Former major league infielder Gary Sutherland He died on December 16 at the age of 80. His body was given to a funeral home in Monrovia, California.
Sutherland was a native of the LA area who attended USC. He signed with the Phillies out of college. The right-hander started his age-21 season. He appeared in three seasons of Philadelphia. The Phils lost him to the Expos in the 1968 expansion draft. Sutherland was the second baseman playing every day in Montreal’s first team. He played three years with the Expos, hitting .234/.287/.299 over 368 games.
Montreal dealt Sutherland to the Astros after the ’71 season. He didn’t play for two years in Houston before he left again. The Tigers acquired him during the 1973-74 offseason. Sutherland made a career-high 672 plate appearances in his first season in Detroit. He hit 20 doubles with a .254/.282/.313 showing. He played three years in Detroit. Sutherland finished his playing career with brief stints between Milwaukee, San Diego and St. Louis.
In a 13-year playing career, Sutherland collected 754 hits with a .243/.291/.308 batting line. He appeared in more than 1000 major league games between seven teams. Sutherland stayed in the game after his playing days as a scout and served as a special assistant in the Angels front office in the 2010s. MLBTR sends its condolences to his family, loved ones and friends.
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