Bruce Sutter Quotations

I'm certainly thankful for what the Cubs did for me. I respect their organization. It's the same way with the Atlanta Braves, an awfully fine organization. I respect everybody who's down there, and that's still where I live today. But the Cardinals represent the best years of my career.

My sons remember me most as a Cardinal. My one son is 26 years old, and I don't think he's ever seen me without a beard. It's not as black as it used to be, but it's still there.

The Cubs gave me a chance to play. They signed me as a free agent and brought me to the Major Leagues. The first day I walked into Wrigley Field was one of the best days of my life. And I owe them an awful lot.

When I played, I never needed the spotlight, nor did I want it. I simply wanted to play baseball and be respected by my teammates and the opposing players.

It just tickles me still when you see Roger Clemens, as great as he is, throw a split-finger and the hitter just swings and misses. They don't see that ball that well. Jack Morris threw an awful good one and Mike Scott -- there's a lot of great pitchers over the years that I think that pitch definitely helped their career.

Young pitchers don't throw enough in the minor leagues, and when they get to the majors, they don't have the stamina; their arms haven't been built up.

Goose Gossage is a friend of mine, and he's definitely a Hall of Fame pitcher in my mind.

I enjoy being out with the fans, I enjoy talking baseball, but to get up and tell my life story... I'm not comfortable doing that.

I have an older son, Josh, and growing up, he just didn't care that much for baseball. And that was fine. But Chaddie, he always wanted to go to the ballpark. He just kind of took to it right away.

It's that way all the way down the line. I've got a boy coaching college ball and another son coaching high school. All the way down to summer leagues, all the way down to kids who are 14 years old. All those teams have a closer.

I was short with my fastball and breaking ball.

Pitchers are going to break. You can limit their pitches and limit their innings, and they're still going to blow out. Pitching is hard on the arm.

The three most important pitches I threw in my life were all fastballs.

I could throw pretty hard. I might strike out 16 guys, but I might walk 10. I mean, I was wild.

I feel like a pioneer with the split-fingered fastball. I was the first one to really throw it pretty much 100 percent of the time. It was a pitch that I had to have. If I didn't have it, I wouldn't have been in the big leagues.

It's not good or bad, but closers have changed things. I don't think you are going to win a World Series without one. Where would the Yankees be without Mariano Rivera?

I'm basically a country person.

My first year in the big leagues, I made $17,000. It was easy to go out and get another $17,000 relief pitcher. I never worried about innings or pitches. I just pitched.

My first year in the big leagues, I made $17,000. It was easy to go out and get another $17,000 relief pitcher. I never worried about innings or pitches. I just pitched.

I faced Rice in All-Star Games and he was a tremendous player. And Andre Dawson could hit, run, throw.

I think sometimes the voters try to compare us with the starting pitchers. We can't compete with their statistics, their innings or their strikeouts. I think if you compare us against each other, I think you'll see we're all pretty equal.

I was planning a hunting trip next year if I didn't get in this year. I didn't need to be around the phone, I can tell you that.

Most everyone, the middle finger is dominant. With me, it was this one. That made it easy to throw. I got it to break real quick.

Were my stats good enough? I don't know. You just keep kind of hoping.

It was a call that you always hope for, but you never really expect it to happen. I didn't think it would affect me or hit me as hard as it did.

The stadium wasn't the best, and the lights weren't the best. Wallis hit the ball by the lights. And nobody ever saw the ball come down. So they gave him a home run. What else are you going to do? It was one of the strangest things I ever saw.

As long as you're on the ballot, you have a chance. Just being on the ballot is such a great honor.

You never think that giving up two home runs to the same guy helped you get in the Hall of Fame. But ... that's what might have happened.

It was the call you always hope for, but you never really expect it to happen. I can't tell you what in means to me, in words.

That may have been true in the '50s. But if I'm playing against the Yankees and they say, 'You can take one guy off their team so he can't play against you,' well, then, it's going to be Mariano Rivera who won't play.

The hair is gone, the black beard is gone, my arm is gone, but that memory will never die.