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At the time, baseball's reserve clause restricted player movement from team to team, and it was unprecedented to have a star of Mr. Hunter had been declared a free agent by an arbitrator because Oakland had failed to make payments on an annuity that was part of his contract. Hunter the highest-paid player in baseball history, and it is generally considered to have helped open the door to a system that allows players relatively easy movement from one team to another in pursuit of multimillion dollar salaries.Īfter the 1974 season, Mr. In 1975, he left Oakland to sign with the Yankees for what then was a record $3.75‚million, five-year deal it followed a bidding war in which 23 of major league baseball's 24 clubs participated. In 1987, he was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame. He pitched a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins in 1968.
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In five consecutive seasons, he won 20 or more games, and he helped pitch Oakland to three consecutive World Series championships in 1972, 19. He won the American League Cy Young Award in 1974, with a record of 25-12 for the Oakland Athletics. Hunter was a wily right-hander who was known for a crafty mix of pitches, a range of speeds and pinpoint control. 9 at home in Hertford, N.C.Ī year ago, he learned he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is known popularly as Lou Gehrig's disease for the Hall of Fame Yankee first baseman who died of ALS in 1941 at the age of 37. Jim "Catfish" Hunter, 53, one of the American League's most dominating pitchers of the early 1970s who played 15 seasons with the Athletics and Yankees, died Sept. Hall-of-Famer 'Catfish' Hunter Dies at 53Ĭatfish Hunter was a crafty pitcher with a range of speeds and exquisite control.
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Read a profile of Jim "Catfish" Hunter from the National Baseball Hall of Fame's site. : Hall-of-Famer 'Catfish' Hunter Dies at 53