Darrell Sutherland: Mid Sixties Mets Pitcher (1964 - 1966)

-
Darrell Wayne Sutherland was born on November 14, 1941, in Glendale, California. Glendale was the hometown of Casey Stengle. The tall 6’ 4” lanky right hander, attended Stanford University, getting signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1963. 

The next year he was selected as a first-year waiver pick by the New York Mets. The 19-year-old youngster went 10-1 at AAA Buffalo that season getting brought up to the Mets staff in late June. 

Mets Career: On June 28th, 1964, in the first game of a double header with the Milwaukee Braves, Sutherland made his MLB debut. He was knocked out in the 1st inning, allowing five earned runs on five hits & walking two batters. Hank Aaron collected a two-run single & Gene Oliver a two-run triple.

Manager Casey Stengle brought him relief in the second games of that double header as well. Sutherland pitched two innings giving up three runs. A painful debut day had him give up eight runs in 2.1 innings over two games.

On July 2nd he made his second start, this one at the Astrodome. He pitched five solid innings allowing two runs, but the Mets only scored one run for him & Sutherland was given another loss. 

Sutherland was placed in the bullpen the rest of the month, making three appearances. On July 23rd he made another start, giving up five runs losing to the Reds in Cincinnati. 

Hall of Fame Game: Sutherland to start the Mets first ever appearance in the Hall of Fame game at Cooperstown, NY. He was the losing pitcher to the Washington Senators.

By August 8th he was 0-3 & had given up a total of 26 runs in 26 innings pitched in his ten appearances (7.76 ERA). It was a classic example of a young pitcher brought up to early & a bad team desperate for talent.

1965: Sutherland started out going 8-8 at AAA Buffalo with a 3.99 ERA. The Mets were still in need of pitching & he was brought back up in early August. 

First Career Win: On August 14th he earned his first career win coming in relief of Galen Cisco at the Houston Astrodome. Sutherland went head-to-head with Larry Dierker & pitched four scoreless innings of the 1-0 win. In the top of the 10th, Ron Hunt reached on an error with the bases loaded, bringing in Chuck Hiller with the winning run. 

Trivia: The next day Al Jackson shut out the Astros, making it the first time in Mets history they threw back-to-back shut outs.
Sutherland earned two more relief wins in late September, both coming on the road at Chicago & Pittsburgh. On October 2nd, the Mets & Phillies played an 18 scoreless tie. After Rob Gardner had shut out the Phils for 15 innings, Sutherland came on & pitched two scoreless to get to the 18th. Jack Baldschun pitched the final inning.

That season he appeared in 18 games (two starts) finishing the year 3-1 with a 2.31 ERA. He struck out 16 & walked 17 in 48 innings pitched. He was just one of three Mets pitchers (Jim Bethke & Dick Selma the others) with a winning record.

1966: Sutherland made the Mets staff out of Spring Training & spent most of the year with the big-league club. On April 26th he was credited with a hold, although he gave up three runs at Wrigley Field in the Mets 14-11 win. Three days later he notched a save in Pittsburgh but was sent back down to AAA for two months due to his 7.76 ERA. 

When he returned, he struggled but posted a 2-0 record, allowing 60 hits with 25 walks in only 44 innings pitched, posting a 4.67 ERA in 31 appearances on the year. 

1967: This year he spent the entire year in the minors where he went 6-3 at AA Williamsport, which was fourth best on the team. 

Post Mets Career: In November of 1967 he was drafted away by the Cleveland Indians. In 1968 he pitched three games for them at the major league level posting an 8.10 ERA. Darrell then pitched in the minors through 1969 with AAA Portland. 

Career Stats:  In his brief four-year career, he was 5-4 winning all his games in relief & losing all his games as a starter. He posted a 4.78 career ERA with 11 saves, 50 strikeouts & 58 walks allowed in 122 innings in 62 appearances. 

At the plate he was a good hitter, batting .238 lifetime going 5-21.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Former Mets Broadcaster: Fran Healy ( 1984-2005)

-
Image
Francis Xavier Healy was born on September 6, 1946 in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The big six foot five catcher, attended American International University at Springfield. In 1964 he was signed by the Cleveland Indians, spending five years in their minors leagues. In 1968 he was drafted as the 56th pick in the expansion draft, chosen by the Kansas City Royals. He would make his MLB debut playing six games there in 1969 & spending the next year in the minors. In October of 1970, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Bob Garibaldi. Healy played in 47 games for the 1971 Western Division Champion Giants, as the backup catcher to Dick Dietz. He hit .280 with two HRs & 11 RBIs. He did not play in the NLCS & after hitting just .152 the next year in 45 games, he was traded back to Kansas City. He became the Royals main catcher in 1973 playing solid behind the plate, throwing out 44% of would be base stealers. That year he had the distinction of catching Steve Busb
Read more

Remembering Mets History: (1977) The Felix Millan / Ed Ott Brawl In Pittsburgh

-
Image
Friday August 12th, 1977: Joe Torre's last place Mets (47-66) traveled to Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh for a double header with Chuck Tanner's second place Pirates (66-49). The bad times were underway for the late seventies Mets and tonight marked the end of another key player's career from the 1973 NL Champion team. In the first game of a double header, Jerry Koosman (8-13) took a 3-1 loss to Jim Rooker (10-6) & the Pirates. Both pitchers went the distance, with Koosman giving up three runs on six hits & Rooker giving up the lone Met run on nine hits. In the night cap Mets started Bob Myrick against Pittsburgh's  Bruce Kison.  In the 2nd inning Myrick himself added an RBI base hit making it 1-0 Mets. Lee Mazzilli added a two run HR in the 4th putting the Mets up 3-2. The Mets were battling, but the Pirates tied it up at 3-3 in the sixth inning.  Met Manager; Joe Torre made a double switch bringing in Felix Millan to play second base, as Do
Read more

Remembering Bobby Ojeda's Tragic Boating Accident (1993)

-
Image
Steve Olin, Tim Crews & Bob Ojeda March 22 nd 1993: was an off day from Spring Training, for three Cleveland Indians pitchers; Former Mets 1986 World Champion pitcher; Bobby Ojeda, Tim Crews & Steve Olin. The three friends, took out an 18-foot open-air bass boat & went out fishing & gator hunting in the darkness of the evening on Lake Nellie in Clermont, Florida. Tragedy struck, when the boat rammed into a private dock that jutted out some 250 feet into the still waters. Two other Cleveland Indians personnel had arrived to meet the fishing party just as the horror took place. They heard Bob Ojeda saying they needed help. The two men jumped into the water and called out for someone to call 911. 27 year old pitcher; Steve Olin was killed instantly. 31 year old pitcher; Tim Crews was alive but was struggling to breathe suffering from massive head wounds. Bobby Ojeda was in & out of shock, he was suffering from head lacerations but was coherent. The
Read more

The 1970's Oakland A's Ball Girls- (MLB's First)

-
Image
In the days of the early seventies the Oakland A's won three straight Championships & changed the face of baseball forever.  The team's controversial owner was known to be cheap in paying his star players & known to meddle in the teams on field affairs. He drove managers crazy & even had Dick Williams resign after winning his second straight World Series. But Finley also revolutionized baseball in many other ways. He was instrumental in getting the designated hitter in the American League & have the World Series played at night, so fans could attend after work. He gave his players fancy names like Catfish, Blue Moon & True Blue.  When his star Reggie Jackson refused to shave his beard, he encouraged the whole team to grow facial hair by paying them $200 each.  The A's team even grew their hair long, a sign of the times. But before that baseball players had not had facial or long hair since the 1800's.  He introduced bright colored yello
Read more

Remembering Vixen Founder / Guitarist; Jan Kuehnemund (1961-2013)

-
Image
centerfieldmaz was shocked to learn of the sudden passing of Jan Kuehnemund, the founding member of the all female metal band Vixen. Jan was a fantastic guitarist, song writer & women pioneer in Heavy Metal. I am a huge fan of hard rock all girl bands & Vixen were one my long time favorites. Janice Lynn Kuehnemund was born November 18th, 1961 in St. Paul Minnesota. The female guitarist formed one of the first all female Metal bands in Minnesota with singer Janet Gardner while in high school in 1980. By 1985 they moved the band to Los Angles California, to be part of the Heavy Metal scene. In 1987 the classic Vixen line up of Jan Kuehnemund (lead guitar) Janet Gardner (vocals/ guitar) Share Pederson (bass) & Roxy Petrucci (drums) formed & released their debut album the following year. Vixen 1988 In a world of all male Heavy Metal bands during its heyday, Vixen were groundbreaking in being an all female metal band. The Runaways, with Joan Jett & Lita Ford
Read more