1976 Profile: Jim Hunter

1976 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR
"Catfish. The center of the biggest manhunt in baseball history, he sold himself to the highest bidder, the Yankees, for a $3.2 million package and other considerations. Was he worth it? If Gabe Paul had to do it over again he'd do it over again.
'He had an outstanding year,' Paul says. 'Where would we be without him?'
Money hasn't changed him. Jim was born in Hertford, North Carolina and still lives there. He's extremely popular with his teammates.
His 30 complete games were tops in the league since Bob Feller in 1946. He had four complete-game victories over the A's in four starts, allowing three runs and 26 hits, all singles.
'He's the best pitcher in the league,' says ex-teammate Reggie Jackson. 'I always thought he was good when I played behind him, but hitting against him I know how good he is.'"

-Phil Pepe, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1976 Edition

"In one season as a Yankee, Catfish Hunter has taken his place among the greatest pitchers of all time. To run through his statistical accomplishments would be unnecessary, for he improves on them yearly, and when you talk numbers to the Cat, he could care less. Give him the final score and make sure he's on top, and he's as happy as he is on his farm in Hertford, North Carolina.
The numbers create the words to be etched on his Hall of Fame plaque one day. But that's a long way off. Right now, give Jim the baseball every fourth day, and watch what happens. This is one fine man.
The fame and fortune have not changed Jim ... he likes the camaraderie of his teammates during the season, the solitude of hunting and fishing during the off-season, and the closeness of his family at all times. If this was a world of Catfish Hunters, it would be a glorious place. But as long as there is only one, we can all share in the joy of his being a New York Yankee."

-The New York Yankees Official 1976 Yearbook

"One of the premier pitchers in the history of the American League. Last season, Jim became only the third man in league history to record five consecutive 20-win campaigns, joining Hall of Famers Walter Johnson and Lefty Grove. It was Catfish's first year as a Yankee, having joined the club on New Year's Eve amid one of the most sensational talent hunts in history, with 23 teams bidding into the millions for his services.
Catfish led the league in complete games and innings pitched, becoming the first American Leaguer since Bob Feller (1946) to record 30 complete games, and the first Yankee since Carl Mays (1921) to post 30. His 328 innings were the most by any Yankee since Mays had 337 (1921). He was the first 20-game winner on the Yanks since 1970.
He was runner-up to Jim Palmer for the Cy Young Award, an honor he captured in 1974. Cat was third in the voting in 1973, fourth in 1972. He tied Palmer for the major league lead in victories, although he didn't record his first Yankee win until his fifth start. His 2.58 ERA was second to Palmer, a department he led in '74.
Jim had a 1-hitter (vs. Texas), a 2-hitter, three 3-hitters and three 4-hitters while recording a career high of seven shutouts; he has 38 career shutouts, making him the active A.L. leader. He matched a career high of 12 strikeouts in his final appearance of the season.
Jim produced the remarkable feat last year of pitching all but 18 of the maximum number of innings he could have worked. He had five complete games between August 5 and September 11. Although a model of consistency after his slow start, his longest winning streak of the year was four, as he lost several one-run games. Against his former Oakland teammates, he was 4-0 with an 0.75 ERA - three runs and 13 hits (all singles) in 36 innings, with seven walks and 28 strikeouts. Former batterymate Gene Tenace was 0-for-10 with eight strikeouts.
The youngest of eight children, Jim was a great athlete at Perquimans High School, All-State in baseball and football, and a member of the 440 and mile relay teams in track. He also played Little League and Babe Ruth League ball in Hertford, American Legion ball in Ahoskie, and semi-pro ball in Wanchese. He was a Cleveland fan as a youngster with Jimmy Piersall his favorite player. His brothers helped develop his pitching career.
Scouted for Kansas City by Clyde Kluttz, who signed him despite a hunting accident which cost him the small toe on his right foot, Jim remained on the disabled list for all of 1964, hence he never pitched in the minors. A's owner Charlie Finley nicknamed him Catfish to give him a colorful name.
'Catfish' broke onto the national scene with a five-inning relief stint in the 1967 All-Star Game, the first ever played in TV's prime time. On May 8, 1968, in only the 12th home game ever played by the Oakland A's, he pitched a perfect game against Minnesota, winning 4-0, the only regular season perfect game in the American League in the last 54 years.
His emergence as a 20-game coincided with the rise of Oakland to the top of the Western Division, as he helped them to four straight division titles and three straight World Championships, producing a 4-0 mark in Series play. Jim won 21 games in 1973 despite missing a month after a Billy Williams line drive broke his right thumb in the All-Star Game, one of seven All-Star teams he's made.
An arbitration panel declared him a free agent after the 1974 season, and the Yankees, led by scout Clyde Kluttz (who had moved over from the A's), signed him to a five-year contract. The publicity made him a household name, and he spent an active year doing television and magazine advertisements and handling an overflow crowd of reporters from the day he got to spring training. Jim has time for everyone, only seeking privacy on days he pitches.
In the off-season, he tends to a 110-acre farm in Hertford, raising peanuts, soybeans, turnips, etc. A brother runs the farm during the season while Cat resides in New Jersey.
Jim is an outstanding fielder, and prior to the DH one of the best hitting pitchers in baseball, with 149-657 (.227) lifetime, with six homers and 51 RBIs."

-1976 New York Yankees Press/TV/Radio Guide

HOW TO EARN YOUR STRIPES by Catfish Hunter
"YOU NEED ONLY ONE PITCH. Everybody says you need two, three, four pitches to be in the major leagues. That isn't so. One of the best pitchers I know throws nothing but fastballs. Changes speed on it. A fast one, then a little off it, fastball inside, then back away from you ... and then he'll throw you a curve ball in the dirt. He keeps you off-stride, looking for that curve ball. But he's not going to throw it for you to hit it. He knows how to set a hitter up.
Now, me, I might mix'em up and throw everything - fastball, breaking ball, changeup. Or just stay with one pitch because I've got it right on the corner, right within an inch of where I want it.
I give up a lot of home runs because batters know I'm a control pitcher. They know I'm not wild. They stand in there, and if you don't make the right pitch, they're gonna hit it. Ballparks shoot off fireworks after home runs most times. So my teammates, they started calling me 'Boom-Boom.'
BETWEEN THE HAT & THE MOUSTACHE. You can have good stuff, but if you don't use your brain, you're not going to win. There's one guy, he's got the best stuff of any pitcher anywhere. But he doesn't win. They tell him, 'Just get it across the plate anywhere ... they can't hit it.' You throw it breaking right down the middle and they're going to hit it! He's not thinking for himself.
I look to see how close the batter's standing to home plate ... things like that. If he stands away from the plate, most times he doesn't like the ball inside. If he's standing back deep, he's trying to wait on a curve ball until after it breaks. And if he's standing up front, he wants to hit the curve ball BEFORE it breaks, so you throw him all fastballs.
Thinking pays off all the time. Like, if he hits the ball, where am I supposed to be? You've got to know when to back-up ... some pitchers I know never think to cover first base! A good fielding pitcher can save five games for himself a year.
I TUCK MY THUMB. I've only seen one other pitcher hold the ball like I do. See how my thumb's tucked under? That's the way I picked up throwing.
Don't know as I'd tell everyone to hold his thumb that way. What I do tell people, though, is how to handle a curve ball. Most people, they throw from out here to the side so they get a flat-breaking spinner that's easy to hit because it's curving on the same plane that the guy's swinging his bat. My advice is, always turn your wrist towards your body. That way, your curve ball is going to break like it should ... downwards.
THE SECRET OF PITCHING: I tell kids, the main thing to go for at first is accuracy. I'd pick up rocks when I was a kid and throw them at telephone poles. I'd throw corncobs at my brothers, and they were throwing at me. I wasn't just throwing at nothing: I was always throwing at an object, trying to hit it.
Once you've got your accuracy, don't throw the same speed all the time. That's the secret of pitching right there. Changing speeds. Take a little off here and a little more there ... control, that's all you've got to have. It's not any good if your fastball and your curve ball are the same speed. A guy gets the time on it, he's going to hit it."

-Jim Hunter, The New York Yankees Official 1976 Yearbook

"Hunter is one of only three pitchers in American League history to have five consecutive 20-win seasons [with Walter Johnson and Lefty Grove]. Last year he finished first or second in the league in wins, ERA, innings, shutouts and complete games. His 30 complete games were the most in the league in 29 years [since Bob Feller].
The Cy Young Award winner in 1974, Jim is 4-0 in World Series play. He pitched a perfect game against Minnesota on May 8, 1968.
This is Jim's eighth All-Star Game."

-1976 All-Star Game official program