Menu Note


Use the menu below if you'd like to search for posts that relate to your interests. Note - this was just created on 12-30-20 so I will need to link the posts in the coming weeks. Until then, you can scroll down to the labels on the right to find the same information.


Saturday, June 18, 2016

Don Sutton Did This on This Day in 1986

Don Sutton won his 300th game on this day in 1986.  He finished his career with a record of 324-256 after pitching for 23 years.  Why was I never impressed with his career.  I guess I will check the statistics to learn more.


Baseball-reference.com computes what they call a 162-game average.  For Sutton that results in the following averages - W-L 14-11, ERA 3.26, K 159, IP 235, BB 60.  I'm not a huge fan of the 162-game average so I will check some other things.

His best years in terms of Cy Young votes were from 1972 - 1976 where he finished in the top five of the voting each year.  Now it makes sense since that was a few years before I really became knowledgeable about most of the players.  Those were some impressive seasons.

In his ten prime years he averaged 17-11 with 184 Ks and an ERA of 3.04.  That is much more impressive.  He also had 122 complete games and 42 shutouts during those 10 years.  

So his longevity got him to 300 wins and he was fortunate to not be injured much, as evidenced by his starting over 30 games almost every year.  That 10-year-period really gave me a greater appreciation for his career.

No comments:

Post a Comment