Hunter, Catfish

Hunter, Catfish

▪ American baseball player
byname of  James Augustus Hunter 
born April 8, 1946, Hertford, North Carolina, U.S.
died September 9, 1999, Hertford

      American professional baseball player who was one of the most successful right-handed pitchers of the modern era. He was nicknamed “Catfish” by Oakland Athletics (A's) owner Charlie Finley (Finley, Charlie), ostensibly because of the pitcher's love for fishing.

      Hunter signed with the American League Kansas City A's shortly after he turned 18 in 1964. A hunting injury caused him to miss the 1964 season; he was moved up to the major league club and began playing in 1965. After the A's moved to Oakland, California, Hunter hurled a perfect game (the seventh in major league history) against the Minnesota Twins in 1968 and was the ace of the Oakland team that won four consecutive American League pennants (1971–74) and three consecutive World Series (1972–74).

      Hunter, a Cy Young (Young, Cy) Award winner in 1974, won more than 20 games five seasons in a row, including 1975, when he was 25–13. Hunter became a free agent after the 1975 season and sparked a bidding war for his services. He ultimately joined the New York Yankees for five years at $3.75 million, baseball's highest salary at the time. Hunter formed the cornerstone of the Yankees team that won two World Series during his tenure.

      Hunter was invaluable not just for his mastery on the mound but for his leadership skills. He won 224 games during 15 major league seasons and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot, at age 41. Hunter, a humorous raconteur and gentleman farmer who always returned to his North Carolina roots, suffered and died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis—called Lou Gehrig (Gehrig, Lou) disease after the New York Yankee great who died of the disease in 1941.

Robert William Verdi
 

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Catfish Hunter — Infobox MLB retired name=Catfish Hunter width=115 position=Pitcher bats=Right throws=Right birthdate=birth date|1946|4|8 Hertford, North Carolina deathdate=death date and age|1999|9|9|1946|4|8 Hertford, North Carolina debutdate=May 13… …   Wikipedia

  • Catfish (disambiguation) — Catfish might refer to:*The catfish group of primarily freshwater fish *Seawolf (fish), the Atlantic catfish *James Augustus “Catfish” Hunter, a baseball player *Milburn “Catfish” Smith, a football and basketball coach *Vernon “Catfish” Smith, a… …   Wikipedia

  • Catfish — bezeichnet: als Fische Angehörige einer Unterart der Gattung Echte Welse, der Welsartigen (Siluriformes), u. a.: atlantic catfish, Seewölfe (Anarhichadidae) als Personen: Catfish Collins (1944–2010), US amerikanischer Gitarrist Jim „Catfish“ …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Hunter (Name) — Hunter ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Inhaltsverzeichnis A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A Al Hunter …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Catfish Hunter — Catfish Hunter …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Catfish Hunter — James Augustus „Jim“ Hunter (* 8. April 1946 in Hertford, North Carolina; † 9. September 1999 ebenda) war ein US amerikanischer Baseballspieler in der Major League Baseball. Er wurde unter dem Namen Catfish Hunter bekannt. Biografie Der Pitcher… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Hunter, James Augustus — ▪ 2000 “Catfish”        American baseball player (b. April 8, 1946, Hertford, N.C. d. Sept. 9, 1999, Hertford), was a phenomenal pitcher who helped lead the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees to a total of six American League (AL) pennants… …   Universalium

  • Hunter (name) — Infobox Given Name Revised name = Hunter imagesize= caption= pronunciation= gender = meaning = region = origin = related names = footnotes = Hunter is a given name and a family name. The surname Hunter originates in Scotland and England.People… …   Wikipedia

  • James Hunter (disambiguation) — James Hunter may refer to:* James Hunter Samson (c. 1800 1836), lawyer and political figure in Upper Canada * Jimmy Hunter (1879 1962), New Zealand rugby union footballer * James Hunter (Australian politician) (1882 1968) * James Hunter III (1916 …   Wikipedia

  • Jim Hunter — is the name of:*Jim Catfish Hunter (1946–1999), American baseball pitcher, 1965–1979 *Jim Hunter (baseball) (born 1964), American baseball pitcher, 1991 *Jim Hunter (sports broadcaster) (born c. 1959), sports announcer for the Baltimore Oriolesee …   Wikipedia

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