Jim "Catfish" Hunter -- Hertford North Carolina
N 36° 11.407 W 076° 27.911
18S E 368259 N 4006030
Located on N. Church St. near E. Market St. in Hertford in
Perquimans, NC, US
Waymark Code: WM84GM
Location: North Carolina, United States
Date Posted: 01/26/2010
Views: 8
James Augustus "Catfish" Hunter (April 8, 1946 - September 9, 1999), was a Major League right-handed starting pitcher between 1965 and 1979. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987.
The youngest son of eight children, he excelled in a variety of sports; enjoying success as a linebacker and offensive tackle in football as well as a shortstop, cleanup batter and pitcher in baseball. His pitching skill began to attract scouts from Major League Baseball teams to Hertford, North Carolina. In his senior year, Hunter was wounded in a hunting accident which led to the loss of one of his toes and the lodging of shotgun pellets in his foot. The accident left Hunter somewhat hobbled and jeopardized his prospects in the eyes of many professional scouts, but the Kansas City Athletics had faith in the young pitcher and signed Hunter to a contract.
Charles O. Finley, owner of the Kansas City A's, gave Hunter the nickname "Catfish".[1] The investment that Finley and the Athletics made in "Catfish" was returned many times over. Hunter's first major league victory came on July 27, 1965 in Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox. In 1966 and 1967, Hunter was named to the American League All-Star team. Following the 1967 season, Charles Finley moved the Athletics from Kansas City to Oakland, and on May 8, 1968, against the Minnesota Twins, Hunter pitched the first perfect game in the American League since 1922.
He continued to win games, and in 1974 received both The Sporting News's "Pitcher of the Year" award and the American League Cy Young Award after going 25-12 with a league leading 2.49 earned run average. After a contract dispute with Finley in 1974, Hunter left the Athletics in 1975 for the New York Yankees. Catfish's statistics while he was with the Athletics were impressive: four consecutive years with at least 20 wins, and four World Series wins without a loss.
Hunter was an effective pitcher, not because he overpowered batters with his speed, but because of the precision of his pitching. Along with Billy Williams, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987. At the time a player was allowed to choose which team's cap would be memorialized on his Hall of Fame Plaque. Before and after his induction, Hunter spoke highly of his experiences with both the Athletics and Yankees and his appreciation for both team owners, Charlie Finley and George Steinbrenner. For this reason, he refused to choose a team and thus the plaque depicts him with no insignia on the cap.
Hunter died at his home in Hertford, North Carolina in 1999 after he took a fall down the stairs at his home
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