Happy Birthday, Jim Kaat! One of the more recent members of the Hall of Fame that was inducted over the last few years. His Hall of Fame induction in 2022 was a long time coming when you factor in that he pitched for twenty-five seasons, which took place in four different decades and spent many years in the broadcast booth. Most of his career was with the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins, and he spent time with the Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Career Statistics/Accolades (1959-1983):

283-237 W-L 3.45 ERA 4,530.1 IP 2,461 K 1.259 WHIP

  • 3x All-Star
  • 16x Gold Glove
  • 1982 World Series Champion

As a Left Hander, Kaat wasn’t known as an overpowering pitcher. Along with a solid fastball, he had a slider and curveball in his arsenal. Kaat was a 20-game winner three times and winning 15 or more eight times. Kaat, who threw a lot of Innings and sometimes made 40 or more starts in a year, maintained an ERA under 3.00 five times. Speaking of Innings Pitched, fourteen years of his career saw him log in 200 or more Innings, logging in over 300 twice. His best season came in 1966 with a pitching stat line of 25-13 W-L 2.75 ERA 304.2 IP 205 K 1.070 WHIP. He led the league in Wins and Innings Pitched that year as he would finish 5th the MVP voting.

Regarding Fielding, Jim Kaat and the late Brooks Robinson sit behind only Greg Maddux for the most Gold Gloves in baseball history with 16. Besides making some clutch plays in the field, Kaat had multiple seasons with a Fielding Percentage higher than the average among pitchers. His 262 career Putouts are tied for 2nd along with Tom Glavine for the most among Left Handed Pitchers. During his days with the Twins, Kaat was a good hitter and baserunner. Hitting from the Left Side, he went (193 for 1,010) .191 BA, 14 HR, 88 RBI, .235 OBP, and scored 99 Runs. Back when pitchers were required to hit if you had a pitcher who could swing the bat and run the bases, that could keep a guy in the ballgame. 

By the late 1970s, it became apparent that being a Starting Pitcher may not be in the cards anymore, so Kaat transitioned himself into a long reliever. Spending his final years in St. Louis, he was a reliever who occasionally made a start, and in 1982, at the age of 43, Kaat was a piece to the Cardinals winning the World Series. After his career, he was in the broadcast booth, where he just retired. He took home 7 Emmy Awards. 

It would take until 2022, but Kaat was enshrined into Cooperstown from the Veterans Committee, and that same year, the Twins retired his #36 jersey in Target Field. While he pitched for a long time, he never won a Cy Young or put up a significant amount of “Black-Bold Face Type” in key pitching categories. As someone who considers himself a harsh grader with the Hall of Fame, I probably wouldn’t have voted him into the Hall of Fame, but that doesn’t take away anything regarding Kaat’s impact on the game. If someone said they would vote for Jim Kaat based on his impact on the game on the mound and in the booth, I wouldn’t have a problem with that. It’s ridiculous that it took the Twins until 2022 to retire Kaats’ #; he is one of the greatest pitchers in Twins franchise history.

References:

  1. Jim Kaat via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Kaat#
  2. Jim Kaat Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kaatji01.shtml