Hall of Famer Sutter says relievers overlooked Wed Jan 11, 2006 3:11 PM ET15 http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20060111/capt.nyrd10501111844.hall_of_fame_baseball_nyrd105.jpg NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bruce Sutter, the newest member of baseball's Hall of Fame, says recognition of the importance of relief pitchers has been long overdue. "We're on the line every day," he told a news conference in New York on Wednesday, the day after becoming only the fourth reliever to be elected to the Hall of Fame. "The game is set up to get to us. It's a very important position," he added. Sutter said there were other relievers that belonged in the Hall of Fame besides his predecessors Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley and knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm, "I wish I was going in with Lee Smith and Goose Gossage," he said about two other great relievers who were on the ballot but failed to win enough votes. Sutter, whose Cooperstown plaque will show him wearing a St Louis Cardinals cap, helped change the status of relievers, who are now highly prized to preserve the lead at the end of a game. "The Cubs gave me a chance to play, signed me as a free agent who was undrafted," Sutter said. "The first day I walked into Wrigley Field (in Chicago) was probably the best day of my life," he said. "But I guess people remember me with the Cardinals winning the World Series in 1982. I think my sons remember me most as a Cardinal." [More in URL] http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle....BALL-SUTTER.xml