If old-school workhorse pitcher Rick Sutcliffe was less than enthusiastic about what a closer could do for him – never mind the heresy of one in Cooperstown – that might have changed the first day he pitched for the Cubs after a midseason trade in 1984.
A walk, an error and double leading off the bottom of the ninth turned a shutout bid into a 4-1 lead for the Cubs and a save situation.
“[Manager] Jim Frey came out and said, ‘I’m going to go to the bullpen,’ “ Sutcliffe said. “I told him, ‘Who the [expletive] you gonna bring in?