2006 NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY

By Rob Centorani

Staff Writer

COO

Star photo by Anita Briggs Baseball Writers’ Association of America selection Bruce Sutter delivers his acceptance speech during the 2006 National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Sunday at the Clark Sports Center. Sutter focused on family and friends during a sometimes emotional speech that lasted about 17 minutes. He also addressed the importance the split-finger fastball had on his career and baseball in general.

PERSTOWN — Call it the 301st save of Bruce Sutter’s Major League Baseball career.

On a day the National Baseball Hall of Fame saw its roster grow by 18, 1979 Cy Young Award winner Sutter closed the ceremony with a sometimes emotional speech on a sunny and pleasant day at the Clark Sports Center.

His speech was nothing like the numerous 1-2-3 ninth innings he worked as a closer for the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves. Sutter struggled at times to keep his composure during a speech that took about 17 minutes.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]Sutter’s voice cracked when he spoke of his wife, Jamye, who’ll undergo surgery for a cancerous kidney in two weeks.

"To my wife, Jamye, I want to say thank you for all the years of your endless love and support," said Sutter, who retired in 1988 with 300 saves. "We were together through the minor leagues, the major leagues and now the Hall of Fame. I love you very much and I appreciate everything you have done and continue to do. I wouldn’t be here without you. I know we have some challenges to face in our future, but we’ll do them as we always do, together."

Following the ceremony, Sutter said his induction into the Hall of Fame "makes a 53-year-old feel like it’s Christmas morning."

Also inducted Sunday were 17 Negro leagues and Pre-Negro leagues players and executives.

Seven Negro League players: Ray Brown, Williard Brown, Andy Cooper, Biz Mackey, Mule Suttles, Cristobal Torriente and Jud Brown; five pre-Negro League players: Frank Grant, Pete Hill, Jose Mendez, Louis Santiago and Ben Taylor; and four executives: Effa Manley — the first woman inducted into the Hall — Alex Pompez, J.L. Wilkerson and Sol White were enshrined.

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig read the plaques of those who did not have family representatives at the ceremony. Former Negro League player and manager Buck O’Neil gave perhaps the best of the five speeches Sunday, mixing in wit and perspective during a short but poignant speech.

"I’ve done a lot of things I like doing, but I’d rather be right here right now representing these people that helped build a bridge across the chasm of prejudice," said the 94-year O’Neil, who had the estimated 10,000 in attendance join him a song at the end of his speech.

"I could talk to you 10 minutes longer, but I got to go to the bathroom," O’Neil said in closing.

Just before Sutter made his speech, former teammate Ozzie Smith and ex-Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench — among 39 Hall of Famers on the podium — put on long scraggly beards.

Sutter, who donned a thick beard throughout most of his 12-year major-league career, said he welcomed the comic relief provided by Smith and Bench.

The night before, during a cocktail party thrown by the St. Louis Cardinals, Sutter said he cried when he heard the Cardinals were retiring his No. 42 jersey.

"My kids said when I got the call (on Jan. 10), it was the first time they’d seen me cry," Sutter said after the ceremony. "Now, a lot of people have seen me cry."

Thanking family members, teammates, managers, coaches, agents, owners and fans, Sutter said this day was not about him.

"When I played, I never needed the spotlight, nor did I want it," said Sutter, who retired with a record of 68-71 and a 2.83 ERA. "I simply wanted to play baseball and be respected by my teammates and the opposing players. So today, my name goes on this plaque, but this day is not about me, it’s about the many people who have helped me along the way."

He also talked about the split-finger fastball, which he said turned him from a pitcher with Double-A talent into a Hall of Famer.

"It was a pitch that didn’t change how the game was played but developed a new way to get hitters out," he said.

He learned the pitch from Fred Martin, one of Sutter’s minor-league pitching coaches in the Cubs’ organization.

"I would not be standing here today if it were not for that pitch," said Sutter, who saved 250 games between 1977-84. "Fred passed away in 1979, but I know he has a crowd around him right now and he’s showing someone how to hold the split-finger."

The crowning achievement of his career, Sutter said, was closing Game 7 of the 1982 World Series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

"Every young kid who dreams of pitching in the major leagues has imagined himself striking out the batter to end the seventh game of the World Series," said Sutter, who went 1-0 with two saves in the series. "I was one of the lucky ones who got to realize that dream."

Lastly, Sutter thanked the fans.

"Your chanting of ’Bruuuuuuce’ as I entered the game always gave me chills," he said. "I wish I could trot out there and get that feeling again, but Father Time has caught up with me; first he took my arm, then he took my hair, then he took the color from my beard, but he cannot take the great friendships and memories I have from being a baseball player."

Also Sunday, Tracy Ringolsby, a 30-year baseball writer who co-founded Baseball America, received the J.G. Taylor Spink awarded to print journalists. Gene Elston won the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasters.

Elston quoted the late Ted Williams during his 1966 Hall of Fame induction speech.

"The other day, Willie Mays hit his 522nd home run," Williams said. "He had gone past me and he’s pushing and I say to him, ’go get ’em, Willie.’ Baseball gives every boy in America a chance to excel. This is the nature of man and the name of the game. Some day I hope Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson will be voted into the Hall of Fame as symbols of the great Negro players who are not yet here only because they weren’t given the chance."

A fitting tribute on this day.