Sutton left lasting impression across baseball, including D.C.

To Dodgers fans, he was the stalwart member of a championship-caliber pitching staff in the 1970s. To Braves fans, he was the soothing and smart voice who shared his exceptional insight on the air throughout the 1990s and 2000s. To Orioles fans, he was the Brewers' Game 162 starter who dashed their dream of a miracle final weekend surge to the 1982 American League East title.

And to countless other baseball fans, he was the Hall of Fame right-hander who never let up during a 23-year career, a model of reliability and unparalleled consistency.

Don Sutton wore many caps, literal and figurative, during his six decades in baseball, an icon associated with multiple franchises for different reasons. And though his time as a Nationals broadcaster was brief - he served as MASN's game analyst in 2007-08 - those of us who were around him during that time understood how lucky we were to have the opportunity.

And that's why Sutton's death Tuesday at 75 due to cancer left such a sad pall over so many people.

"Our heartfelt condolences go out to Mary and the entire Sutton family on the loss of Don," the Nationals wrote in tribute, referencing his wife. "He was a phenomenal player and broadcaster, and a dear friend who will be missed by so many across the game."

When MASN hired Sutton prior to the 2007 season to serve as Bob Carpenter's new booth partner, it felt like a significant move. Sutton brought instant name recognition to an organization that was still in its infancy, trying to build a contending roster and capture the hearts of a new generation of fans in the region.

For some who had listened to him calling Braves games on TBS for years, it was tough to accept Sutton as a voice of the Nationals. But for newer fans, the former right-hander immediately served as a welcome source of baseball knowledge, history and analysis.

Sutton never thought of himself as merely an analyst, and he despised the term "color commentator." He viewed himself as a broadcaster, welcoming any opportunity he had to call play-by-play, read a promo or lead the telecast into a commercial break.

It was a tough assignment to make the 2007-08 Nats sound interesting for three hours every night for six months, but Sutton was always a pro. He criticized when appropriate but never made it personal. And he never expressed any frustration over the air with his situation.

Though he made the move to D.C. at the urging of Stan Kasten, who had been Braves president before taking the same job with the Nationals, Sutton ultimately preferred to head home to Atlanta after two seasons here. He would spend the next decade on the Braves' radio broadcast, not only as an ex-player-turned-analyst but as a play-by-play man as well. Just how he always wanted it.

Though he worked for a fierce division rival, Sutton maintained a good relationship with the Nationals and always made a point to stop in the clubhouse and say hello whenever the two teams met. Always smiling, he never turned down an opportunity to talk baseball with a player, a manager or coach or a member of the media.

Sutton could've big-timed a lot of people, including a beat writer he only worked with for two seasons. He was a Hall of Famer. He won 324 games, 14th most in baseball history. He struck out 3,574 batters over 5,282 1/3 innings, both seventh-most in history. He started 756 major league games, a number topped only by a couple of guys named Cy Young and Nolan Ryan.

But he never lorded all that over you. Oh, he knew he was "Don Sutton, Hall of Famer." But he didn't make you feel inferior because of it. He believed it was his duty to spread his knowledge to everyone he encountered, to make sure the next generation of ballplayers and broadcasters were as smart about the game as he was.

They're mourning today in Los Angeles and Atlanta and Milwaukee and Cooperstown. And here in Washington, we're also mourning the loss of a unique figure in baseball history, one who left a lasting impression on so many even in his short time here.