Jim Kaat

Quotes From Kaat
"I believe low and away is better than high and tight."

"I believe the fastball is still the best pitch in baseball because it's the only pitch you can throw to all corners of the strike zone."

"I believe in throwing every day. The arm is a muscle, and you strengthen a muscle by using it. I go by the adage that it will rust out before it wears out."

Played For
Washington Senators (1959-1960)
Minnesota Twins (1961-1973)
Chicago White Sox (1973-1975)
Philadelphia Phillies (1976-1979)
New York Yankees (1979-1980)
St. Louis Cardinals (1980-1983)

Best Season: 1966
Koufax won the Cy Young, of which there was just one given for both leagues. Otherwise, Kaat would have garnered the AL honor. He was 25-13 with 19 complete games, three shutouts, a 2.75 ERA and 55 walks in more than 300 innings. The Sporting News named him AL Pitcher of the Year. He was excellent at home, going 14-4 with a 2.33 ERA in 19 starts. Left-handed batters hit a paltry .154 against him, with just four home runs. Kaat's other top seasons were 1972, when he went 10-2 with 2.07 ERA before breaking his pitching hand on the basepaths in early July, and 1974-1975 with the Sox, when he won 21 and 20 games for a mediocre team.

Factoids
Jim Kaat pitched in four decades, and set a major league pitching record in 1982 when he appeared in his 24th season.

Young Jim Kaat, growing up in Zeeland, MI, listened to broadcaster Harry Heilmann do Tigers' games in the 1940s.

Commissioner Kaat
In the 1963 off-season several rules were adopted by Major League Baseball to help curtail offense, which was seen to be out of control Other rules were passed to help speed up games.

First, the strike zone was re-defined to stretch from the top of the shoulder to the top of the knees. Secondly, batters were instructed to be in the batters box and ready to receive the pitch, or risk being called for a strike. Kaat, at the time a 24-year old pitcher for the Twins, had his own ideas for speeding up the game and cutting down the runs.

"Make all parks standard: 350 feet down the line, 390 to right and left-center and 425 feet to dead center," Kaat said. "That will mean that only the Mantles, Killebrews, Colavitos and Marises will be hitting the long ones. And that's the way it should be."

Snow Bound
On April 12, 1965, the Twins opened the season against the Yankees at Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis. An ice and snow storm kept thousands of fans away, but the game was not cancelled. Kaat was scheduled to start for the Twins, but was stranded in the storm outside the city. The Twins sent a helicopter for him, he landed in the stadium parking lot, and started the game, which Minnesota won 5-4 in 11 innings. The Yankee starter was Jim Bouton.

Born
James Lee Kaat was born on November 7, 1938, in Zeeland, MI.

Batted:  Left
Threw:  Left

Primary Position:  P

Primary Team:  MIN

Major League Debut
August 2, 1959

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1959
Willie McCovey
Billy Williams
Maury Wills
Tommy Davis
Jim Kaat
Tim McCarver
Jim Perry
Mike Cuellar
Zoilo Versalles

Nicknames
Kitty

Uniform Numbers
#21 (1959-1960), #36 (1961-1975, 1979 Yankees, 1980-1983), #39 (1976-1979 Phillies)

Family Tree
Kaat's father took Jim to his first game in 1946, a doubleheader between the Red Sox an Tigers at Briggs Stadium.

Similar Players
Tommy John, Robin Roberts, and Bobby Shantz, whose pitching motion Kaat imitated.

Related Players
Bert Campaneris hit his first home run, in his first ML at-bat, off Kaat on July 23, 1964... Greg Maddux won his 13th Gold Glove in 2002 to set an NL mark... Johnny Sain was Kaat's pitching coach in Minnesota and later in Chicago, where he helped Kaat win 41 games in 1974-1975 at the age of 35 and 36... Dick Ruthven was involved in the trade that sent Kaat to the Phillies from Chicago on December 10, 1975

Hall of Fame Voting Year Election Votes Pct 1989 BBWAA 87 19.5% 1990 BBWAA 79 17.8% 1991 BBWAA 62 14.0% 1992 BBWAA 114 26.5% 1993 BBWAA 125 29.6% 1994 BBWAA 98 21.5% 1995 BBWAA 100 21.7% 1996 BBWAA 91 19.4% 1997 BBWAA 107 22.6% 1998 BBWAA 129 27.3% 1999 BBWAA 100 20.1% 2000 BBWAA 125 25.1% 2001 BBWAA 139 27.0% 2002 BBWAA 109 23.1% 2003 BBWAA 130 26.2%

Post-Season Appearances
1965 World Series
1970 American League Championship Series
1976 National League Championship Series
1982 World Series

Post-Season Notes
Kaat's shining post-season moment was Game Two of the 1965 World Series. He started and went the distance, beating Sandy Koufax 5-1, while driving in two runs himself with a single... Kaat started Game Seven of the 1965 Series against the Dodgers on two days rest. He battled into the fourth inning before leaving a scoreless game. The Dodgers won 2-0, behind Koufax. The Twins led the Fall Classic two games to none, but lost four of the next five to squander the series.

Awards and Honors
1962 AL Gold Glove
1963 AL Gold Glove
1964 AL Gold Glove
1965 AL Gold Glove
1966 AL Gold Glove
1967 AL Gold Glove
1968 AL Gold Glove
1969 AL Gold Glove
1970 AL Gold Glove
1971 AL Gold Glove
1972 AL Gold Glove
1973 AL Gold Glove
1974 AL Gold Glove
1975 AL Gold Glove
1976 NL Gold Glove
1977 NL Gold Glove

Feats
Kaat's 16 Gold Gloves established a record for a pitcher.

Milestones
Had he started for just a couple more seasons, he probably would have reached the 300-win mark.

Notes
Kaat never placed higher than fourth in Cy Young voting (1975). In 1966 he was fifth in American League Most Valuable Player voting, and was the top ranked pitcher in the voting... Kaat started and won the 1965 pennant-clinching game, on September 26, 1965, against the Washington Senators... After his playing career, Kaat became an announcer, and as of 2005, he was broadcasting for the Yankees on television.

Injuries and Explanation for Missed Playing Time
On July 1, 1973, Kaat threw a one-hitter against the Angels, winning 2-1. The only hit he surrendered was a home run by Frank Robinson. The performance came almost one year to the day after Kaat had broken his left hand while sliding, forcing him to miss the second-half of the 1972 season.

Transactions
June 17, 1957: Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent; August 15, 1973: Selected off waivers by the Chicago White Sox from the Minnesota Twins; December 10, 1975: Traded by the Chicago White Sox with Mike Buskey to the Philadelphia Phillies for Dick Ruthven, Roy Thomas, and Alan Bannister; May 11, 1979: Purchased by the New York Yankees from the Philadelphia Phillies; November 1, 1979: Granted Free Agency; April 1, 1980: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees; April 30, 1980: Purchased by the St. Louis Cardinals from the New York Yankees; July 6, 1983: Released by the St. Louis Cardinals.

All-Star Selections
1962 AL
1966 AL
1975 AL

Best Strength as a Player
Durability. Kaat had a healthy arm for nearly a quarter of a century.

Largest Weakness as a Player
Early in his career, Kaat struggled with control, leading the league in wild pitches and hit batters in 1961 and 1962.

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