Larry James Sutton (born May 14, 1970) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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 catch ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

, and

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. The team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. The ...

. He also played in the

KBO League The KBO League () is a professional baseball league in South Korea. The league comprises ten teams. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers are the most success ...

for the

Hyundai Unicorns The Hyundai Unicorns () were a South Korean professional baseball team based in Suwon. They were a member of the KBO League. The Unicorns won the KBO championship four times (1998, 2000, 2003 and 2004). The Unicorns were dissolved after the 20 ...

and

Kia Tigers The Kia Tigers () are a South Korean professional baseball team founded in 1982 and based in the southwestern city of Gwangju. Until 2001, they were known as the Haitai Tigers. The Tigers are members of the KBO League and are the most successful ...

Career

Sutton attended Mater Dei High School and the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

. He was a 21st round draft pick by the Kansas City Royals in . In , Sutton was the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

of the Class-A

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

, and his team, the

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. Fra ...

won the Carolina League championship. The team featured future major leaguers

Johnny Damon Johnny David Damon (born November 5, 1973) is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1995 to 2012. During his MLB career, Damon played for the Kansas City Royals (1995–2000), Oakland A ...

and

Sal Fasano Salvatore Frank Fasano (; born August 10, 1971) is an American former professional baseball catcher, who played for nine different Major League Baseball (MLB) teams over his 11–year big league career. Upon retiring as a player, he became a coa ...

. In 2000, he hit two home runs in the

Triple-A World Series The Triple-A World Series was an interleague postseason championship series between the league champions of the affiliated Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A leagues of Minor League Baseball to determine an overall champion of the classification held i ...

for Memphis against Indianapolis. In 572 career Major League at-bats, Sutton compiled a .236

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 ...

. Sutton played professional baseball in Korea for three seasons, from 2005 to 2007. His best year was 2005, when he hit .292 with 35 home runs and 102 RBI for the

. His home run and RBI totals, as well as his OPS (1.003), led all hitters in the

that year, and he earned a

KBO League Golden Glove Award The KBO League Golden Glove Award is an award given out annually by the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) to the best overall player at each position in the KBO League. It is also commonly known as the KBO Golden Gloves. The award was established i ...

for 2005. In 2012, Sutton managed the DSL Pirates2. In October 2019, South Korean baseball club Lotte Giants hired Sutton as their new minor league manager.

References

External links

, o
RetrosheetKorea Baseball Organization
1970 births Living people Águilas Cibaeñas players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Albuquerque Isotopes players 21st-century American sportsmen American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in South Korea Edmonton Trappers players Eugene Emeralds players Florida Marlins players Gulf Coast Royals players Hyundai Unicorns players Illinois Fighting Illini baseball players Kansas City Royals players KBO League first basemen KBO League left fielders Kia Tigers players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball outfielders Memphis Redbirds players Minor league baseball managers Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Oakland Athletics players Omaha Golden Spikes players Omaha Royals players Baseball players from West Covina, California Rockford Royals players Sacramento River Cats players St. Louis Cardinals players Venados de Mazatlán players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Wichita Wranglers players Wilmington Blue Rocks players 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-first-baseman-stub