Rookie of the Year: Rick Sutcliffe, 1979

Pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers

Age:  23 (June 21)

Bats – Left, Throws – Right

Height: 6’7”    Weight: 215 

Prior to 1979:

A native of Independence, Missouri, Sutcliffe was a three-sport star in high school (football and basketball as well as baseball). Chosen by the Dodgers in the 1974 amateur draft, the 18-year-old pitching prospect was initially assigned to Bellingham of the Class A Northwest League where he posted a 10-3 record with a 3.32 ERA and 69 strikeouts over 95 innings pitched. He was named to the league All-Star team. Moving on to Bakersfield of the Class A California League in 1975, he went 8-16 with a 4.15 ERA and 91 strikeouts while pitching 193 innings. Sutcliffe’s next stop was Waterbury of the Class AA Eastern League in 1976 where his record was 10-11 with a 3.18 ERA prior to advancing to Albuquerque of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League. He finished the year with a late-season appearance with the Dodgers in which he pitched five innings with no decision. Back with Albuquerque in 1977, he had a rough year in which he went 3-10 with a 6.43 ERA. It was better in 1978 with Albuquerque, where Sutcliffe posted a 13-6 mark with a 4.45 ERA and 99 strikeouts over 184 innings. A late-season call-up to the Dodgers set the stage for the tall righthander to make it into the rotation in 1979.

1979 Season Summary

Appeared in 40 games

P – 39, PH – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 39

Games Started – 30

Complete Games – 5

Wins – 17 [6]

Losses – 10

PCT - .630 [9]

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 1

Innings Pitched – 242 [8]

Hits – 217 [17]

Runs – 104 [9, tied with Rick Reuschel]

Earned Runs – 93 [11, tied with Pete Vuckovich & Bob Forsch]

Home Runs – 16

Bases on Balls – 97 [6]

Strikeouts – 117 [19, tied with Bob Shirley]

ERA – 3.46 [19]

Hit Batters – 2

Balks – 6 [2, tied with Enrique Romo]

Wild Pitches – 8 [10, tied with Greg Minton, Vida Blue & John Curtis]

Midseason Snapshot: 8-8, ERA - 3.76, SO - 61 in 129.1 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 9 (in 7.2 IP) vs. San Francisco 9/19

10+ strikeout games – 0

Fewest hits allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 3 (in 9 IP) vs. Cincinnati 9/14, (in 8.1 IP) vs. Chi. Cubs 8/31, (in 7.2 IP) vs. San Francisco 9/19

Batting

PA – 93, AB – 85, R – 6, H – 21, 2B – 3, 3B – 0, HR – 1, RBI – 17, BB – 1, SO – 20, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .247, GDP – 4, HBP – 0, SH – 6, SF – 1

Fielding

Chances – 42

Put Outs – 18

Assists – 24

Errors – 0

DP – 1

Pct. - 1.000

Awards & Honors:

NL Rookie of the Year: BBWAA

NL ROY Voting:

Rick Sutcliffe, LAD: 20 of 24 votes, 83% share

Jeffrey Leonard, Hou.: 3 votes, 13% share

Scot Thompson, ChiC.: 1 vote, 4% share

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Dodgers went 79-83 to finish third in the NL Western Division, 11.5 games behind the division-winning Cincinnati Reds. The injury-plagued Dodgers struggled during a 36-57 first half. The club rallied during the season’s second half, helped by Sutcliffe winning 9 of his last 11 decisions and the bullpen performing better after a shaky start, but a winning record proved to be out of reach.

Aftermath of 1979:

Dealing with arm problems in 1980, Sutcliffe lost his spot in the starting rotation in May and dropped to 3-9 with a 5.56 ERA. Following a stint in Arizona over the winter he had another difficult year during the strike-interrupted 1981 season. He appeared in just 14 games, six of them starts, and produced a 2-2 record with a 4.02 ERA. Left off the club’s postseason roster, he trashed manager Tommy Lasorda’s office and was dealt to the Cleveland Indians in the offseason. Sutcliffe started slowly as a starting pitcher with his new club in 1982 but was very effective after adding a slider to his repertoire and finished at 14-8 with a league-leading 2.96 ERA and 142 strikeouts. With command of a fastball (although he was never a power pitcher, despite his size), slider, curve, and changeup Sutcliffe was an All-Star with the Indians in 1983, producing a 17-11 record with a 4.29 ERA and 160 strikeouts. A slow 4-5 start in 1984 led to his being dealt back to the NL with the Cubs in June. He caught fire with the Cubs and went 16-1 the rest of the way with a 2.69 ERA and 155 strikeouts as Chicago won the NL East title. A combined 20-game winner as a result, Sutcliffe received the NL Cy Young Award. He won the opening game of the NLCS against San Diego (his fifteenth straight win since joining the Cubs), but he took the loss in the decisive Game 5. Sutcliffe was beset by injuries in 1985, and while effective when healthy, he ended up with a disappointing 8-8 record and a 3.18 ERA with 102 strikeouts over 130 innings. In 1986 a sore shoulder caused him to lose eight straight decisions on his way to a 5-14 tally and a 4.64 ERA with 122 strikeouts. “The Red Baron” returned to All-Star form in 1987 with a last-place club, topping the NL in wins with his 18-10 record while posting a 3.68 ERA and 174 strikeouts. While the Cubs improved in 1988, Sutcliffe did not, finishing at 13-14 with a 3.86 ERA and 144 strikeouts. The team topped the NL East in 1989 and “the Red Baron”, who was bothered by shoulder stiffness during the second half of the season, contributed a 16-11 mark with a 3.66 ERA and 153 strikeouts. The shoulder injury kept Sutcliffe out of action in 1990 until the end of August and he made only five appearances with no wins among them. Disabled twice in 1991 due to weakness in his shoulder, he produced a 6-5 tally with a 4.10 ERA. A free agent in the offseason, he signed with the Baltimore Orioles. Sutcliffe put together a respectable season for the Orioles in 1992 finishing with a 16-15 record and 4.47 ERA while compiling 237.1 innings. Knee surgery in 1993 limited him to 166 innings and a 10-10 mark with a 5.75 ERA. Sutcliffe finished his career in 1994 with an inconsequential performance with St. Louis during the strike-shortened season. For his major league career Sutcliffe had a 171-139 record with a 4.08 ERA and 1679 strikeouts over 2697.2 innings. He totaled 72 complete games with 18 shutouts. With the Dodgers his record was 22-21 with a 4.04 ERA and 6 complete games, 2 shutouts, and 195 strikeouts over 405.2 innings. Sutcliffe started three postseason games and went 1-1 with a 3.72 ERA. He was a three-time All-Star, all with the Cubs. Following his playing career Sutcliffe served as a minor league pitching coach and went into broadcasting. 

 

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Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major league.