Obituary: John Sullivan (1941-2023)

RIP to John Sullivan, a coach on two World Series-winning teams with the Blue Jays and a catcher for several seasons in the 1960s. The resident of Danville, N.Y., died on June 1 at the age of 82 in the Vincent House in Wayland, N.Y. Sullivan played for the Detroit Tigers (1963-65), New York Mets (1967) and Philadelphia Phillies (1968). He also served as a minor-league manager and a big-league coach for the Kansas City Royals, Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays.

John Peter Sullivan was born in Somerville, N.J., on January 3, 1941. He played baseball at Bernards High School in Bernardsville, N.J… for starters. The Bernardsville News reported in 1956 that the young athlete “is one of the most versatile young men in the area these days. He plays second for Bernardsville in the M-S loop, catches and pitches for Peapack-Gladstone in the Bi-County Babe Ruth League, and played center field for Bernards High’s diamond squad.” In the same article from July 5, the paper noted that Sullivan was a fielding star at second base in the M-S League All-Star Game and also threw a no-hitter in the Babe Ruth League.

After several years of playing baseball on practically every team he could find (not to mention playing football and basketball), Sullivan graduated and signed, via scout Irving Jacobson, with the Detroit Tigers. The team developed him strictly as a catcher. At the onset, that wasn’t a problem. When Sullivan, or “Sully” as he was called, started playing in 1959 for the Class-D Erie Sailors of the New York-Penn League, Detroit’s catchers were Lou Berberet and Red Wilson. They weren’t awful, and as a tandem they could bring in a little production. But catching was a weak spot on the Tigers, and Sullivan got off to a great start with Erie. He batted .322, hit 29 doubles and 13 home runs, and he drove in 58 runs. Sullivan also showed good patience at the plate, with a .440 on-base percentage. He had another strong year in 1960 and didn’t really stumble until he reached Double-A Birmingham in 1961. His hitting fell to .229. On the plus side, his defense, which had been questionable in past years, improved dramatically in 1961. Sullivan had just 3 passed balls in 123 games behind the plate.

No, the problem with being a Tigers catching prospect in 1961 materialized with the arrival of $100,000 bonus baby Bill Freehan. Freehan started off in the low minors in ’61 and leapfrogged past Sullivan to get a few games in the majors by the end of the season. He played in Triple-A in 1962 and was in the major leagues for good by 1963. Sullivan, by contrast, moved back to Single-A ball with Knoxville in 1962 and didn’t reach Triple-A until he joined Syracuse in ’63. By then, he had established himself as a decent left-handed hitter who could bat in the .260s or .270s, but without much power. His fielding at catcher was remarkably consistent — his fielding percentage in the minors was .991 each year from 1961 through 1964.

Source: *Detroit Free Press*, March 29, 1966.

The two rookies were in contention for the final catcher spot in spring training of 1963. Freehan was the more celebrated of the two, but Detroit Free Press writer Joe Falls cautioned readers against counting Sullivan out. “The Tigers are high on his chances and rate him about on par with Freehan,” he wrote. Ultimately, Freehan won the role of #3 catcher behind Gus Triandos and Mike Roarke. By 1964, he had won the role of starter and made the first of many All-Star teams. The Tigers brought Sullivan to the major leagues for the first time in September 1963. He appeared in 3 games and was 0-for-5 with a pair of walks. He won the role of third-string catcher in 1964 but got into only 2 games in April. He was hitless in 3 at-bats, though he did catch Twins baserunners Bernie Allen and Zoilo Versalles trying to steal in his only start. Freehan’s durability made 3 catchers unnecessary with the Tigers, so Sullivan was sent back to Syracuse for the rest of the season.

Sullivan got an unexpected opportunity when Freehan was sidelined at the start of the 1965 season with a bad back. He was the Opening Day catcher on April 12 and drove in half of Detroit’s runs in a 6-2 win over Kansas City. Sullivan’s first major-league hit was a 2-run homer off Wes Stock. It came in the top of the eighth inning after Don Demeter had singled. He drove in another run with a single an inning later. Someone retrieved the home run ball and gave it to Sullivan after the game. It was a little disappointing. “I thought it would be crushed in on one side,” he told Free Press columnist Lyall Smith. “It isn’t.”

Sullivan drove in 2 more runs and walked twice in his second start and was batting over .300 by the end of April. Freehan’s return to the Tigers lineup ended his regular playing time. The Tigers sent him to the minors for a time but brought him back at the end of June. There were numerous doubleheaders on the schedule in that era, so Sullivan got a fair number of starts. He made the most of his opportunities, too. In the first game of an August 15 doubleheader against the Angels, Sullivan was 4-for-4 and scored a run in a 9-2 Tigers win. He finished the season with a solid .267/.340/.337 slash line, with 2 home runs and 11 RBIs in 34 games.

In spite of the good year as a backup, Tigers manager Chuck Dressen favored new Tiger Orlando Macfarlane over Sullivan in spring of 1966. Sully barely played in spring training and spent the entire year in Vancouver of the Pacific Coast League. He hit for a great average (.328 in 83 games) but little power (5 home runs in a hitter-friendly league). The Tigers left him unprotected in the Rule V draft and were resigned to losing him. Indeed, the New York Mets claimed him, which was a blessing for Sullivan. The Mets’ starting catcher was Jerry Grote, who at that early stage of his career was a weak hitter. Sullivan spent all of 1967 with New York as Grote’s backup, and he played in a career-high 65 games.

In one of his first games as a Met, Sullivan pinch-hit for Grote in the bottom of the 12th inning against the Giants on May 2, 1967. Willie Mays had driven in a run in the top of the inning to make the score 2-1, and the game looked like it was headed toward another painful Mets loss. But Ed Kranepool hit an RBI triple off Lindy McDaniel to tie the game, and with 2 outs, Sullivan stepped in to face Frank Linzy. He ripped a hard ground ball that shortstop Cesar Gutierrez couldn’t see until it slammed into his chest and bounded away, letting pinch-runner Cleon Jones trot home with the winning run. It was a rare bright spot for a team that would lose 101 games. He was a rare bright spot for Sullivan as well. In those 65 games, he slashed .218/.248/.252 with 6 RBIs.

The Mets dealt Sullivan to Philadelphia in February of 1968 for infielder Billy Sorrell. The Phillies brought him to the majors in July to serve as a pinch-hitter and backup to light-hitting catchers Mike Ryan and Clay Dalrymple. He played in 12 games and had 4 hits — all singles — in 18 at-bats for a .222 average. Sullivan moved to several other organizations but never returned to the majors. The Phillies traded him to Baltimore in 1969 for Vic Roznovsky, and the Royals purchased his contract a year later. Sullivan played in the minors through the 1972 season, retiring at the age of 31.

In parts of 5 major-league seasons, Sullivan played in 116 games. He had a .228/.282/.270 slash line, and his 59 hits included 5 doubles and 2 home runs. He drove in 18 runs and scored 9 times. As a catcher, the always-steady Sullivan had a .991 fielding percentage and threw out 42% of base-stealers.

Source: *Kansas City Star*, March 6, 1979.

Sullivan wanted to remain in baseball beyond his playing career. “My playing career was very, very fair — mediocre might be a better description,” he said in a 1979 interview. “But I always felt I wanted to be in the game, hopefully stay in as long as possible.” After conversations with Royals management, he was named manager of the Royals’ Kingsport team in the Rookie-level Appalachian League in 1973. He spent six seasons as a manager in Kansas City’s minor league organization, overseeing the development of future Royals like Dan Quisenberry, Clint Hurdle. U.L. Washington and Willie Wilson. Five of those teams won division titles, and Sullivan ended up with a .601 winning percentage. He joined the coaching staff of Royals manager Whitey Herzog — a former teammate from the Detroit minor leagues — in 1979. After one year, he served as bullpen catcher for the Atlanta Braves in 1980 and 1981. He then found his true coaching home with the Toronto Blue Jays. Sullivan spent a total of 12 seasons as bullpen coach for the Jays, winning two World Series championships along the way.

Sullivan saw some lean years with the Blue Jays, though he helped coach a strong of talented catchers, from Buck Martinez to Ernie Whitt to Pat Borders. During spring training, the scariest part of any catcher’s daily agenda was a note that read, “See Sully.” That note meant that the catchers were in for a routine of running, shuffling and squatting, designed to build up their leg muscles for a long season. “I catch myself thinking about it. I’ll be catching in the bullpen and all of a sudden it’ll be, “Not again, I’ve got to see Sully after we’re done here,” said Randy Knorr in 1993.

By the end of his baseball career, Sullivan’s knees and hips were falling apart — a lifetime of catching and batting practice pitching probably didn’t help. But he did stay with Toronto long enough to see the team win back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993. He had one of the best views of the ’93 World Series, reported the Globe and Mail. When Joe Carter hit his Series-ending home run off Philadelphia’s Mitch Williams, the ball landed in the Blue Jays bullpen, where Sullivan caught it on a bounce. He ran to the locker room, evading a Hall of Fame representative, and presented the ball to Carter. The next day, the world championship banner was raised in the Skydome, and Sullivan was given a fond farewell. The tough ex-catcher who was a self-described “red-ass” during his playing days got choked up. “I’d just like to say to everybody in the stands, on the stage, everybody that I know in this ballpark, thanks,” he said

Sullivan is survived by his wife, Betsy, and children Carrie, Jim, Meg and Jeff.