CAREER-CAPPER: 1984 JIM KAAT

On the blog today, from my wildly popular "1980s Career-Cappers" set, a 1984 capper for HOF pitcher Jim Kaat:

Kaat came up to the Majors as a 20-year-old in 1959 with the Washington Senators, developing into an All-Star starter when the organization moved to Minnesota and became the Twins.
If there were a Cy Young winner for both leagues in place for the 1965 season, he most likely would have taken home the trophy when he posted a league-leading 25 wins to go along with a 2.75 ERA and 205 strikeouts for the American League champs.
After being selected off waivers by the Chicago White Sox in 1973, he’d go on to post two straight 20-win seasons in 1974 and 1975, before moving on to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1976.
In 1979, at the age of 40, he’d transition to the bullpen, where he would carve out a niche for himself as a reliable reliever, pitching another five seasons, finishing up with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1983, fresh off a World Championship in 1982.
One of the greatest fielding pitchers the game has ever seen, Kaat took home 16 straight Gold Glove Awards between 1962 and 1977. Incredible.
By the time he retired as a player, he appeared in 898 games, posted a record of 283-237 along with a 3.45 ERA and 2461 strikeouts, as well as 31 shutouts and 17 saves.
The man is a walking baseball resource who still shares his knowledge of the game. His time as a New York Yankees announcer was one of my favorites alongside other former players like Ken Singleton and Bill White.

 

1970 "IN-GAME ACTION"- JIM KAAT

Up on the blog today, a card I almost forgot to post on the blog after it was created and included for my "1970 In-Game Action: Series 2" set a couple years back, my card for new Hall of Famer Jim Kaat:

Kaat came up to the Majors as a 20-year-old in 1959 with the Washington Senators, developing into an All-Star starter when the organization moved to Minnesota and became the Twins.
If there were a Cy Young winner for both leagues in place for the 1965 season, he most likely would have taken home the trophy when he posted a league-leading 25 wins to go along with a 2.75 ERA and 205 strikeouts for the American League champs.
After being selected off waivers by the Chicago White Sox in 1973, he’d go on to post two straight 20-win seasons in 1974 and 1975, before moving on to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1976.
In 1979, at the age of 40, he’d transition to the bullpen, where he would carve out a niche for himself as a reliable reliever, pitching another five seasons, finishing up with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1983, fresh off a World Championship in 1982.
One of the greatest fielding pitchers the game has ever seen, Kaat took home 16 straight Gold Glove Awards between 1962 and 1977. Incredible.
By the time he retired as a player, he appeared in 898 games, posted a record of 283-237 along with a 3.45 ERA and 2461 strikeouts, as well as 31 shutouts and 17 saves.
The man is a walking baseball resource who still shares his knowledge of the game. His time as a New York Yankees announcer was one of my favorites alongside other former players like Ken Singleton and Bill White.

1960S ALL-DECADE TEAM: A.L. LEFT-HANDED PITCHER: JIM KAAT

On the blog today, my pick for the American League's left-handed pitcher of the 1960s, and I went with Minnesota Twins ace Jim Kaat:

You may be surprised by my pick of Kaat as the American League's lefty of the decade. But really, as far as a FULL decade goes, he didn't have much stiff competition. Whitey Ford is the guy who jumps into everyone's mind, but he really had half a decade before his career went South.

As for Kaat, all the guy did was win eight Gold Glove awards, a pennant in 1965 with the Twins, post 142 wins and have five seasons of 15 or more wins, with a high of 25 in 1966, a year he easily would have won the Cy Young had there been one selected for each league at the time.

In the case of the American League, it really was about consistency in this case over anyone with dominant numbers, there just weren't any.

Kaat ended up with a very nice career, moving into the bullpen after a lengthy 20 years as a starter in 1979.

He ended up pitching effectively another five years out of the pen before retiring after the 1983 season with the Cardinals, finishing up with 283 wins, 31 shutouts and 2461 strikeouts in 898 games, 625 of them starting.

He also famously won 16 Gold Gloves total in his career, something only Greg Maddux can relate to (with 18 such awards).

One of my favorite baseball-figures, as a player, a coach, and a broadcaster. The man is a true baseball lifer.

1969 "DO-OVER" CUSTOM SET: JIM KAAT

Good day all!

On the blog today, my do-over for Hall of Famer Jim Kaat and his 1969 card, from my custom "1969 Gimmie A Do-Over" set released towards the end of last year:

While Topps reused an image for Kaat on their 1969 card, I went ahead and found another one to give it a bit of a refresh.

Kaat came up to the Majors as a 20-year-old in 1959 with the Washington Senators, developing into an All-Star starter when the organization moved to Minnesota and became the Twins.
If there were a Cy Young winner for both leagues in place for the 1965 season, he most likely would have taken home the trophy when he posted a league-leading 25 wins to go along with a 2.75 ERA and 205 strikeouts for the American League champs.
After being selected off waivers by the Chicago White Sox in 1973, he’d go on to post two straight 20-win seasons in 1974 and 1975, before moving on to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1976.
In 1979, at the age of 40, he’d transition to the bullpen, where he would carve out a niche for himself as a reliable reliever, pitching another five seasons, finishing up with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1983, fresh off a World Championship in 1982.
One of the greatest fielding pitchers the game has ever seen, Kaat took home 16 straight Gold Glove Awards between 1962 and 1977. Incredible.
By the time he retired as a player, he appeared in 898 games, posted a record of 283-237 along with a 3.45 ERA and 2461 strikeouts, as well as 31 shutouts and 17 saves.
The man is a walking baseball resource who still shares his knowledge of the game. His time as a New York Yankees announcer was one of my favorites alongside other former players like Ken Singleton and Bill White.

1965 MISSING WORLD SERIES SUB-SET IN 1966 SET: GAME 2

Today on the blog we have a "missing" 1966 World Series card, this time for Game 2 of the 1965 "Fall Classic" between the Minnesota Twins and Los Angeles Dodgers, which Topps (for some reason) left out of their set:

Shocking the Dodgers and their starter Don Drysdale for a win in Game 1, the Twins would do it again against L.A.'s ace Sandy Koufax, with young Jim Kaat outdueling the reigning N.L. Cy Young winner by a final score of 5-1 to take a commanding 2-0 lead, winning both their games at home at Metropolitan Stadium.

The game was scoreless into the bottom of the sixth inning until Kaat himself drove in the first two runs of the game with a single, giving himself a 2-0 lead.

The Dodgers would cut that lead in half the next inning with a run, but the Twins answered back quickly, scoring a run in their half of the inning before breaking it open in the eighth with two more, with Kaat shutting them down in the top of the ninth for the win.

The Twins would be set up very nicely as the Series would shift to Los Angeles for Game 3, resting on a two game lead, both wins against the L.A. aces in Drysdale and Koufax.

Next week, my card for Game 3!

MINOR LEAGUE DAYS- JIM KAAT

On the blog today we have the newest addition to my 1971 "Minor League Days" thread, pitcher Jim Kaat, who was finishing up his brief Minor League career before embarking on a Hall of Fame worthy 25-year Major League career in 1960 as a member of the Charleston Senators:

Kaat would go 7-10 in his only season with Charleston in 1960, with a 3.82 earned run average over 30 appearances and 146 innings of work.

The following year he would be a full-time Major Leaguer, appearing in 36 games for the Minnesota Twins and posting a record of 9-17, with an ERA at 3.90 along with eight complete games and 200.2 innings pitched.

All the guy would end up doing in his Big League career is win 16 Gold Glove awards, with 283 wins, 31 shutouts and 2461 strikeouts in 898 games, 625 of them starting between 1959 and 1983, easily getting some arguments for a Hall of Fame spot.

Post playing career he would also coach, and move on to broadcasting where I absolutely enjoyed his Yankees game announcing, giving brilliant and entertaining insight into situations and historical angles that only a 25-year Big League pitcher could offer.

Definitely one of my favorite Baseball personalities over the years.

 

1977 SPECIAL- THE PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES ACES

Came across this image a while ago and felt it would make a nice “special” for the 1977 set, the Philadelphia Phillies starters who helped them end up in first place during the 1976 season, Steve Carlton, Jim Kaat and Jim Lonborg:

Chugging to a final record of 101-61 in 1976, the Phillies were led on the mound by these three, who won a combined 50 games between them with Carlton (of course) leading the way with a 20-7 record, followed by Lonborg’s 18-10 year and Kaat’s 12-14 record.
Of course the Phillies were also helped by their three thumpers: Mike Schmidt, Greg Luzinski and Dick Allen, but they had a solid staff that also included Larry Christenson who won 13 games, and rookie Tom Underwood, who went 10-5.
Sadly for the Phillies, they had to deal with the “Big Red Machine” Cincinnati reds juggernaut followed by the Los Angeles Dodger teams of the late-70’s, keeping them from possible multi-World Series appearances, but they’d finally make it all the way to the top in 1980 when they’d be champions after beating the Kansas City Royals.

CARD SPOTLIGHT: 1973 CHRIS CHAMBLISS WITH A JIM KAAT PHOTOBOMB

I’ve always gotten a kick out of the 1973 Chris Chambliss card, not just because of the Jim Kaat photobomb, but the great image used, the horizontal layout and those oh-so-cool Chambliss sideburns:

How classic “1970’s” is this shot!?
Chambliss was just off his Rookie of the Year season of 1971 with the Cleveland Indians, a year before getting traded to the New York Yankees, where he’d find baseball gold with two straight championships and a career-making highlight in the 1976 League Championship Series, hitting the game winning, series winning home run off Kansas City Royals reliever Mark Littell to send the Yanks to their first World Series since 1964.
By the time he was done, Chambliss put in 17 seasons as a Major League player, retiring with over 2000 hits and a nice .279 batting average.
Then you get wind-breaker clad Jim Kaat, who Chambliss is keeping close to first. Kind of funny since Kaat’s regular base card in the 1973 set is him batting! So I wonder if the at-bat was a precursor to him at first base. Love it!
All “Kitty” did in the Majors was put in 25 years, win 283 games, and appear in 898 games between 1959 and 1983, with a World Championship in 1982 while with the St. Louis Cardinals.
We are looking at 42 years of Big League service on this card!
One of my favorites in the 1973 set.

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970'S: "KITTY" JIM KAAT

Next up on the “70’s Nickname” parade is one of my favorite baseball people, longtime MLB lifer Jim Kaat, aka “Kitty”, who managed to stick around the game as a player, coach and announcer for close to 60 years:

Kaat came up to the Majors as a 20-year-old in 1959 with the Washington Senators, developing into an All-Star starter when the organization moved to Minnesota and became the Twins.
If there were a Cy Young winner for both leagues in place for the 1965 season, he most likely would have taken home the trophy when he posted a league-leading 25 wins to go along with a 2.75 ERA and 205 strikeouts for the American League champs.
After being selected off waivers by the Chicago White Sox in 1973, he’d go on to post two straight 20-win seasons in 1974 and 1975, before moving on to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1976.
In 1979, at the age of 40, he’d transition to the bullpen, where he would carve out a niche for himself as a reliable reliever, pitching another five seasons, finishing up with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1983, fresh off a World Championship in 1982.
One of the greatest fielding pitchers the game has ever seen, Kaat took home 16 straight Gold Glove Awards between 1962 and 1977. Incredible.
By the time he retired as a player, he appeared in 898 games, posted a record of 283-237 along with a 3.45 ERA and 2461 strikeouts, as well as 31 shutouts and 17 saves.
The man is a walking baseball resource who still shares his knowledge of the game. His time as a New York Yankees announcer was one of my favorites alongside other former players like Ken Singleton and Bill White.

1975 "CY YOUNG AWARD" SUB-SET: WHAT IF? 1966

Today we'll look at the final year of the "Koufax-era" in my imagined 1975 Cy Young Award sub-set, 1966.

After a run of domination hardly seen in Major League baseball before or since, Koufax would retire from the game at season's end and shock many fans because of serious arm-trouble.

Along with Koufax and his third Cy Young in four years, the fine folks at SABR picked Jim Kaat of the Minnesota Twins as the American League Cy Young winner had they chosen one in each league at that time.

First up, my card design:

This would be the final year of voting on one winner for the award before they began voting on winners for both leagues beginning in 1967.

Koufax was once again out of this world spectacular, posting a record of 27-9 with a 1.73 earned run average and 317 strikeouts, all league leading figures.

He also lead the league in games started (41), complete games (27), innings pitched (323) and shutouts (5), easily taking home the award and unexpectedly capping a Hall of Fame career before injuries halted his career at age 30.

Sadly the season was also marred by the Dodgers' surprising loss to the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series, getting swept mainly because of the "Birds" up-and-coming young pitching studs Jim Palmer, Wally Bunker and Dave McNally, along with a surprise performance by reliever Moe Drabowsky in the first game.

Six years later Koufax was inducted into the Hall of Fame, getting named to 344 of 396 ballots when voting was announced.

Perhaps only Pedro Martinez' run in the late 90's/early 00's was there be another pitcher who had a run that far out-shined the rest of his league for a few years like Koufax's run between 1963-1966.

Over in the American League, the Twins were once again the beneficiaries of a fine performance by one of their young pitchers, this time Jim Kaat.

After a nice five year run between 1962-1965, Kaat came into his own in '66, finishing the season with a league-leading 25 wins (against 13 losses), a 2.75 E.R.A., and 205 strikeouts, while also leading the league in starts (41), innings pitched (304.2) and complete games (19).

He also picked up his fifth of what was to become 16 Gold Gloves in his 25 year career while finishing in fifth place in M.V.P. Voting.

Kaat would have two more 20-win seasons, in the 1970's while pitching for the Chicago White Sox, before switching over to relieving the final few years of his lengthy career in the early-80's with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Next we take a look at the first season where TWO Cy Young winners were selected, one for each league, 1967.

For the National League we have Giants pitcher Mike McCormick, while in the American League we have Red Sox hurler Jim Lonborg.

Two guys who easily had career years that season.

"1960'S ALL-DECADE TEAM" SUB-SET FOR THE 1970 TOPPS SET: LEFT-HANDED PITCHERS

Time for the pitchers on my imagined 1970 sub-set celebrating the "players of the decade" for the 1960's.

Today it's all about the two lefties that represent their respective leagues: Jim Kaat and Sandy Koufax.

Now, while one of my picks may surprise some, the other is about as solid a "lock" for the nomination as there is for ANY position.

First take a look at my card design:

You may be surprised by my pick of Kaat as the American League's lefty of the decade. But really, as far as a FULL decade goes, he didn't have much stiff competition. Whitey Ford is the guy who jumps into everyone's mind, but he really had half a decade before his career went South.

As for Kaat, all the guy did was win eight Gold Glove awards, a pennant in 1965 with the Twins, post 142 wins and have five seasons of 15 or more wins, with a high of 25 in 1966, a year he easily would have won the Cy Young had there been one selected for each league at the time.

In the case of the American League, it really was about consistency in this case over anyone with dominant numbers, there just weren't any.

Kaat ended up with a very nice career, moving into the bullpen after a lengthy 20 years as a starter in 1979.

He ended up pitching effectively another five years out of the pen before retiring after the 1983 season with the Cardinals, finishing up with 283 wins, 31 shutouts and 2461 strikeouts in 898 games, 625 of them starting.

He also famously won 16 Gold Gloves total in his career, something only Greg Maddux can relate to (with 18 such awards).

Over in the National League, it's all about one lefty for the 1960's, all-time Dodger great (and fellow Bensonhurst, Brooklyn native) Sandy Koufax, out of my rival Lafayette High School (I'm a New Utrecht High School alum, of "Welcome Back Kotter" fame).

Really, what needs to be said about the "Left Arm of God"?!

Between 1960 and 1966, before having his career cut short with arm trouble, all Koufax did was win two World Championships, three Cy Young Awards, finish third in 1964, win an M.V.P. in 1963 while finishing second in 1965 and 1966, take home five E.R.A. crowns, win 25 or more games in a season three times (sorry Juan Marichal!), and win four strikeout crowns with three of those seasons topping 300!

For the decade Koufax fashioned a 137-60 record (that's a winning percentage of .695), and if you take away 1960, which saw him post a record of 8-13, we are looking at a winning percentage of .733!

Three of his seasons in the decade were seasons for the ages: 1963, 1965 & 1966. In each year he topped 25 wins, 300 strikeouts, and posted earned run averages under 2.00!

Just insane numbers from the quiet guy from the Brooklyn sandlots!

Sadly, as we all know ad nauseam, after the 1966 World Series, which saw the favored Dodgers get swept by the young-stud Baltimore Orioles, Koufax was forced to retire from the game at the height of his career or else possibly suffer permanent damage to his arm and health, leaving behind a story for the baseball history books, as well as the "what-if's?" we love to ponder time and again.

Next up on this thread, the righties: Dean Chance for the American League and Juan Marichal in the National League.

Stay tuned…

RANDOM QUICKIE-1973 TOPPS JIM KAAT #530

OK.

You're a 14 year veteran pitcher in the Major Leagues.

You've won 11 Gold Gloves, won 25 games one year, and in 1972, the year before today's profiled card came out, you went 10-2 with a sparkling 2.06 E.R.A. In 15 starts.

So what does your 1973 card show you doing? BATTING!

 

"Kitty" trading in his glove for a bat.

 

You just have to love the fact that Jim Kaat's 1973 (#530) card has him swinging away at the plate!

I was actually tempted to make this one of my future "Gimmie a do-over" redesigned cards. But then the more I looked at it, the more I really liked it!

Great, quirky card of one of the better pitchers NOT in the Hall of Fame. 

I'm not saying he "deserves" to be in. But if it were up to ME, he would have been in years ago.

You just cannot ignore a 25 year career with 283 wins, 16 Gold Gloves, three 20-win seasons, 2461 strike outs, and 898 appearances. 

But for now, let's just enjoy this oddity and shake our head one more time over that 1973 set, which seems to get stranger and stranger with every look!