Inductees

They called him “Soup,” and he approached hitters the way a mechanic restores a vintage vehicle. That is, with patience, thinking and creativity.

No, Jeff Suppan didn’t throw fastballs that left vapor trails. Instead, when the sun set on his 17-year career in Major League Baseball, he offered a comment that every up-and-coming athlete ought to heed.

Said Suppan, “I’ve squeezed everything out of my ability.”

The Show-Me State’s two big-league franchises certainly benefited – he learned to become an ace with the Kansas City Royals and later pushed the St. Louis Cardinals to two World Series – and it’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Suppan with the Class of 2019.

In essence, he was a sinker-balling finesse hurler who pitched at only 88-92 mph. And yet he delivered 10 double-digit win seasons over an 11-season stretch (1999 to 2008), including six in Missouri.

Acquired in September 1998 by the Royals, Suppan won 39 games over the next four seasons, including three 10-win seasons. (He was 9-16 in 2002 but, in 11 losses, yielded three runs or less.) He also was their Opening Day starter three times.

Previously, he had made his big-league debut in 1995 at age 20, the youngest Boston Red Sox pitcher to do so since Mike Garman in 1969. A series of learning experiences, including in 1998 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, followed before the Royals came calling.

“I have a lot of great memories,” Suppan said. “The fact that they gave me a chance when I came out of Arizona, the fact they let me go out and throw every five days. I developed a lot of great friendships with a lot of great people in the organization and on the team.”

“And I loved Kansas City and St. Louis,” he added. “I loved it when it was hot.”

In St. Louis (2004-2006), Suppan twice won 16 games and compiled a 44-26 regular-season record. He also crafted a 3.00 ERA in nine postseason appearances, when he averaged more than six innings per start.

In 2004, he pitched the clincher of the NL Division Series against the Dodgers and outdueled Houston’s Roger Clemens in Game 7 of the NLCS, pitching six innings and allowing only two earned runs to send St. Louis to its first World Series since 1987.

Suppan was money again in the 2006 postseason.

Remember then-rookie closer pro tem Adam Wainwright’s curveball bending for strike three against Carlos Beltran and clinching the pennant?

Suppan earned MVP of that National League Championship Series against the Mets, firing 15 innings with a 0.60 ERA. He tossed eight scoreless frames in Game 3, and seven innings of one-run ball in the Game 7 clincher, with the Cardinals winning the World Series a week later.

“Jeff was a big-game pitcher,” Wainwright told MLB.com.

Said Suppan, “Every game I pitched was the biggest game of the year. So pitching in a big game wasn’t new to me.”

He had transformed himself into a reliable starter, averaging almost 212 innings a season with the Royals and more than 183 innings between 2003 and 2008 on clubs with terrific bullpens.

“It’s how you react when you’re not doing well,” Suppan told InsideSoCal.com. “I’ve had plenty of good and bad times.”

A Crespi Carmelite (Calif.) High School standout, Suppan was a second-round draft pick of the Red Sox in 1993. He pitched for the Red Sox (1995-1997, 2003), Diamondbacks (1998), Pirates (2003), Brewers (2008-2010), Cardinals again (2010) and Padres (2012).

Overall, he had 140 wins, a 4.70 ERA in 2,542 innings and credits many for his success, such as then-Boston minor league pitching coordinator Al Nipper (MSHOF 2018), St. Louis pitching coach Dave Duncan (MSHOF 2014), personal trainer Kathy Boyd and Dr. Chris Carr, a sports psychologist.

His mom, Kathy, kept a scorebook for every game from high school through the big leagues. His dad, Larry, and four older siblings all fed his love for baseball.

“I just wanted to be a hard worker, a good teammate, and take the ball every time,” Suppan was quoted as saying. “I remember it like it was yesterday when a coach was sitting on the bench with me. We were talking about All-Stars, big-time players, utility players. He said, ‘Soup, the best ability is availability.’

“That always stuck in my head – make every start. I knew I wasn’t the ace of any staff, but I knew I could pitch in any situation against any opponent. I wasn’t going to back down.”