4 best seasons for a closer in St. Louis Cardinals' history

Bruce Sutter - 1984

Bruce Sutter played only four of his 12 seasons with the Cardinals, but he led the league in saves in three of those four years. The All-Star closer racked up 45 saves in 1984. He was voted to play in the 1984 All-Star Game, he finished 3rd in Cy Young voting that year, and he finished sixth in the National League Most Valuable Player race.

The game was vastly different in 1984 than it is today, but Sutter's 45 saves were the most across all of baseball, and they are tied for the fourth most in St. Louis Cardinals' franchise history. The Hall of Famer had a 1.54 ERA, 3.05 FIP, 1.08 WHIP, and an ERA+ of 227 that year! Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Sutter's 1984 season was the fact that he threw a whopping 122.2 innings without starting a single game.

He appeared in 71 games while finishing 63 of them. On average, Sutter threw 1.2 innings per outing that year. That type of production from a closer is unheard of in today's game, and it only further cements Sutter's 1984 season as one of the best for a Cardinal closer. 42 of his 71 games were on one day or fewer of rest.

Sutter was utterly dominant that year. Batters slashed .245/.281/.344 against him, and he walked fewer than 5% of batters he faced. Very few times did Sutter get himself into trouble late in games. Sutter's high innings total paired with his league-leading 45 saves make his 1984 season as a closer one of the best in franchise history.