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James Lee Kaat
Minnesota Twins
Pitcher
Born: November 7, 1938, Zeeland, MI
Signed: Signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent, June 17, 1957
Major League Teams: 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
Hall of Fame Induction: 2022
Jim Kaat pitched in parts of four different decades in a major league career that spanned 25 seasons. His best seasons came with the Twins in the mid to late 1960s, and then with the White Sox in the mid 1970s. He won at least 14 games in 11 seasons, topping the 20-win mark in 1966, 1974 and 1975. He led the A.L. in wins in 1966 with 25, complete games with 19 and innings pitched with 304 2/3. He was named to three All-Star teams in 1962, 1966 and 1975.
An excellent fielder, Kaat won 16 consecutive Gold Gloves at pitcher, still the record and tied with Brooks Robinson (#150) for consecutive Gold Gloves won. Greg Maddux broke his total Gold Glove record for pitchers by winning 18 times. Kaat was also an excellent batter, hitting .185 with 16 home runs. He hit his final home runs with the Cardinals in 1980 at 41 years old.
Kaat appeared in the 1965 World Series with the Twins and the 1982 World Series with the Cardinals, earning his first ring when the Cardinals defeated the Brewers. He appeared in four games in relief in that World Series, allowing a run over 2 1/3 innings.
Upon his retirement, Kaat's 25 seasons were the most by any pitcher in major league history. He has since been passed by both Nolan Ryan with 27 seasons and Tommy John (#208) with 26. He compiled a lifetime record of 283-237 with a 3.45 ERA and 2,461 strikeouts which is currently 43rd on the all-time list. He retired in 1983 as the last player to have appeared in a major league game in the 1950s. In 2014, he appeared on the Hall of Fame's Golden Era Committee ballot and requiring 12 votes for induction into the Hall of Fame, missed by just two votes.
Kaat briefly served as Pete Rose's (#207) pitching coach in 1984 and 1985 with the Reds. Beginning in 1986 through the late 2000s, Kaat served as a respected broadcaster for the Yankees, Twins, NBC Sports, ESPN, CBS Sports and Yankees again, winning 7 Emmy Awards for excellence in sports broadcasting.
An excellent fielder, Kaat won 16 consecutive Gold Gloves at pitcher, still the record and tied with Brooks Robinson (#150) for consecutive Gold Gloves won. Greg Maddux broke his total Gold Glove record for pitchers by winning 18 times. Kaat was also an excellent batter, hitting .185 with 16 home runs. He hit his final home runs with the Cardinals in 1980 at 41 years old.
Kaat appeared in the 1965 World Series with the Twins and the 1982 World Series with the Cardinals, earning his first ring when the Cardinals defeated the Brewers. He appeared in four games in relief in that World Series, allowing a run over 2 1/3 innings.
Upon his retirement, Kaat's 25 seasons were the most by any pitcher in major league history. He has since been passed by both Nolan Ryan with 27 seasons and Tommy John (#208) with 26. He compiled a lifetime record of 283-237 with a 3.45 ERA and 2,461 strikeouts which is currently 43rd on the all-time list. He retired in 1983 as the last player to have appeared in a major league game in the 1950s. In 2014, he appeared on the Hall of Fame's Golden Era Committee ballot and requiring 12 votes for induction into the Hall of Fame, missed by just two votes.
Kaat briefly served as Pete Rose's (#207) pitching coach in 1984 and 1985 with the Reds. Beginning in 1986 through the late 2000s, Kaat served as a respected broadcaster for the Yankees, Twins, NBC Sports, ESPN, CBS Sports and Yankees again, winning 7 Emmy Awards for excellence in sports broadcasting.
Postscript - Jim Kaat was elected into the Hall of Fame in December 2021 by the Golden Days Era Committee, and he'll be inducted in July 2022.
Building the Set
February 29, 2020 from King of Prussia, PA - Card #74
Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sportscard & Memorabilia Show held on the bottom floor of the Valley Forge Casino on the final day of February. I did a post over at The Phillies Room with a few pictures of Doug taken with some of the show's autograph guests, one of which was Kaat. I had decided it would be cool to not only add the Kaat card to our 1965 Topps set at this show, but then to have Kaat sign that card too.
We purchased the card from an initial batch of 17 commons and semi-stars purchased from John's Sports Cards within the first hour of our arrival. I didn't track each individual price of the cards purchased, but this card was originally marked at $6 and the entire 17-card lot cost me $50 total.
Kaat, now 81 and looking fantastic, signed our card and made no mention of the fact his name was misspelled on the front. I took a few pictures of Doug with the legendary pitcher, and I created a custom card to mark the occasion.
The Card
Topps goofed with the spelling of Kaat's name on the front of the card, but not on the back. The back of the card references the 19 batters Kaat struck out while pitching for the 1959 Chattanooga Lookouts, the AA farm team for the Senators. His 17 wins in 1964 did indeed lead the Twins' pitching staff with Camilo Pascual (#255) finishing second with 15.
Twins Team Set
1965 Season
Helping the Twins to the A.L. pennant, Kaat went 18-11 with a 2.83 ERA over 264 1/3 innings pitched. He and Mudcat Grant (#432) solidified the Twins rotation with Grant going 21-7. Kaat won six of his final seven decisions to help the Twins reach the World Series and his 18 wins were third highest in the A.L. In the 1965 World Series, Kaat started Game 2 and bested the Dodgers' Sandy Koufax (#300) as the Twins won 5-1. However in a Game 5 rematch in Los Angeles, Koufax shut out the Twins while Kaat lasted just 2 1/3 innings. Kaat and Koufax faced off one last time in Game 7, with Koufax again shutting out the Twins and leading the Dodgers to a seven game World Series victory.
Phillies Career
On December 10, 1975, the White Sox traded Kaat to the Phillies with Mike Buskey for Alan Bannister, Dick Ruthven and Roy Thomas. He was a key part of the Phillies pitching rotations in 1976, 1977 and 1978 with the Phillies reaching the NLCS in each of those years. Unfortunately, the team was easily handled by the Reds in 1976 and the Dodgers in 1977 and 1978. His only postseason appearance with the club came in 1976 when he started Game 3 against the Reds. Kaat pitched well in that game, allowing two runs on two hits over six innings of work and he departed with the Phillies holding a 3-0 lead. Reliever Ron Reed couldn't hold that lead and the Reds would eventually win.
In parts of four seasons with the Phillies, Kaat was 27-30 with a 4.23 ERA over 102 games and 87 starts. On May 11, 1979, without a readily available roster spot for him, the Phillies sold Kaat to the Yankees.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #136
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (24): 1960-1983
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2016 Topps Archives Fan Favorite Autographs #FFA-JK
237 - Kaat non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/15/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year. Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.
Prior Card: #61 Chris Cannizzaro - New York Mets
February 29, 2020 from King of Prussia, PA - Card #74
Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sportscard & Memorabilia Show held on the bottom floor of the Valley Forge Casino on the final day of February. I did a post over at The Phillies Room with a few pictures of Doug taken with some of the show's autograph guests, one of which was Kaat. I had decided it would be cool to not only add the Kaat card to our 1965 Topps set at this show, but then to have Kaat sign that card too.
Kaat, now 81 and looking fantastic, signed our card and made no mention of the fact his name was misspelled on the front. I took a few pictures of Doug with the legendary pitcher, and I created a custom card to mark the occasion.The Card
Topps goofed with the spelling of Kaat's name on the front of the card, but not on the back. The back of the card references the 19 batters Kaat struck out while pitching for the 1959 Chattanooga Lookouts, the AA farm team for the Senators. His 17 wins in 1964 did indeed lead the Twins' pitching staff with Camilo Pascual (#255) finishing second with 15.
Twins Team Set
1965 Season
Helping the Twins to the A.L. pennant, Kaat went 18-11 with a 2.83 ERA over 264 1/3 innings pitched. He and Mudcat Grant (#432) solidified the Twins rotation with Grant going 21-7. Kaat won six of his final seven decisions to help the Twins reach the World Series and his 18 wins were third highest in the A.L. In the 1965 World Series, Kaat started Game 2 and bested the Dodgers' Sandy Koufax (#300) as the Twins won 5-1. However in a Game 5 rematch in Los Angeles, Koufax shut out the Twins while Kaat lasted just 2 1/3 innings. Kaat and Koufax faced off one last time in Game 7, with Koufax again shutting out the Twins and leading the Dodgers to a seven game World Series victory.
Phillies Career
On December 10, 1975, the White Sox traded Kaat to the Phillies with Mike Buskey for Alan Bannister, Dick Ruthven and Roy Thomas. He was a key part of the Phillies pitching rotations in 1976, 1977 and 1978 with the Phillies reaching the NLCS in each of those years. Unfortunately, the team was easily handled by the Reds in 1976 and the Dodgers in 1977 and 1978. His only postseason appearance with the club came in 1976 when he started Game 3 against the Reds. Kaat pitched well in that game, allowing two runs on two hits over six innings of work and he departed with the Phillies holding a 3-0 lead. Reliever Ron Reed couldn't hold that lead and the Reds would eventually win.
In parts of four seasons with the Phillies, Kaat was 27-30 with a 4.23 ERA over 102 games and 87 starts. On May 11, 1979, without a readily available roster spot for him, the Phillies sold Kaat to the Yankees.
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First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #136
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (24): 1960-1983
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2016 Topps Archives Fan Favorite Autographs #FFA-JK
237 - Kaat non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/15/20.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Phillies Room
SABR
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia
In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year. Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.
Prior Card: #61 Chris Cannizzaro - New York Mets
Next Card: #63 Ty Cline - Milwaukee Braves
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