He's the only pitcher in the Hall of Fame who never started a game. But former Cardinals and Cubs closer Bruce Sutter revolutionized the game with the split-fingered fastball.

Sutter learned the pitch as a minor leaguer from Fred Martin, a roving pitching instructor for the Cubs. The split-finger not only saved Suter's career, it elevated him to the premier relief pitcher in the sport.

There's another reason Sutter's eventual enshrinement in Cooperstown was a long-shot - his career almost ended almost as soon as it began.

"I was an undrafted free agent," Sutter told a media gathering at O'brien Field on Saturday. "I signed for $500 and had an elbow operation my very first year. What were the odds of me making it, let alone play long enough and make it to the Hall of Fame?"

But he got to the big leagues and stayed.

"My first day in the major leagues was really, really important to me. We used to talk about it in the minor leagues that all we wanted to do was play one day in the major leagues and be able to say we made it."

Sutter is one of only five relief pitchers in the Hall of Fame. He finished his career with 300 saves and closed out the 1982 World Series for the Cardinals when he struck out Milwaukee's Gorman Thomas.