WINONA LAKE - Competitors in the Baseball Players Association World Series were treated to a speech by a Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Tuesday at the Orthopaedic Capital Center in Winona Lake.
Until July 25, players aged 11, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 will be playing at the City-County Athletic Complex, but prior to any action, they first received a speech from Hall of Fame pitcher Bruce Sutter."I'll be talking to them about grades and staying away from drugs," Sutter said prior to his speech. "Probably the same stuff they hear from their dads and coaches, but now, it's coming from a Hall of Famer."
Signed as a free agent by the Chicago Cubs in 1971, Sutter went through the vigors of rookie and minor league ball before taking the mound at Wrigley Field in 1976.
"You worked your way up," he said. "You go through rookie ball then get up to triple-A and get to show the coaches what you're all about. Eventually, you get that chance."
Called up in 1976, Sutter went on to pitch five seasons with the Cubs, playing in four all-star games and winning the 1979 National League Cy Young Award. Also during his time in Chicago, Sutter was seventh in MVP voting twice (1977, 1979) and was the recipient of the 1979 NL Rolaids Relief Award.
Making his accomplishments even more impressive is the fact that he was a relief pitcher.
"I'm the only person in the hall of fame that never started a game," Sutter said.
Despite all his individual success in Chicago, it wasn't until he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals prior to the 1981 season that he received team success.
He was named to the 1981 all-star team and was fifth in Cy Young voting and eighth in the MVP race, but it was in 1982 that the elusive World Series championship was caught.
"The World Series was a team thing," Sutter said when asked about his most memorable award. "That was huge."
While talking to the crowd of young players, Sutter remembered getting the last three outs of the 6-3 Game 7 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
"I was in the dugout sitting next to the equipment manager, and I told him, 'Put a beverage in my locker. I'll be right back,' he said. "You have to have that kind of confidence."
Sutter played two more seasons in St. Louis before signing as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves, where he played until an arm injury cut his career short in 1988.
He finished his career with 300 saves, a 2.83 career ERA and 7.4 strikeouts per nine innings. He played in six all-star games, won four Rolaids Relief Awards, a Cy Young Award and NL Babe Ruth Award.
With all those numbers, Sutter was inducted into the hall of fame in 2006, on his 13th attempt.
"Each year, I got a little more votes," he said. "If it had never happened, I wouldn't have looked back and think I had a bad career. There's only 200 people in the hall, so your career isn't based on getting in."
And when he did get in, he went in with a Cardinals hat, but he couldn't have cared if it was a Cubs cap instead.
"I would have been happy if they would have put me in a straw hat," he said.
Prior to having to worry about what hat his bust would have in the Hall of Fame, Sutter was growing up the same way many of the kids in attendance were - playing baseball.
"We just played ball," he said about growing up on the baseball diamond. "We didn't even notice if pro scouts were there. It was all about playing with your friends."
During his Little League days in Pennsylvania, Sutter didn't have the luxury of playing against kids his own age, as his league was open to players from seven-years-old to 12.
"That teaches you some humility," he said.
Pitching against the 12-year-olds, Sutter had to make some adjustments to his pitches, knowing the fastball wasn't always going to work.
"When I was seven, I had to throw a curve to get the 12-year-olds out," he said.
Even after joining a major league club, Sutter never stopped adapting his pitches to get batters out.
While in the Cubs farm system, Sutter received advice from pitching coach Fred Martin to adjust his finger placement on the ball. That advice led Sutter to use the split-finger fastball, which propelled him into a dominate relief pitcher.
"I made a few adjustments to it, but that helped give me a big advantage," Sutter said.
Despite the split-finger making him an elite pitcher, Sutter was still prone to mistakes, a message he stressed to the young players.
"You're not going to be good every day," he said. "You're gonna make errors. The thing is, after you make an error, do you want the next ball hit at you? You have to believe in yourself and trust in your confidence. If you want to be the hero, you have to risk being the goat."
And whether it was playing in front of thousands of fans or just a few at the CCAC, Sutter stressed it's the love of the game that keeps players going.
"In the majors, you're traveling all over and staying in nice hotels with 25 of your best buddies," he said. "But the thing is, you're playing the game you love."
