This Sunday's Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will, like its only living inductee, be one of a kind.

The ceremony, slated to begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Clark Sports Center, will feature former reliever Bruce Sutter and 17 electees from a special Negro Leagues election in February, making it the largest induction class in museum history.

One of the 17 electees, former Negro Leagues team owner Effa Manley, will become the first female to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. In addition, Sharon Robinson, daughter of pioneer Jackie Robinson, and Buck O'Neil, a 94-year-old former Negro Leagues player, will give speeches. Also honored Sunday will be Ford C. Frick broadcast winner Gene Alston, and J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner Tracy Ringolsby.

Hall of Fame spokesman Brad Horn said the museum is estimating 10-15,000 fans will attend Sunday's ceremony, which would be "right on par" with the average of the last five years.

"We're all anticipating one of the most historic events in the long and storied history of this museum," Horn said. "This occasion will mark the culmination of an exhaustive research project five years in the making and it's an incredibly relevant event in both baseball and American society as well."

A family member of each of the 17 electees, who are all deceased, will come to the stage to read the inscription on the Hall of Fame plaques.

Sutter, the only living inductee, said during his orientation visit to the Hall on May 9 that what probably set him apart from contemporaries like Rich (Goose) Gossage and all-time saves leader Lee Smith (both of whom have not gained election to the Hall) was the split-finger pitch he revolutionized which dove downward as it approached the plate.

"If you look at (Yankees closer) Mariano Rivera today, hitters know what he's going to throw and they still can't hit it," Sutter, who accumulated exactly 300 saves, said in May. "With the split-finger, it was the same thing. Hitters knew I was going to throw it, and that it would probably end up in the dirt, but they would still swing and miss. I wouldn't be here without that pitch."

Sutter's former teammate Dennis Lamp, who pitched with Sutter at each stop in the minors and eventually with the Chicago Cubs as well, had this to say about Sutter's split-finger pitch.

"Once Bruce started throwing that split-fingered fastball, it was like, 'Oh my God," Lamp said. "No one had ever seen a pitch like that. It looked like it was over your head, and then it landed in the strike zone. He'd strike guys out and the ball would get by the catcher and roll all the way to the backstop."

The only pitcher elected to the Hall of Fame who never started a game, Sutter began his career on May 9, 1976 with the Chicago Cubs, but had the best four years of his career as a St. Louis Cardinal from 1981-84, earning two saves in the Cardinals' 1982 World Series victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. During those four seasons, Sutter, the 1979 Cy Young Award winner and six-time All Star, accumulated 125 saves, including a career-high 45 saves in 1984.

Sutter, 53, pitched in an era when closers routinely threw more than one inning, unlike today's specialized one inning role for closers.

In Game 2 of the 1982 World Series, he entered in the seventh inning of a 4-4 tie and pitched 2 and 2/3 innings for the win, then pitched 2 and 1/3 innings in Game 3 to earn a save.

"Bruce accumulated 300 saves in a time in the game when the closer's role was just being defined," Horn said. "He routinely came into the game in the seventh inning, which is unheard of with today's closers."

Sutter injured his arm as a 20-year-old in the minor leagues, and paid for his own operation so no one at the major league level would know the severity of his injury.

After the operation, Sutter said he was scared to throw the slider for fear of re-injuring his elbow.

That's when minor league pitching coach Fred Martin taught him the split-finger pitch, and the rest, as they say, is history.

"No way I'm in the major leagues, much less the Hall of Fame without that pitch," Sutter said. "My other pitches were just Double-A quality."

"Sutter revolutionized that pitch and it was later used effectively by Roger Clemens, Jack Morris and Mike Scott, most notably," Horn said. "They never would have used the split-finger if Sutter hadn't dominated with it so effectively."

Sutter almost didn't make it into the Hall of Fame either, getting elected in his 13th year of eligibility, receiving 400 of the 520 votes cast, or 76.9 percent of the vote. Candidates needed 390 votes for election.

"Bruce Sutter is a Hall of Famer on and off the field, and we're looking forward to welcoming he and his wife Jamye into our family," said Horn.