1938
Born November 7, 1938
Zeeland, MI, USA
Jim Kaat Marquee Hall of Fame 2022
b. November 7, 1938 · 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
He debuted for the Washington Senators in August 1959 and moved with the franchise to Minnesota two years later. In 1966 he won 25 games, the most in the American League, with a 2.75 earned run average across 304 2/3 innings. He had led the league in shutouts in 1962 with five. Minnesota moved him on in the middle of 1973.
Chicago got two more big years out of him, 21-13 in 1974 and 20-14 in 1975. He finished as a reliever for St. Louis and pitched his last game on July 1, 1983, at 44. He won 283 games and struck out 2,461 in twenty-five seasons; only Nolan Ryan, Deacon McGuire and Tommy John lasted longer.
The Gold Gloves ran without a break from 1962 to 1977. The writers kept him on their ballot for fifteen years and never gave him more than 135 votes, and five committees turned him down after that. A veterans committee elected him in 2022, with twelve votes of sixteen, thirty-nine years after his last game.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 3 | 1962, 1966, 1975 |
| Gold Glove | 16 | 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977 |
| Player of the Week | 2 | 1974, 1975 |
| The Sporting News All-Star | 2 | 1966, 1975 |
| The Sporting News Pitcher of the Year | 1 | 1966 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | WSH | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 1960 | WSH | 13 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .143 |
| 1961 | MIN | 47 | 63 | 10 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 0 | .238 |
| 1962 | MIN | 48 | 100 | 9 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 40 | 0 | .180 |
| 1963 | MIN | 36 | 61 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 19 | 0 | .131 |
| 1964 | MIN | 46 | 83 | 11 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 11 | 31 | 0 | .169 |
| 1965 | MIN | 56 | 93 | 6 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 29 | 2 | .247 |
| 1966 | MIN | 47 | 118 | 12 | 23 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 5 | 41 | 0 | .195 |
| 1967 | MIN | 45 | 99 | 7 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 26 | 0 | .172 |
| 1968 | MIN | 36 | 77 | 7 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 18 | 0 | .156 |
| 1969 | MIN | 43 | 87 | 8 | 18 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 20 | 0 | .207 |
| 1970 | MIN | 56 | 76 | 17 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 0 | .197 |
| 1971 | MIN | 54 | 93 | 6 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 16 | 2 | .161 |
| 1972 | MIN | 24 | 45 | 3 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 0 | .289 |
| 1973 | CHW/MIN | 38 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1974 | CHW | 42 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1975 | CHW | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1976 | PHI | 42 | 79 | 4 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 24 | 0 | .177 |
| 1977 | PHI | 36 | 53 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 0 | .189 |
| 1978 | PHI | 26 | 48 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 0 | .146 |
| 1979 | NYY/PHI | 43 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| 1980 | NYY/STL | 53 | 35 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 1 | .143 |
| 1981 | STL | 41 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .375 |
| 1982 | STL | 62 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .000 |
| 1983 | STL | 24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| Career | — | 1004 | 1251 | 117 | 232 | 44 | 5 | 16 | 106 | 63 | 367 | 5 | .185 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | WSH | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5.0 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 12.60 |
| 1960 | WSH | 1 | 5 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 50.0 | 48 | 31 | 31 | 25 | 5.58 |
| 1961 | MIN | 9 | 17 | 36 | 29 | 0 | 200.2 | 188 | 87 | 82 | 122 | 3.90 |
| 1962 | MIN | 18 | 14 | 39 | 35 | 1 | 269.0 | 243 | 94 | 75 | 173 | 3.14 |
| 1963 | MIN | 10 | 10 | 31 | 27 | 1 | 178.1 | 195 | 83 | 38 | 105 | 4.19 |
| 1964 | MIN | 17 | 11 | 36 | 34 | 1 | 243.0 | 231 | 87 | 60 | 171 | 3.22 |
| 1965 | MIN | 18 | 11 | 45 | 42 | 2 | 264.1 | 267 | 83 | 63 | 154 | 2.83 |
| 1966 | MIN | 25 | 13 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 304.2 | 271 | 93 | 55 | 205 | 2.75 |
| 1967 | MIN | 16 | 13 | 42 | 38 | 0 | 263.1 | 269 | 89 | 42 | 211 | 3.04 |
| 1968 | MIN | 14 | 12 | 30 | 29 | 0 | 208.0 | 192 | 68 | 40 | 130 | 2.94 |
| 1969 | MIN | 14 | 13 | 40 | 32 | 1 | 242.1 | 252 | 94 | 75 | 139 | 3.49 |
| 1970 | MIN | 14 | 10 | 45 | 34 | 0 | 230.1 | 244 | 91 | 58 | 120 | 3.56 |
| 1971 | MIN | 13 | 14 | 39 | 38 | 0 | 260.1 | 275 | 96 | 47 | 137 | 3.32 |
| 1972 | MIN | 10 | 2 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 113.1 | 94 | 26 | 20 | 64 | 2.06 |
| 1973 | CHW/MIN | 15 | 13 | 36 | 35 | 0 | 224.1 | 250 | 109 | 43 | 109 | 4.37 |
| 1974 | CHW | 21 | 13 | 42 | 39 | 0 | 277.1 | 263 | 90 | 63 | 142 | 2.92 |
| 1975 | CHW | 20 | 14 | 43 | 41 | 0 | 303.2 | 321 | 105 | 77 | 142 | 3.11 |
| 1976 | PHI | 12 | 14 | 38 | 35 | 0 | 227.2 | 241 | 88 | 32 | 83 | 3.48 |
| 1977 | PHI | 6 | 11 | 35 | 27 | 0 | 160.1 | 211 | 96 | 40 | 55 | 5.39 |
| 1978 | PHI | 8 | 5 | 26 | 24 | 0 | 140.1 | 150 | 64 | 32 | 48 | 4.10 |
| 1979 | NYY/PHI | 3 | 3 | 43 | 2 | 2 | 66.2 | 73 | 29 | 19 | 25 | 3.92 |
| 1980 | NYY/STL | 8 | 8 | 53 | 14 | 4 | 134.2 | 148 | 59 | 37 | 37 | 3.94 |
| 1981 | STL | 6 | 6 | 41 | 1 | 4 | 53.0 | 60 | 20 | 17 | 8 | 3.40 |
| 1982 | STL | 5 | 3 | 62 | 2 | 2 | 75.0 | 79 | 34 | 23 | 35 | 4.08 |
| 1983 | STL | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 34.2 | 48 | 15 | 10 | 19 | 3.89 |
| Career | — | 283 | 237 | 898 | 625 | 18 | 4530.1 | 4620 | 1738 | 1083 | 2461 | 3.45 |
On this day & linked events
1959
Major-league debut: Jim Kaat
Jim Kaat made a major-league debut on August 2, 1959.
1983
Final major-league game: Jim Kaat
Jim Kaat played a final major-league game on July 1, 1983.