Catfish: 1946-1999

Sporting News, The, Sept 20, 1999 by Jim Hodges

Jim "Catfish" Hunter was 53 when he died at his home last Thursday after a battle with Lou Gehrig's disease. His pitching prowess earned him five World Series tings, 224 victories, a spot in the Hall of Fame and made him the game's first big-money flee agent.

To his friends in North Carolina, he was always Jimmy Hunter, in the big leagues and when he was a pitching phenomenon in Perquimans County in 1964 when scout Clyde Kluttz came to call. Kluttz was working for the Kansas City Athletics, owned by Charles O. Finley, who invested $50,000 in Hunter. Soon after, Finley gave Hunter the nickname "Catfish."

A year later, Hunter, then 19, won his first major league game and a year after that, at 20, made the American League All-Star team.

At 6-0, 190 pounds, he was never an overpowering pitcher, but won with control. He reached 20 wins for the first time in 1971 with a 21-11 record and won at least 20 games the next four seasons. In '74, he was 25-12 and won a Cy Young. In '68, he pitched a perfect game against the Twins, the seventh perfect game in modern baseball history at the time.

In 1974, Hunter won an arbitration ruling against Finley, who had been late with a $50,000 deferred salary payment. The ruling made Hunter a free agent, and set up a stream of club owners and general managers to Ahoskie, N.C., where his lawyer, Carlton Cherry, entertained their offers.

The winner was the Yankees' George Steinbrenner, with a five-year deal worth $3.75 million. "He paved the way for me," said Roger Clemens. Said Steinbrenner: "He exemplified class and dignity and taught us how to win."

His first season with the Yankees was his last of five consecutive 20-win years. He was 23-14 for the '75 Yankees and pitched for them until 1979, when he retired at 33, with a 224-166 record and a 3.26 ERA. He was on World Series-winning teams with Oakland in 1972-74 and New York in 1977-78.