Don Sutton Has Passed Away

Way back in the late 60's I spent a tour of duty as an advisor to a Army Reserve Unit in Bell, CA. One of the young soldiers I encountered infrequently was always carrying around a baseball in his fatigue pockets. I (and others) had the duty to remind the young soldier that he was out of uniform. Never any backtalk or disrespect. Just a big grin and sometimes a reminder that he had left a few tickets in the orderly room for out use. RIP young soldier.

If you havent figured it out the young soldier was Don Sutton.
 
You know living out of market TBS was our only constant Braves stream. I was as used to Ernie, Skip, and Pete as if they were family. The fourth seemed to change regularly from Chaney to Sterling, to Sample, to Sutton. When Don got there he quickly became my favorite. He never wore the Braves uni on the mound, but to me, he will always be as much a Brave as a Dodger or any of his other stops. RIP
 
Damn, that sucks. My dad’s favorite announcer and one of mine too. He was also one of my dad’s favorite pitchers.
 
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mossy said:
I was seriously going to call BS on this, then I looked it up! I seriously have no memory of that happening.....
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I remember it happening and was crushed when it did. If I’m not mistaken, didn’t he take out a full ad in the paper thanking Braves fans.

Always was a class act guy
 
When Don was fairly new as a Braves announcer, he was paired for a game with Billy Sample. Don gave a long a (astonishingly) detailed explanation of why a pitcher had been carefully setting up his curveball for the out pitch. It was an utterly fascinating look at what was happening in the pitcher's mind at the time. He needed by asking Sample, "so, as a hitter, would you be looking for the curveball in this spot?"

Billy Sample said, "Nope."

Don was utterly astonished, so much so that he could barely speak. "Why not?"

Billy Sample said, "Why bother looking for a pitch you know you can't hit?"

Don Sutton roared with laughter. It's my favorite memory of him as an announcer. I'm going to miss him.
 
Man, this sucks

He was a nice guy

He taught me how to throw a curve ball when I was in little league
 
JohnAdcox said:
When Don was fairly new as a Braves announcer, he was paired for a game with Billy Sample. Don gave a long a (astonishingly) detailed explanation of why a pitcher had been carefully setting up his curveball for the out pitch. It was an utterly fascinating look at what was happening in the pitcher's mind at the time. He needed by asking Sample, "so, as a hitter, would you be looking for the curveball in this spot?"

Billy Sample said, "Nope."

Don was utterly astonished, so much so that he could barely speak. "Why not?"

Billy Sample said, "Why bother looking for a pitch you know you can't hit?"

Don Sutton roared with laughter. It's my favorite memory of him as an announcer. I'm going to miss him.
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Anyone remember a few years back he told the story about a fight during the broadcast. He said that he was not involved in the game and enjoying the day off when the skirmish started. So he had to run out from the bullpen, staying on the outside of the fight. Eventually got tied up with someone much bigger than him and needing a new pair of shorts.

I died laughing....can't find the clip though...it appears to be lost along with the Nitram Odarp clip
 
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