Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American athlete Bruce Sutter.
Last updated on December 21, 2024.
Howard Bruce Sutter is an American former 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.
I could throw pretty hard. I might strike out 16 guys, but I might walk 10. I mean, I was wild.
I feel like a pioneer with the split-fingered fastball. I was the first one to really throw it pretty much 100 percent of the time. It was a pitch that I had to have. If I didn't have it, I wouldn't have been in the big leagues.
Pitchers are going to break. You can limit their pitches and limit their innings, and they're still going to blow out. Pitching is hard on the arm.
When I played, I never needed the spotlight, nor did I want it. I simply wanted to play baseball and be respected by my teammates and the opposing players.
I was short with my fastball and breaking ball.
Young pitchers don't throw enough in the minor leagues, and when they get to the majors, they don't have the stamina; their arms haven't been built up.
The three most important pitches I threw in my life were all fastballs.
I'm certainly thankful for what the Cubs did for me. I respect their organization. It's the same way with the Atlanta Braves, an awfully fine organization. I respect everybody who's down there, and that's still where I live today. But the Cardinals represent the best years of my career.
It's not good or bad, but closers have changed things. I don't think you are going to win a World Series without one. Where would the Yankees be without Mariano Rivera?
I enjoy being out with the fans, I enjoy talking baseball, but to get up and tell my life story... I'm not comfortable doing that.
Goose Gossage is a friend of mine, and he's definitely a Hall of Fame pitcher in my mind.
It just tickles me still when you see Roger Clemens, as great as he is, throw a split-finger and the hitter just swings and misses. They don't see that ball that well. Jack Morris threw an awful good one and Mike Scott. There's a lot of great pitchers over the years that I think that pitch definitely helped their career.
My first year in the big leagues, I made $17,000. It was easy to go out and get another $17,000 relief pitcher. I never worried about innings or pitches. I just pitched.
I have an older son, Josh, and growing up, he just didn't care that much for baseball. And that was fine. But Chaddie, he always wanted to go to the ballpark. He just kind of took to it right away.
The Cubs gave me a chance to play. They signed me as a free agent and brought me to the Major Leagues. The first day I walked into Wrigley Field was one of the best days of my life. And I owe them an awful lot.
My sons remember me most as a Cardinal. My one son is 26 years old, and I don't think he's ever seen me without a beard. It's not as black as it used to be, but it's still there.
It's that way all the way down the line. I've got a boy coaching college ball and another son coaching high school. All the way down to summer leagues, all the way down to kids who are 14 years old. All those teams have a closer.