Today's
blog post has us putting a spotlight on my 1966 "dedicated rookie" for
the great Don Sutton, from my custom set released a few years ago:
A
really fun set to produce, and one of the most popular sets among you
all over the years, there was a plethora of future Hall of Famers to
create dedicated cards for from the 1960s.
Sutton was set to start a wonderful 23-year run in the Major
Leagues, reeling off win after win for the Los Angeles Dodgers coming up as a 21-year-old in 1966.
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.
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.