Kaat’s durability became legendary. All Rights Reserved. A player must have been retired for five years before he may be considered for the Hall. There is not only prestige, but lucrative speaking engagements, signing promotions, business opportunities and access to the “right” people. Note that only 16 people voted. If an eligible player does not receive 5% of the writer’s votes, he is eliminated from future consideration on the Baseball Writers ballots. Jim Kaat has not thrown a pitch in a major league game in 33 years, but I can still … He played 17 years with the Pittsburgh Pirates. What one voter might consider to be worthy of a Hall of Fame induction is rejected by another. Not only did Kaat’s recall of those visits impress me that day, but so did his physical conditioning. Of course, no part of that pitching motion is evident on his 1973 Topps card. Walz not on the ballot this year in Minnesota? An institution without standards for membership is vulnerable to criticism. Maybe the voters never saw Kaat pitch. They have outstanding statistics to support their Hall of Fame elections. Only one person didn’t vote for the iconic Jeter. He was not someone that opposing pitchers could take for granted. “Fingers crossed that we are having a huge celebration in Cooperstown during the summer of 2022.”. His philosophy involved getting the sign from his catcher and then throwing almost immediately; at other times, he didn’t appear to come to a complete stop before proceeding to pitch the ball. When Tony Kubek retired from the Yankees’ booth after the 1994 season, he left behind a crater-sized void at the Madison Square Garden Network, then the flagship station of the franchise. (Among current day pitchers, Hansel Robles of the New York Mets uses the quick pitch at times.) After signing with the old Washington Senators in 1957, he made his major league debut only two years later. Jim Kaat was born in Zeeland, Michigan and played for Hope College prior to signing as an amateur free agent by the Washington Senators. Who he is: On the surface, Jim Kaat would seem like the sort of candidate Hall of Fame committees love: 283 wins, 16 Gold Gloves and a staggering 25 seasons in the majors from 1959 to 1983. New York Yankees Player (1979 – 1980) The Twins aren’t ready to announce when Michael Pineda will make his 2020 debut, but manager Rocco Baldelli said the righthander won’t need to audition for him when he rejoins the team Monday. I continued in baseball by writing player analysis and projections for baseball oriented sites. In the 2020 Hall election, 397 people voted. The sanctions were a vivid reminder to all MLB players, Clippard said, of how each player can impact many others. So it was with some sadness that I heard about Kaat’s intention to retire from broadcasting near the end of the 2006 season. From 1962 to 1973, Kaat won in double figures every season for the Twins, culminating in his 25-win season in 1966. In 1966, he logged a league-leading 304 innings. It was exactly the 75% required. A Hall of Famer? What are the standards for entry to the Hall ? He was a good player. The standard can’t be one set of criteria for one voter and another set for somebody else. Highlights of unique photos and artifacts from the collection. Kaat played for the Twins from ... [+] 1961-1973. Sweet Lou Johnson powered the Dodgers in the 1960s. Where is that stated? An induction to the Hall of Fame can be a life-changing experience for the player and his heirs. He did not hit the disabled list until 1968, when a sore elbow forced him to miss a few starts. None of them got more than five votes. It isn’t. Not only does the 1973 Kaat card show him as a hitter, but it represents one of the better action shots in the set. They include Today’s Game (1998-present) Modern Baseball (1970-1987) Golden Days (1950-1969) and Early Baseball (1871-1949). Jim Kaat is one of two players on this list who has a real solid shot at the Hall of Fame. “While we understand the current challenges, we are disappointed in the delay,” Twins President Dave St. Peter said Wednesday. And if either comes up short again, the next vote is scheduled for December 2026. In his 22-year career, Baines, an outfielder, hit .289 with 384 home runs and 1,628 RBIs in 11,092 plate appearances. Until then, reason exists for criticism. Becoming a favorite of manager Whitey Herzog, he remained with the Cardinals through July of 1983, by which time he had celebrated his 44th birthday. “They handled it pretty fairly, and I liked what they did,” Clippard said of the team’s decision to suspend the pitchers, then temporarily option them off the 28-man roster, as punishment. Second, he was a skilled and highly conditioned athlete who could run and hit better than most pitchers. Oliva, the eight-time All-Star and three-time AL batting champion for the Twins, was 76 years old when he received 11 of 16 votes, one short of the required 75%, in 2014. So it should not be surprising that he also clubbed 16 home runs, including three long balls during the 1964 season. Here's where you can get statistics, TV information and more to follow the Sunday night's game between the Vikings and Atlanta at U.S. Bank Stadium. Consequently, an eligible voter may choose to withhold a vote for a player with statistics one might consider Hall of Fame worthy. Kaat often caught hitters off guard, simply because they were so used to pitchers taking anywhere from eight to 15 seconds in between pitches. He was a member of the 1982 St. Louis Cardinals that won a World Series. Baines was my biggest issue. They both deserve the tremendous honor. He retired when injuries to his hips and legs couldn’t carry him any longer. His highest vote total in that period was 5.9%. With catlike reflexes and a quick pickoff move to first base that reinforced his nickname of “Kitty” (which was also a play on his last name), Kaat snared a then record 16 Gold Gloves, the highest total for a pitcher before the days of Greg Maddux. At 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, Kaat had the size of a first baseman. For Kaat, it was just the latest in a long line of visits to Cooperstown. It was a tendency that some have referred to as quick pitching. He was a good player. Think again, A regulatory rush by federal agencies to secure Trump's legacy, Ex-Vikings coach Bud Grant: 'I'm not a bird watcher. Jim Kaat has not thrown a pitch in a major league game in 33 years, but I can still picture the unusual pitching motion that he used at the tail-end of his career. The delay, in other words, is particularly discouraging as the years go by. He still had that V-shape, with those broad shoulders and that slim waistline. Making the Case For: We talked about Jim Kaat and his chances of making the Hall, but we’ll go a little more in depth here. While he played for five different franchises, he was primarily known for his work with the Minnesota Twins. During his career, Kaat won 283 games with 2,461 strikeouts and an Earned Run Average of 3.45. Ironically, Kaat would not come to bat in 1973, the year of this memorable card. “I have a picture of him on my desk standing in front of the old museum in 1947; you can imagine what it looked like then, and that was the year of Lefty Grove’s induction to the Hall of Fame. That’s because of the American League’s adoption of the DH rule, which allowed teams to substitute a hitter in the place of the pitcher’s spot in the batting order. All those years later, Jim “Kitty” Kaat looked like he could still handle a bat and crank up a pretty good swing in the batter’s box. They just shouldn’t be the be-all and end-all of determining whether a pitcher has had enough that day and needs to be replaced by a fresh relief pitcher. Hall of Fame staffers are also baseball fans and love to share their stories. There are none. When he retired in 1983, Kaat became the last member of the original Washington Senators to call it quits, a tribute to his longevity. (Photo by Louis Requena/MLB via Getty Images), EY & Citi On The Importance Of Resilience And Innovation, Impact 50: Investors Seeking Profit — And Pushing For Change. BL-6099-71b (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library). Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. “That’s what we all kind of realize. Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins Player (1959 – 1973) The standard can’t be whatever a voter has in mind. Those are the two most notable requirements for consideration. LEADING OFF: Astros-Rays go to Game 7, LA trails Braves 3-2. Former Cubs third baseman Ron Santo narrowly missed veterans-committee election three times over a decade, and died a year before he finally cleared 75% in 2011. Life is enhanced for a Hall of Famers. He drove in 80 runs in a season only twice. At first, he worked in the Twins booth from 1988 to 1993. Was he of Hall of Fame caliber? Here is a fan's perspective from Cooperstown. This kind of action shot has become commonplace in recent years, but in 1973, it was practically unheard for a card to showcase a pitcher’s hitting prowess - or lack thereof. Chicago White Sox Player (1973 – 1975) Kaat made it seem that his retirement decision came down to the standard issues of advancing age and fatigue, but it really stemmed from a desire to tend to his ailing wife, who was seriously ill at the time. By comparison to Baines, outfielder Larry Walker was voted into the Hall of Fame as part of the 2020 class with 76.6% of the vote. He was removed from the writer’s ballot after five years. Maybe the voters never saw Kaat pitch. While the ’73 set has taken some criticism for some of the “long distance” action shots, photographs in which it is difficult to tell which of the players is actually being featured, this card is a well-focused shot of Kaat in his Twins uniform. He had a .313 batting average with 383 home runs and 1,311 RBIs. The rumors had swirled for weeks, but Kaat did not officially announce his plans until Sept. 10, in the midst of a late-season game against the Toronto Blue Jays. He won 283 games, just 17 shy of that magic 300 wins number that some voters have used as a criterion. Jim Kaat won 14 Gold Gloves. Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Ted Simmons and Marvin Miller were elected to the Hall of Fame last winter, the latter two by veterans committees, but this year’s induction ceremonies were postponed until next summer by the pandemic. In his 6,676 plate appearances, Belle hit 381 home runs and drove in 1,239 runs. After attending MLB Scout School, I became a professional baseball scout for the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners.
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