Bruce Sutter, a Hall of Fame reliever and World Series champion, died on Thursday. He was 69.
Sutter was recently diagnosed with cancer and died in hospice, surrounded by his family, his son, Chad, told the Associated Press. The Baseball Hall of Fame said Bruce Sutter died in Cartersville, Ga.
“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. His love and passion for the game of baseball can only be surpassed by his love and passion for his family.”
Sutter’s career spanned a dozen years, four of them with the Cardinals from 1981 through 1984. Considered the godfather of the split-finger fastball, he helped guide St. Louis to a World Series title in 1982, closing out Game 7 against the Brewers with a strikeout.
A six-time All-Star and one of the sport’s most dominant relievers, he had a career 2.83 ERA and 300 saves, third-most in baseball history at the time of his retirement.
Sutter also pitched for the Cubs (1976-80) and the Atlanta Braves (1985-88) and won the Cy Young with Chicago in 1979, racking up 37 saves and striking out 110 that season. Five times he led the National League in saves.
Sutter was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2014.
After retiring from baseball in 1989, Sutter remained in Atlanta with his wife and three sons. His son Chad was a catcher at Tulane before being selected by the Yankees in the 23rd round of the 1999 amateur draft and spent one year in the minors before returning to Tulane as a coach.