With the call that confirmed that his father had finally gotten the call to the Hall, Ben Sutter burst out of Roswell High School and raced home to enjoy a celebration that he and his entire family had waited 13 years to enjoy.

Racing down the rural Georgia roads to his father's home in Kennesaw, Sutter eluded detection from the police with the same type of success that his father had enjoyed while pioneering his way toward the Baseball Hall of Fame.

"I'm glad I didn't get pulled over," said the 26-year-old Ben, who is a special-education teacher at the high school. "But they had every chance to get me."

Likewise, the select voters from the Baseball Writers Association of America had 12 previous chances to elect a deserving Bruce Sutter into the Hall of Fame. But it wasn't until Tuesday afternoon that they tallied enough votes to make him the fourth reliever in history to be elected to Cooperstown.

Sutter, who registered 300 saves and finished 512 games during 12 big-league seasons, received 76.9 percent of the vote in balloting by the BBWAA (75 percent is the minimum required for induction). The man credited with perfecting the since popularized split-finger fastball is the only pitcher never to have started a game to have gained election.

It was one he wasn't sure would ever come. With this being his 13th year of eligibility, time was running out. After 15 years, a player's name is removed from the ballot and the only chance for election is through the Hall of Fame's veterans committee.

"I guess 13 is a lucky number for me," the Hall's newest inductee said during a press conference at Turner Field on Tuesday night. "I did get turned down 12 times. You don't expect things to change."

During many of those 12 previous years, when he hadn't received a congratulatory call, Sutter keep himself busy by going hunting. But the increase in votes he received last year, combined with a recent phone call he received from veteran St. Louis journalist Rick Hummel, led him to believe it might be best to stay close to the phone this year.

Fortunately for him and each of the family members who were huddled in the home, the phone call they had awaited for 13 years finally was received around 1 p.m. ET. As soon as the 212 (New York City) area code appeared on the caller identification screen, all knew that this year was indeed different.