We begin our “25 Greatest Oakland A’s Wins” countdown with one of the more remarkable feats in the history of the franchise: Catfish Hunter's Perfect Game.
By 1968, the A’s had made their move from Kansas City to Oakland after a difficult tenure in KC, riddled with losing and mediocrity. As the move to Oakland was in the works, the A’s slowly began assembling an impressive group of talented young ballplayers, and at front of that group was Jim 'Catfish' Hunter.
Jim Hunter, as he was known at the time, was a 22-year-old, starting pitcher from Hertford, North Carolina. He was nicknamed “Catfish” by A’s owner, Charlie Finley after he was signed out of high school, and quite literally, Finley made up a story about the origin of the nickname so he could be easier to market.
By 1968, the A’s had made their move from Kansas City to Oakland after a difficult tenure in KC, riddled with losing and mediocrity. As the move to Oakland was in the works, the A’s slowly began assembling an impressive group of talented young ballplayers, and at front of that group was Jim 'Catfish' Hunter.
Jim Hunter, as he was known at the time, was a 22-year-old, starting pitcher from Hertford, North Carolina. He was nicknamed “Catfish” by A’s owner, Charlie Finley after he was signed out of high school, and quite literally, Finley made up a story about the origin of the nickname so he could be easier to market.
Playing in the Coliseum, the Oakland community was still trying to wrap their head around the A’s as a ball club and were in the process of really getting to know the players. On the night of May 8th, 1968, the first “wow” moment for the Oakland Athletics was about to happen. Going into the game, the A’s were 12-12, which is a record that would resonate with them until the end of the season as they finished 82-80. The Minnesota Twins were the opponent of the A’s at the Coliseum that night, and a small attendance of 6,298 were the lucky few that experienced first hand that night of history in the making.
The game began and from the onset, Catfish looked quite sharp and tidy, while his opposite number, Twins starting pitcher, Dave Boswell looked cool but not as sharp, as he gave up a few scattered hits at the beginning of the ballgame.
The game had the look of a classic pitchers duel, which was quite common during that age of baseball. As the game went on, it was clear that any runs were going to be the decisive blow.
Catfish was previously scouted as a shortstop in high school, and was an impressive hitter growing up. On that night the North Carolina farmhand would end up being the hero on the mound and in the batters box (the Designated Hitter would not be instituted in the American League until 1973). In his first at bat, Hunter doubled but didn’t come around to score as he was stranded at second, and in his second at bat he flied out to center.
Coming up in the 7th, Catfish was already doing something amazing on the mound, he had retired all 21 batters he had faced, with none reaching base. Surely, he was well on his way to going the distance and pitching a complete game at the least (pitch counts were not tallied at the time). At the plate in the 7th, the score was still 0-0 but A’s Center Fielder, Rick Monday had doubled and advanced on a wild pitch. A’s manager, Bob Kennedy gave Catfish Hunter the bunt sign and it was clear that the squeeze play was on. Catfish got the bunt down, and the bunt was so good that not only Monday scored easily from third, but Catfish also legged out a single. He had certainly taken the game by the horns.
Catfish just got stronger as the game went along, he had already struck out 9 batters heading into the 8th inning, and in the 8th, the Twins once again could not get a baserunner off of Catfish as he forced weak contact on all three batters, and now, Catfish was only 3 straight outs away from a perfect game.
Before he could finish it off, he was going to have to hit again, Twins starting pitcher, Dave Boswell finally ran out of gas in the 8th inning. Boswell walked Danny Cater with the bases loaded which made it a 2-0 A’s lead and Catfish Hunter coming to the plate, bases loaded. The Twins brought in lefty reliever, Ron Perranoski to face Hunter. Continuing his tremendous night with another base hit, Catfish Hunter's hit brought in two more runs and made the score, 4-0 A’s, which seemed to be a commanding lead.
With the score well in hand, history was now on the minds of everyone in attendance. Three outs away, from history. To listen to the last three outs of this performance, there’s a YouTube video of the A’s radio broadcast from that game featuring A’s broadcasting staple, Monte Moore. I definitely recommend listening to it - the quality of the broadcast and the leap back into history are quite fascinating in themselves!
The Twins decided to pinch hit John Roseboro for the first at bat of the 9th just to kind of give Catfish a new batter to look at. Like the 24 batters before him, Roseboro was retired after weakly grounding out to second. Hunter was now two outs away.
Next up was the left handed hitting catcher, Bruce Look. He had already struck out twice to Catfish and by the looks of it, he was just trying to make contact. After one ball, a swinging strike, and another ball high and outside, Look gave Hunter a scare by lining a ball foul with the count at 2-1, he got something to hit but he couldn’t straighten it out and once again, Look was in a hole with the count at 2-2. Catfish then threw a fastball right down the middle and rung him up for the strikeout. Hunter was now one out away.
The pitcher's spot was up next for the Twins, and Rich Reese was pinch hitting for the relief pitcher, Perranoski. Reese to his credit, hung in there with Catfish as he fouled off several pitches and even worked the count to 3-2, Hunter then got Reese looking at that critical moment, and the perfecto was complete!!!
It was only the 14th perfect game in major league history, and it was the first perfect game thrown in the American League in 46 years. His pitching line read: 9.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 SO. That alone is a legendary performance, but when you also factor in his great day at the plate as well, 3-4 with 4 RBIs, and the case is made for one of the greatest individual performances in MLB history.
Regardless of the standings, this victory was the birth of star, a man who would play an integral part in 3 World Series Championships for the A’s over the next 6 years and a man who would garner four 20 game win seasons for the A’s and win the 1974 Cy Young award, as well as make All-Star game appearances in 1970, 1972, 1973, and 1974 with the A’s.
Catfish Hunter made his debut with the Kansas City A’s in 1965 at the age of 19, and his last appearance was in the World Series with the Oakland A’s in 1974. His total numbers with the A’s organization read a record of 161-113 with a 3.13 ERA and an FIP of 3.54. He’d go onto sign one of the first free agent contracts in MLB history with the New York Yankees who opened up the checkbook for Catfish and as he said in his Hall of Fame induction speech, “Made it so I could retire…” He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987 and his number 27 is now retired in Oakland. He is arguably the greatest pitcher in Oakland Athletics history.
Catfish Hunter made his debut with the Kansas City A’s in 1965 at the age of 19, and his last appearance was in the World Series with the Oakland A’s in 1974. His total numbers with the A’s organization read a record of 161-113 with a 3.13 ERA and an FIP of 3.54. He’d go onto sign one of the first free agent contracts in MLB history with the New York Yankees who opened up the checkbook for Catfish and as he said in his Hall of Fame induction speech, “Made it so I could retire…” He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987 and his number 27 is now retired in Oakland. He is arguably the greatest pitcher in Oakland Athletics history.
The game itself, was the first real milestone game in Oakland and created a buzz that would build as the seasons after went on. The year 1968 showcased the young talent that the A’s were forming as their core, and Jim 'Catfish' Hunter was at the forefront.
Next week, WIN #24. Stay tuned!
-- Wes
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