton was fired in August.
Has a career WHIP of 1.142 and four times led the National League in that stat (1972, 1975, 1980 and 1981).
has the most big-league at-bats without a home run (1,354).
During his career, he defeated every major league team at least once.
Following Retirement:
was chosen for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998 after receiving 81.6 percent of the vote on his fifth ballot.
The Dodgers have retired his No. 20 jersey.
The year after his retirement, he started his broadcasting career, working for both the Atlanta Braves on TBS and the Los Angeles Dodgers on television. joined the Braves in 1990 and worked as a full-time TV broadcaster until 2006. From 2007 through 2009, he worked as a radio broadcaster for the Braves’ games against the Nationals.
After being told that he had kidney cancer, he had his left kidney removed in 2002.
Daron Sutton, Sutton’s son, was a broadcaster for the Arizona Diamondbacks as well.
