Two years before George Steinbrenner signed Reggie Jackson to play on the right court and sell tickets, The Boss made a significant signing when he brought Jim (Catfish) Hunter from Oakland to The Bronx through a five-year contract worth $ 3.75 million on New Year’s Eve 1975.
Hunter became a free agent due to technical problems in his agreement with owner A, Charlie Finley.
In Hunter’s first year with the Yankees, they failed to reach the postseason, even though it wasn’t Hunter’s fault. The 29-year-old left-handed player leads the department with 23 wins, 30 complete matches, 328 innings and posted 2.58 ERA in 39 matches.
Hunter came second after Jackson in a New York Post sports department poll about signing the best free agency in New York sports, but ahead of Mike Mussina and CC Sabathia.
“You started our success,” wrote Matt Kelly, a former communications specialist at the Hall of Fame about what Steinbrenner said to Hunter when he was appointed to the Hall of Fame in 1987. “You were the first person to teach us how to win.”
Hunter never duplicated the 1975 season and retired after the 1979 season, when he went 2-9 with 5.31 ERA in 19 starts. In five seasons with the Yankees, Hunter went 63-53 with 3.58 ERA in 137 matches (136 starts).
He died in 1999 because of ALS at the age of 53.
