Don Sutton, a Major League Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher who played 22 seasons, most of them for the Los Angeles Dodgers, died Monday from natural causes. He was 75.
“Saddened to share that my dad passed away in his sleep last night. He worked as hard as anyone I’ve ever known and he treated those he encountered with great respect…and he took me to work a lot. For all these things, I am very grateful. Rest In Peace,” his son, sports broadcaster Daron Sutton, said in a statement.
Born in 1945 in Clio, Alabama, Sutton grew up in north Florida and briefly played baseball in college before being drafted to a Los Angeles Dodgers-affiliated minor league team in 1965. He was promoted to the majors and made his Dodgers debut in 1966.
He played for the next 15 seasons with the Dodgers and in the 1970s played in four MLB All-Star games, along with pitching during the Dodgers World Series appearances that decade. After becoming a free agent following the 1980 season, Sutton played for the Houston Astros, followed by the Milwaukee Brewers, the Oakland Athletics and the California Angels. He returned to the Dodgers for his final season in 1988 but was released early on.
After retiring from baseball, Sutton entered sports broadcasting, providing color commentary for Dodgers and Astros games and later for the Washington Nationals. In 2009 he moved to Atlanta to work as a commentator for Atlanta Braves radio where he worked until the 2019 season.
He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998, and the Dodgers retired his number, 20, the same year.
In a statement Tuesday night, the Major League Baseball Commissioner called Sutton “one of our game’s most consistent winning pitchers across his decorated 23-year career.” See the full statement below:
Commissioner Manfred issued the following statement regarding the passing of Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton: pic.twitter.com/F8ArLCeoCj
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) January 20, 2021