Jim “catfish” Hunter, Winner Of The 1974 Al Cy Young Award

By Author: Cheyanne Cooke
Total Articles: 381
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James Hunter was born on April 6, 1946 in Hertford, North Carolina. James Hunter is better known as “Catfish Hunter” and is one of the great pitchers of all time in Major League Baseball.

While Hunter was young he was talented and was successful in several different sports. He was a great football player and baseball player especially. His baseball skills were outstanding as he was able to play shortstop and pitcher while batting 4th in the lineup. He was really an all around player in high school.

Unfortunately Hunter suffered an accident while hunting during his senior year in high school. During the accident he actually lost one of his toes and had shotgun pellets stuck in his foot. The accident hindered his mobility and there were many teams that feared that he would not be able to play at a high level with his injury. There was a team that believed he could get the job done, however. He ended up being drafted by the Kansas City Athletics and played the majority of his career with the Athletics.

He began pitching with the A’s during the 1965 season and it didn’t take him very long to catch ...
... on in the big leagues. In just his second career season he managed to make the All-Star team for the first time. This All-Star appearance would be the 1st of 8 appearances that he would have over the course of his career. Six of those 8 All-Star appearances came during that time that Hunter pitched with Kansas City/Oakland.

During the 1968 season Hunter had the best game of his career as he pitched a perfect game on May 8, 1968.

The best year of his career was definitely the 1974 season. The Cy Young Award is the award given to the best pitcher in each league of Major League Baseball. During the 1974 season Hunter managed to earn his first and only Cy Young Award. During the season he racked up 25 wins and posted an outstanding ERA of 2.49. He led the league in ERA during that season.

After having the best season of his career he decided to jump ship and head over to play with the New York Yankees. Before leaving the Athletics he managed to have 4 straight seasons with 20 wins or more and managed a record of 4-0 while pitching in the World Series.

Hunter was highly sought after following his Cy Young Award season and the Yankees made him the highest paid pitcher in the league. It took him a while to get rolling, losing his 3 of his first 4 starts, but he ended the season in impressive fashion. He had 23 wins on the season and led the league. He pitched an incredible 328 innings on the year and had 30 complete games. He was just short of winning the Cy Young award as the award was given to Jim Palmer. Hunter was 2nd in the voting for the award. That was his 5th straight year with 20 or more wins.

Hunter finished his career with 224 wins and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987.

AUTHOR:-
Cheyanne Cooke writes reviews on various sporting events including the different sportsbook websites. In this piece of write up, the author highlights on some of legends of MLB and MLB Betting odds. The author also takes the readers thought on how to bet on baseball.