BASEBALL
Sutton -- HOF pitcher, broadcaster -- dies
LOS ANGELES -- Don Sutton, a Hall of Fame pitcher who was a stalwart of the Los Angeles Dodgers' rotation spanning an era from Sandy Koufax to Fernando Valenzuela, died Tuesday. He was 75.
The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., said Sutton died at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., after a long struggle with cancer. The Atlanta Braves, for whom Sutton was a longtime broadcaster, said he died in his sleep.
A four-time All-Star, Sutton had a career record of 324-256 and an ERA of 3.26 while pitching for the Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, California Angels and the Dodgers again in 1988, his final season.
The durable Sutton never missed a turn in the rotation in 756 big-league starts. Only Cy Young and Nolan Ryan made more starts than Sutton, who never landed on the injured list in his 23-year career.
A master of changing speeds and pitch location, Sutton recorded just one 20-win season but earned 10 or more wins in every year except 1983 and 1988. The right-hander is seventh on the career strikeout list with 3,574.
Sutton ranks seventh in innings pitched (5,282 1/3). He worked at least 200 innings in 20 of his first 21 seasons, with only the strike-shortened 1981 season interrupting his streak.
He helped lead the Dodgers to National League pennants in 1966, 1974, 1977 and 1978.
Sutton left the Dodgers as a free agent in 1980 and signed with Houston.
A trade in 1982 sent Sutton to the Brewers, where he pitched Milwaukee to its first American League pennant.
He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. The Dodgers retired his number 20 the same year.
Sutton carved out a new career as a broadcaster after his playing days ended, spent almost entirely with the Atlanta Braves from 1989-2006 and 2009-2018.