Sutton was in the middle of a wonderful 23-year run in the Major Leagues, reeling off win after win for the Los Angeles Dodgers since he came up as a 21-year-old in 1966.
In the six seasons prior to the 1975 season, when this card would have seen the light of day, Sutton’s win totals were 17, 15, 17, 19, 18 and 19.
The man was a machine, and while some people think incredible steadiness like this doesn’t warrant a Hall of Fame selection, I do! There is something to celebrate when a player performs year after year over a long period of time (think Eddie Murray) without having a “mega-season” along the way.
By the time Sutton left the game after the 1988 season, he finished with 324 wins, a 3.26 earned run average, 58 shutouts and 3574 strikeouts in 774 appearances, 756 of them starts.
Needless to say, in 1998, on his fifth try, he made it into Cooperstown, joining former teammates Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, with 81.6% of the vote.