The first home run hit by Leon Durham for the Cubs came against the relief ace the Cardinals acquired for him.
On April 29, 1981, Durham slugged a two-run home run versus Bruce Sutter to tie the score at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
Four months earlier, the Cardinals had traded Durham, Ken Reitz and Ty Waller to the Cubs to get Sutter as their closer. He did the job, leading the National League in saves in three of his four seasons with the Cardinals and helping them win a World Series championship in 1982.
Nonetheless, it was a peculiar quirk of fate that when Sutter did have his first setback with the Cardinals, it was Durham who was responsible.
Still pals
Sutter was successful in his first four save opportunities for the Cardinals, including his first appearance against the Cubs.
In St. Louis on April 20, 1981, the Cubs played the Cardinals for the first time since the Sutter trade. Sutter, who played five seasons for the Cubs and won the 1979 National League Cy Young Award while with them, visited his former team’s clubhouse before the game “to renew old acquaintances,” the Chicago Tribune reported.
Later, from the Cardinals’ dugout, “It was really strange before the game, looking over there at the Cubs across the field and realizing I wasn’t one of them,” Sutter told the Tribune, “but once the game started, all of the feelings were gone. When I had to pitch against them, it was just a job. That’s what they pay me to do.”
Entering in the eighth to protect a 2-1 lead, Sutter retired all six batters he faced. He struck out two (Ivan DeJesus and Steve Henderson) and got Durham on a pop fly to left for the final out. Boxscore
“Bruce is the best at what he does,” Cubs manager Joey Amalfitano told the Tribune. “It looked like somebody pulled the pins out the way his ball was dropping when he struck out DeJesus.”
Showing there were no hard feelings, Sutter said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “I’ll probably go out later and have a few beers with some of the guys I played with.”
Durham delivers
Nine days later, the Cardinals made their first visit of the season to Chicago for a doubleheader with the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs won the opener, snapping a 12-game losing streak to put their season record at 2-13. Sutter relieved in the seventh inning of the second game with the Cardinals ahead, 2-0. He hadn’t allowed a run in five appearances totaling 10.2 innings for the Cardinals.
Sutter retired the first Cubs batter, then gave up a single. Durham was up next. As a Cardinals rookie in 1980, Durham had a single and a walk in two plate appearances versus Sutter, then a Cub.
Like many of the Cubs, Durham got off to a poor start in 1981. The triple he hit against the Cardinals’ Jim Kaat in the first game of the doubleheader raised his batting average to .209 and produced just his second RBI of the season. He still was seeking his first home run as a Cub.
Digging in against Sutter in Game 2, Durham later told the Tribune, “I was really keyed up to face him. Any time you face a guy you’ve been traded for, you really want to get a piece of him.”
A left-handed batter, Durham sliced a Sutter pitch into a strong wind. “The ball barely reached the basket in front of the left field stands,” the Tribune noted, but was good enough for a two-run home run, tying the score at 2-2.
“I just wanted a hit off him,” Durham said to the Post-Dispatch. “He got me in St. Louis, and I got him today.”
Sutter told the newspaper, “I threw my best pitch. He hit it out. That’s the way it goes when you’re a relief pitcher.”
Sutter held the Cubs scoreless in the eighth and ninth before being lifted for a pinch-hitter.
With the score still tied after 11 innings, the game was suspended because of darkness. It was scheduled to be resumed July 3, but the players’ strike kept that from happening. The suspended game never was resumed and was declared a tie, with all statistics counting in the record books. Boxscore
Durham hit two more home runs against Sutter. Both came for the Cubs in 1985 when Sutter was with the Braves. For his career, Durham had a .412 batting average and .444 on-base percentage (seven hits and a walk in 18 plate appearances) versus Sutter.
In 1982, when the Cardinals were World Series champions, Sutter had six saves in seven appearances versus the Cubs, but his career ERA against them was 5.36, by far his highest versus any foe.
Against the Cardinals, Sutter had 25 career saves and a 3.21 ERA.
RetroSimba 
No matter how great a closer is, it seems there always comes some monumental failure that he will be remembered for. Mariano Rivera getting touched for the game-winning hit in the 2001 World Series immediately comes to mind.
Well-said, Ken. I suppose one of the marks of a great closer is the ability to bounce back from adversity. The adversity is a necessary part of the mix.
I remember when that trade went down – it was a biggie at the time. I’ve always felt the truly great closers must have the ability to focus solely on the moment at hand and not dwell on past failures. It is a rollercoaster, high-wire place to be operating within. There’s gonna be some bad outings.
Thanks much. The roller-coaster imagery is a good one. I imagine there was no roller-coaster ride more stomach-churning than the one Mitch Williams gave Phillies fans in the 1990s.
Bruce Sutter will be sorely missed. From everything that I’ve ever heard about him Bruce and his wife were two down to earth and friendly people. In looking at his game logs from 1984 he had 24 saves and 3 wins in games where he pitched multiple innings. Compare that to this year’s saves leader who with 42 saves never pitched more than 1 inning.
Thanks for the comparison of the use of closers in 1984 compared with 2022, Phillip. You make a good point.
Bruce Sutter pitched 122.2 innings _ all in relief _ for the 1984 Cardinals, and that was on a staff that had 19 complete games from its starters.
In 2022, Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley pitched 64.2 innings, and that was on a staff that had a mere 3 complete games from its starters.
It’s one of the many reasons games today are insufferably long. Too many (unnecessary) pitching changes.
Sutter’s 122.2 innings pitched in 1984 would rank fourth on the 2022 Cardinals. Only 3 Cardinals pitched more innings than that in 2022.
It’s interesting what Durham said about wanting so much to do well against a guy he got traded for…interesting as a way to stay motivated/inspired. I know it’s unrealistic to have that feeling all the time, but it sure is helpful to think that it’s possible. I didn’t know Durham was part of the trade for Sutter. Sure worked out well for the Cards, for the Cubs too though I guess Durham is unfortunately remembered for that error he made in the 1984 NLCS, kind of a precursor to Buckner’s. I took a quick look at Durham’s b-ref page. I didn’t know he finished up with the Cardinals. Another great write up Mark. I learn so many new things with each of your posts.
Thanks for the thought-provoking comments, Steve. The feelings associated with being traded for someone must be quite intense. Imagine if people in most professions were traded for one another. I think if I was traded from one news organization to another for a fellow journalist, I would have extra incentive to do well if I was later competing head-to-head against that journalist.
Leon Durham’s second stint with the Cardinals was an unhappy one because of his personal demons. I don’t want to monopolize your time; just sending a link to the story I did about that in case you wish to get to it some day: https://retrosimba.com/2016/10/29/leon-durham-and-his-sad-second-act-with-cardinals/