The "Remembering One Of Lancaster's Greatest Baseball Players" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Opened the front door and grabbed my newspaper from the floor mat.  The front page headline read "REMEMBERING OUR STAR."  The sub-head read "Lancaster County native and baseball Hall of Fame dies at 69."  Oh, how I remember the baseball player who had recently died from cancer...Bruce Sutter.  Bruce was a six-time All-Star who led the National League in saves for five years and won the 1979 Cy Young Award.  He also posted 300 saves in a 12-year career with the Chicago Cubs, St Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves.  He was from baseball's time frame when relief pitchers, or closers as they were known, pitched more than three outs like they do in today's game.  I can still remember when the Cardinals traded for Sutter prior to the 1981 season and his arrival in St. Louis solidified the team's bullpen.  The following year he recorded 36 saves and closed out Game 7 of the World Series to win it for the Cardinals.  

The final pitch was a fastball that blew by Milwaukee Brewers slugger Gorman Thomas and Bruce thrust his right arm triumphantly in the air before his teammates mobbed him near the mound.  Every kid who has ever picked up a baseball has had dreams of doing the exact same thing sometime in their life.  Bruce was able to live his dream!  Bruce was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvana, pitched and graduated from Donegal High School in 1968 and was drafted by the Washington Senators in the 21st round in 1970.  He was only 17 at the time and was too young to sign.  After a brief stint at Old Dominion, he returned home and began pitching for the semi-pro Hippey's Raiders in the Lebanon Valley League when a Cubs scout spotted him.  He pitched two games for the Cubs in the rookie Gulf Coast league in 1972 before hurting his right elbow while trying to learn how to throw a slider.  He never told them about his injury and scheduled his own surgery and used his bonus money to pay for the operation.  The operation took some of the zip off his fastball so the Cubs pitching instructor taught Bruce the split-finger fastball which eventually brought fame and fortune to Bruce.  Bruce could make the ball do amazing things.

His big hands and long fingers made him a perfect candidate for the split-finger.  The Cardinals traded for Sutter in 1980 and two years later he recorded 36 saves and closed out Game 7 of the World Series.  Images of his final pitch are an iconic part of Cardinals history.  Sutter fired a split finger past Milwaukee Brewers slugger Gorman Thomas and thrust his right arm triumphantly in the air before his teammates mobbed him near the mound.  Sutter's #42 shirt is retired by the Cardinals and his likeness is painted on Busch Stadium's left-field wall.  After four seasons with the Cardinals he signed with the Atlanta Braves.  He recorded his final save  in 1988 for Atlanta.  Bruce was on the Hall-of-Fame ballot for 18 years before he was selected by baseball writers to the Hall of Fame.  When he was enshrined at Cooperstown 16 years ago, green baseball caps were seen throughout the crowd.  These were the hats of the Donegal baseball players who had played high school baseball with Bruce.  Now, after five decades of being away from his home town, he is still considered a baseball legend.  Sutter was part of Donegal's first Hall of Fame in 2006 and the 1970 team was honored three years ago.  He also played quarterback for the football team and forward for the basketball team.  He led the 1969 basketball team to the District III title.  He had a competitive spirit and a signature pitch that steered him toward baseball immortality.  RIP Bruce!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.