April 8, 1946, future Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter is born in Hertford, North Carolina. Hunter will make his debut in 1965 and will win election to the Hall of Fame in 1987.
The youngest son of eight children, Hunter was born and raised in Hertford in northeast North Carolina. He grew up on a farm and excelled in a variety of sports at Perquimans County High School. He played linebacker and offensive tackle in football as well as shortstop, cleanup batter, and pitcher in baseball. His older brothers taught him to pitch,and his pitching skill began to attract scouts from MLB teams to Hertford.
During his senior year in November 1963, Hunter’s right foot was wounded by a brother in a hunting accident; he lost one of his toes and shotgun pellets lodged 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 signed Hunter to a contract. Hunter was sent to the Mayo Clinic that year so that surgeons could work on his foot. He recovered in LaPorte, Indiana at the farm of Athletics owner Charles O. Finley.
He was a 8X All-Star, won the AL Cy Young Award in 1974 (318 IP, 23 CG, 6 shutouts, league-leading 25 wins & 2.49 ERA), pitched a perfect game in 1968, won 20 games 5 straight years, and was a member of 5 World Series champions (1972-74 Oakland A’s, 1977-78 New York Yankees). His uniform #27 is retired by the Athletics. Jim was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1987 (76.2% on the 3rd ballot).
In his 15-year career (1965-1979), Hunter had 224 wins, 2,012 strikeouts, 42 shutouts, & 3.26 ERA.
Jim passed away in 1999 at the age of 53 (from ALS).
