Gary Sutherland RIP

[papalawrence]

I'm sure most of you saw this in the news. I'm gonna start a thread because I was 8 when he joined Detroit and even though the Tigers were terrible, I was fully into being fanatical by that time. Guys like Vern Ruhle, Tommy Veryzer, Leon Roberts, Milt May, Aurelio, Freehan, Dan Meyer.......all meant a lot to me. And Gary was a big part of that gang. RIP Mr Sutherland

[lordstanley]

I was born in ‘67 so yeah, he was really my first Tigers’ 2nd baseman. Liked Sutherland, but didn’t like Veryzer who I thought was greasy. 

[Tiger337]

RIP Gary Sutherland.  I have many fond memories of that period. 

Veryzer was dubbed "six pack" by a Boston sportswriter. I am not sure if it caught on elsewhere.  He didn't look like a major league player and he wasn't.  Sutherland wasn't either, but he at least looked respectable. He was nicknamed Suds.  I didn't realize it at the time, but that might have had the same meaning as Veryzer's nickname, although I think it was just a play on his name.  

[Motor City Sonics]

The year I really got into the Tigers was 1976 and much of that was because of Fidrych.  I was 11.   I knew who Al Kaline, Willie Horton and Mickey Lolich were before that, but the Tigers went from a 19 game losing streak in 1975 to having 3 All Stars (Fidrych, LeFlore and Staub) in 1976.     Sutherland was part of that team.     Then the next year it was Tito Fuentes, who would flip his bat  when he came up to the plate and add a little color to things.  He hit over .300 his only year with the Tigers.    Middle infielders had no power back then.    Then after that it was the dynamic duo.  

[Tenacious D]

Was surprised that Sutherland only played a few seasons with the Tigers.  I’m 58 and remember him well from his time in Detroit. Might have traded a Pete Rose baseball card for him at some point. RIP

[chasfh]

A guy who could neither hit nor field. In fact, Sutherland is one of only 19 non-pitchers in big league history who played at least 1,000 games and had both negative overall WAR and negative defensive WAR. At least he escaped the ignominy of having negative offensive career WAR, something his teammate Dan Meyer couldn't escape.

Yuliesky Betancourt was the last players to populate that list of nineteen. Based on what we know about baseball WAR now, we may never see another.

[Tiger337]

6 minutes ago, chasfh said:

A guy who could neither hit nor field. In fact, Sutherland is one of only 19 non-pitchers in big league history who played at least 1,000 games and had both negative overall WAR and negative defensive WAR. At least he escaped the ignominy of having negative offensive career WAR, something his teammate Dan Meyer couldn't escape.

Yuliesky Betancourt was the last players to populate that list of nineteen. Based on what we know about baseball WAR now, we may never see another.

His keystone partner Tom Veryzer was not much better (-3.7 career WAR).   

[Tenacious D]

24 minutes ago, chasfh said:

A guy who could neither hit nor field. In fact, Sutherland is one of only 19 non-pitchers in big league history who played at least 1,000 games and had both negative overall WAR and negative defensive WAR. At least he escaped the ignominy of having negative offensive career WAR, something his teammate Dan Meyer couldn't escape.

Yuliesky Betancourt was the last players to populate that list of nineteen. Based on what we know about baseball WAR now, we may never see another.

When I die, please don’t volunteer to do my eulogy.

[Jim Cowan]

On 12/28/2024 at 10:28 AM, Tiger337 said:

RIP Gary Sutherland.  I have many fond memories of that period. 

Veryzer was dubbed "six pack" by a Boston sportswriter. I am not sure if it caught on elsewhere.  He didn't look like a major league player and he wasn't.  Sutherland wasn't either, but he at least looked respectable. He was nicknamed Suds.  I didn't realize it at the time, but that might have had the same meaning as Veryzer's nickname, although I think it was just a play on his name.  

I saw that '75 team on my one and only visit to Tiger Stadium.  Veryzer was clearly just awful at the time but somehow Sutherland didn't seem as bad.  But checking his career at b-r, yes indeed he was just as bad.

Sutherland is a member of a club with no more joiners: guys who played for the Tigers and the Expos.

[alex]

10 minutes ago, Jim Cowan said:

I saw that '75 team on my one and only visit to Tiger Stadium.  Veryzer was clearly just awful at the time but somehow Sutherland didn't seem as bad.  But checking his career at b-r, yes indeed he was just as bad.

Sutherland is a member of a club with no more joiners: guys who played for the Tigers and the Expos.

I believe his teammate Rusty Staub did so as well.

[chasfh]

25 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

When I die, please don’t volunteer to do my eulogy.

I only know of what he did on the field, which wasn't very good, so that's all I had to go on. I'd bet he was a very nice fellow who was good to his family and loved children and dogs.

[Tiger337]

According to Wikipedia

1 hour ago, Tenacious D said:

When I die, please don’t volunteer to do my eulogy.

"Mr Sutherland is survived by his older bother Darrell who also sucked"

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sutheda01.shtml

[Edman85]

Former Tigers who died this year:

• Doug Creek (2005)
• Jimmy Hurst (1997)
• Billy Bean (1987-1989)
• Mike Brumley (1989)
• Gary Sutherland (1974-1976)
• Chuck Seelbach (1971-1974)
• Jim Hannan (1971)
• Don Wert (1963-1970)
• Whitey Herzog (1963)
• Rocky Colavito (1960-1963)
• Charlie Maxwell (1955-1962)
• Ozzie Virgil (1958, 1960-1961)
• Hank Foiles (1960)
• Ray Semproch (1960)
• Jim Brady (1956)
• John Baumgartner (1953)

[Tiger337]

I never could tell the difference between Chuck Seelbach and Bill Slayback.  

[IdahoBert]

Reading all you talk about this makes me sentimental because I was radically disconnected back then from the team that had meant so much to me as a child.

That 1975 season was a tough one, and living in the dramatic mountains and exotic desert landscape of Tucson, Arizona — and being a 23 year-old man — made the team easy for me to ignore because I had other things on my plate at the time.

I basically missed out on Sutherland and pretty much everybody else of that time and felt no sense of lack in having little contact with the club of my childhood. 1968 had made my cup runneth over and baseball had done just about as much for me as it could ever possibly do. 

For one thing, I was 2000 driving miles away from Detroit and my only real way of contact with the team was through reading box scores, which with that 19-game losing streak, gave me an incentive to ignore the team. There was no way I could ever hear Ernie intoning on the radio and have him pluck my heart strings.

I would go to Tucson Toro AAA PCL games wearing a Tigers cap and people would come up to me and sincerely offer condolences as only one real fan to another real fan can do without being snarky about it. It’s that whole W.P. Kinsella relation to the game that many of us have.

The ballpark was surrounded by mountains and filled with palm trees, and it seemed like a paradise standing in stark contrast to how bad the Tigers were. I’m glad some of you were actual fans at the time and that you found sustenance in the midst of the heartbreak. There’s something noble about it. It’s like a vastly scaled down version of raising the flag on Iwo Jima and I’m glad some of you were doing that. 

[Klondike]

14 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

His keystone partner Tom Veryzer was not much better (-3.7 career WAR).   

Veryzer was panned by fans and writers and I believe even Kaline as an announcer for having a pot belly. Thing is he was highly prized when drafted and did well in the minors. Just couldn't hit like he showed in early career.

 

Also mentioned Danny Meyer. There was a pitcher who I can't remember refused to go out to pitch unless they took out Meyer in right field because he was that bad. Leon Roberts had ONE half a good season and then washed up after traded to the Astros..

Edited December 31, 2024 by Klondike

[Motor City Sonics]

15 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

His keystone partner Tom Veryzer was not much better (-3.7 career WAR).   

I have heard Tom was a pretty heavy drinker.    He died way too young. .  

[Motor City Sonics]

Looking up 2b and seeing their career WAR.   How the hell is Lou Whitaker not in the Hall of Fame.   It's an absolute crime.   Why, because he didn't talk to the media?   He had nothing to say, he said it with this bat and glove.    

[chasfh]

13 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

I never could tell the difference between Chuck Seelbach and Bill Slayback.  

I could! 😁

[papalawrence]

A lot of those guys did suck, which is why the team was terrible. I still recall a pop foul that Jack Pierce dropped by first base. I was at the game and couldn't believe he dropped it! That said, as a 7-8 year old those were magical years for me and I cherish that time and that team. And then they added Kemp, Thompson, Leflore and Fidrych.....and the magic exploded in '76! LeFlore was my favorite player until they traded him

[Tiger337]

10 minutes ago, papalawrence said:

A lot of those guys did suck, which is why the team was terrible. I still recall a pop foul that Jack Pierce dropped by first base. I was at the game and couldn't believe he dropped it! That said, as a 7-8 year old those were magical years for me and I cherish that time and that team. And then they added Kemp, Thompson, Leflore and Fidrych.....and the magic exploded in '76! LeFlore was my favorite player until they traded him

They were terrible, but they had some great stories like Leflore and Hiller.  Leflore was also my favorite from that era.