Cooperstown welcomes relief specialist Bruce Sutter.(2006 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES)

BRUCE SUTTER MADE HISTORY last January. Not only did he become the latest member of baseball's most exclusive club by the slimmest of margins, the right-handed split-fingered fastball artist became the first pure reliever ever elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

In a year in which there were no runaway candidates, a select group of 520 members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America cast their votes--the most in history--anointing only Sutter, who pitched for the Cardinals, Cubs and Braves in a career that spanned from 1976-1988, ending when his signature pitch shredded the insides of his right elbow.

Only three pitchers previously elected to the Hall were known for their closing skills. But Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley all made numerous starts during their illustrious careers. Sutter never started a game, but he finished 512 of them allowing him to become the second pitcher in baseball history to record 300 saves.

"I hope more closers now get in," Sutter said. "Goose Gossage is a friend of mine. Definitely a Hall of Fame pitcher in my mind. Lee Smith, a friend and a teammate. He's definitely a Hall of Famer in my mind. I just think that sometimes the voters just try to compare us with the starting pitchers.

"We can't compete with their statistics: their innings and their strikeouts. If you compare the relievers to each other, I think that you'll see we're all pretty equal. Without us, it's tough to win."

Sutter, 53, will be inducted in Cooperstown, New York on July 30, giving baseball's red brick shrine on Main Street 196 former players, 103 elected by the BBWAA.

Sutter said he was in shock and then broke down in tears as he told his family the news when the long-awaited telephone call finally came.