Happy Birthday to the late and great Jim “Catfish” Hunter, this one is for you Dad! Jim "Catfish" Hunter, despite losing a toe and getting his foot badly wounded in a hunting accident during his senior year of high school. The then Kansas City Athletics signed him anyway, and they would help him while he fully recovered and began his career at 19 in 1965. The owner Charlie Finley was insistent on him having a nickname and called him "Catfish" at a young age; he caught a string of Catfish by himself, according to his family.
Jim Catfish Hunter Stats/Milestones:
224-166 W-L, 3.26 ERA, 3,449.1 IP, 1.134 WHIP, 2,012 SO
8x All-Star
5x World Series Champion
1974 AL Cy Young
1974 ERA Champion
At the age of 20, he was an All-Star Pitcher. A couple of years later, the Athletics moved to Oakland, and by then, he was one of the better pitchers of his time. In 1968, he threw the first regular season Perfect game in the AL in 46 years. The Athletics would win three consecutive World Series, 1972-1974. During his prime, he won a Cy Young Award and five seasons in a row, winning 20 or more games.
After the 1974 season, he was declared a Free Agent after Athletics owner Charlie Finley breached his contract. Talk about feeling wanted. Just about every team was interested in his services. The Yankees needed an experienced big-game starting pitcher, so they signed him to a five-year contract. He chose the Yankees, wanting to be on the east coast closer to his home in North Carolina. Despite having one top-notch season with the Yankees, he was darn solid in the Yankees three consecutive AL Pennants (1976-78), winning two more World Series in 1977 & 1978. In Game 6 of the 1978 series, he was the winning pitcher as the Yankees would go on to win the 22nd World Series. He was forced into retirement in 1979 at the age of 33. The combination of diabetes and arm troubles had taken its toll.
Written & Published by Robert Dobek
Follow on Twitter @RobTheYankee
References:
Jim Catfish Hunter Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hunteca01.shtml
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