Jeff Suppan, a Pitcher As Good as Steve Renko, Retires After 17 Years

May 28, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Jeff Suppan throws a pitch during the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Here are some facts about Jeff Suppan, the former Red Sox, Royals, Cardinals and Brewers pitcher who retired Thursday after 17 years in the majors:

Suppan was born in 1975 in Oklahoma City. He was drafted by the Red Sox in the second round of the 1993 amateur draft. He made his major league debut with Boston July 17, 1995.

He was taken by the Arizona Diamondbacks as the third pick in the 1997 expansion draft. In 1998 he was purchased from the Diamondbacks by the Kansas City Royals.

Suppan had his first 10-win season in 1999 with Kansas City. He would win at least 9 games every season from 1999 until 2008.

He signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a free agent in 2003. He was traded by Pittsburgh in July 2003 to the Red Sox along with Brandon Lyon and Anastacio Martinez in exchange for Mike Gonzalez, Freddy Sanchez and cash.

In December 2003 he signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Cardinals. He went 16-9 for St. Louis in 2004 with a 4.16 ERA. He went 2-2 in the postseason with St. Louis that year, losing his one start in the World Series against eventual champions Boston.

Suppan won 16 again for St. Louis in 2005. He had a no decision in one start in the NLCS. In 2006 he won 12 regular season games with St. Louis. In the NLCS that year against the Mets, he started two games, going 1-0 with an 0.60 ERA. That was good enough to earn him NLCS MVP honors. He would start one game in the World Series against Detroit, taking a no-decision. The Cardinals would go on to win the World Series.

He signed as a free agent with the Brewers for the 2007 season. He made his last postseason appearance with the Brewers in 2008. He was cut by the Brewers in 2010 and signed back with the Cardinals.

A free agent again in 2011, he caught on with the Giants but was released in spring training. He then signed with Kansas City but did not appear in a game. His final year, 2012, was spent with San Diego.

His nickname was Soup. He retires with a 140-146 record and a career 4.70 ERA.

According to Baseball Reference’s similarity scores, his career most resembled Scott Erickson’s. He was also similar to Steve Renko, Aaron Sele and Tim Belcher.

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