Sutton Pretends He Doesn’t Care

Don Sutton says he is beyond wondering what it will take to gain entrance into baseball’s Hall of Fame, and beyond worrying about it.

He will find out Jan. 5 whether his 324 career wins finally will turn the Cooperstown key, or if he has been passed over for the fifth time since making the ballot.

“I have not scheduled a press conference or bought any champagne, let me put it that way,” Sutton said from his Atlanta home. “I am disappointed not to already be there, and I’m not expecting it this year.”

The reasons he is disappointed? In his 23-year career, Sutton won more games than 46 of the 56 pitchers already in the Hall. And only four recorded more strikeouts than Sutton’s 3,574 - Hall of Famers Steve Carlton (4,136) and Tom Seaver (3,640), newly eligible nominee Bert Blyleven (3,701), and all-time strikeout king Nolan Ryan (5,714), a likely first-ballot inductee in 1999.

Sutton, 53, heads the list of 26 eligible players on the 1998 ballot sent to the voting committee of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Among nine first-time nominees are Blyleven, catcher Gary Carter and first baseman-outfielder Jack Clark. But among 19 holdovers that include Tony Perez, Dave Parker and Ron Santo (his 15th and final year on the writers’ ballot), Sutton stands out. He fell just nine votes short of induction last year.

Critics of Sutton point out he won 20 games only once (21-10 in 1976). But he went 19-9 in both 1972 and 1974 and, although he lacked the overpowering stuff of Los Angeles Dodgers teammates Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, those Hall of Famers combined won only 50 more games than Sutton won by himself.

Sutton pitched 16 innings for the Spokane Indians in 1968.

Rich get richer

The average salary rose steeply in 1997 for the first time in five years, increasing 19.3 percent to a record $1,336,609, according to the players’ association.

Based on a preliminary examination of 1998 contracts by The Associated Press, it appears the 1998 average could top $1.5 million, which would be a 12.2 percent rise.

Deal faces delay

Owners may postpone their vote on the approval of the sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers from Peter O’Malley to Fox Sports, a division of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

In recent weeks, it was thought owners would vote during their quarterly meetings, Jan. 13-15 at Phoenix. However, a management source said last week that baseball lawyers may not finish processing the sale by then.

In addition, acting commissioner Bud Selig and search committee head Jerry McMorris hope to present the names of two or three candidates for commissioner to the executive council when it meets Jan. 13.

Montefusco charged

Former major league pitcher John “The Count” Montefusco has been charged in Freehold, N.J., with sexually assaulting, kidnapping and terrorizing his ex-wife.

Montefusco remains in custody in Monmouth County Jail on $1 million bail. The charges relate to incidents involving Montefusco and his ex-wife Doris on Oct. 2, Oct. 16 and Oct. 24, authorities said.

Notes

For the third year in a row, the Cleveland Indians have sold out their entire home season before throwing the first pitch. The 900,000 tickets sold out in nine days… . Florida pitcher Livan Hernandez, the MVP of the 1997 World Series, will serve as the grand marshal of the Orange Bowl Parade in Miami on Dec. 31.