Catfish 1978
by Greg Kopriva
Title
Catfish 1978
Artist
Greg Kopriva
Medium
Photograph - Photographs
Description
Who is the youngest pitcher to start on Opening Day since 1914?
Catfish Hunter of the A's (20 years, 4 days old on 4/12/66)
Jim "Catfish" Hunter was a major league pitcher from 1965 to 1979. He pitched for the Oakland Athletics from 1965 to 1974, the New York Yankees from 1974 to his retirement after the 1979 season.
Hunter claimed that he learned to pitch from his three older brothers, and developed his famous control by throwing baseballs through a hole in the barn door. He was known as "Jimmy" in his home-town, but was professionally called "Catfish," a nickname invented by Charlie Finley, the owner of the Kansas City, then Oakland, Athletics, for whom he pitched between 1965 to 1974.
Hunter was named to the American League All-Star team eight times, the first two times (in 1966 and 1967) despite the less-than stellar performance of his team. He pitched a perfect game on May 8, 1968, after the A??s had moved to Oakland, against the Minnesota Twins. It was the first regular-season American League perfect game since 1922.
The A's went on to win three straight World Series titles between 1972 and 1974, and Hunter distinguished himself as a leader on these championship teams. He won the Cy Young Award in 1974, compiling a record of 25-12, with a league-leading 2.49 ERA. At the end of that season, Hunter discovered a clause in his contract that had not been honored by the A�s, and in arbitration, Hunter won free agency, a status that was essentially unheard of at the time. His availability started a bidding war between all but one of the twenty-four major league teams. He ultimately chose to sign with the New York Yankees, who offered him $3.35 million for five years, including a $1 million signing bonus, along with other annuities. It was the largest package in baseball history at the time, and its impact is still felt by players today.
In his first year with the Yankees, 1975, Hunter went on to lead the league, with 23 wins. Though his record was never quite as good in the following years, he played a valuable role in the Yankees World Series teams of 1977 and 1978. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner credited Hunter with teaching the team a winning spirit. When Hunter retired in 1979, at the age of thirty-three, he had compiled an impressive record of 224-166, with a career ERA of 3.26. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987.
In 1998, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He died in 1999.
FEATURED IMAGE Sports Arts Fans and Commissioners group 03/29/2014
Uploaded
September 26th, 2013
Statistics
Viewed 1,380 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/18/2024 at 7:13 PM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet