Harvey Scott "Suds" Sutherland (February 20, 1894 – May 11, 1972) was a professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player from 1914 to 1927. He played a portion of the 1921 season in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. Sutherland compiled a 6–2 record and a .407

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with the Tigers. He also played for six seasons in the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

as a pitcher for the

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams ...

(1919-1920, 1922–1923) and

Seattle Indians Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of ...

(1924-1925), compiling an 81–84 record and 3.38

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA).

Minor leagues

Born in

Beaverton, Oregon Beaverton is a city in Washington County, in the U.S. state of Oregon with a small portion bordering Portland in the Tualatin Valley. The city is among the main cities that make up the Portland metropolitan area. Its population was 97,494 at the ...

, Sutherland began his professional baseball career in 1914 with the Baker City Miners of the

Western Tri-State League The Western Tri-State League was a professional baseball league, which was formed in 1912, and disbanded in 1914. It was a Class D (baseball), Class D league. Over its three-year existence, the league featured six teams from six different cities ...

and the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

of the

Western Canada League The Western Canada League was the name of three different baseball circuits in Minor League Baseball that operated between 1907 and 1921. The first instance of the league was a Class D circuit that played only in 1907 with four teams sponsored b ...

. He also played for the Tacoma Tigers in the

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for five seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, and 1886–1887. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by the We ...

in 1916 and 1917. During the 1919 and 1920 seasons, he played for the

in the

. He had the best season of his career in 1920, compiling a 21–17 record with a 2.68 ERA in 45 games.

Detroit Tigers

In 1921, he played in major leagues with the

. Sutherland came to the Tigers during the spring of 1921, just as

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the las ...

was taking over as the team's manager. The 1921 Tigers had a team

of .316, but they were in dire need of pitching. Sutherland made his major league debut on April 14, 1921, and compiled a 6–2 record and 4.97

(ERA) in 13 games, eight as a starter. Sutherland compiled a .407 batting average in 29 at bats. On June 12, 1921, Sutherland gave up a long

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

, with the ball shooting into the upper deck. Cobb ran in from center field and took his anger out on the rookie pitcher. The Tigers' pitching staff gave up six home runs to the Babe during the four-game series with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

, with only one of those being given up by Sutherland. Nevertheless, Sutherland took the brunt of Cobb's anger. Even though Sutherland had the team's best win-loss record at 6–2, Sutherland did not thereafter play for the Tigers, or in the major leagues, except for one inning of relief work and a pinch-hitting appearance.

Return to minors

After his short stay with the Tigers, Sutherland returned to the

where he played for the Portland Beavers (1922-1923) and

(1924-1925 and 1927). He pitched a total of six seasons and 221 games in the Pacific Coast League with a combined 81–84 record and 3.38 ERA. Sutherland died in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, in 1972 at age 78. He was buried at Pioneer Cemetery in Portland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, Suds 1894 births 1972 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Detroit Tigers players Portland Beavers players Baker City Miners players Baseball players from Oregon Sportspeople from Beaverton, Oregon Sportspeople from Eugene, Oregon