Book Review: Catfish: My Life in Baseball by Catfish Hunter and Armen Keteyian

Jim Hunter was born in Hertford, NC. He died there as well. And really, that sums of the person of Jim Hunter. He was a small town guy. He liked to hunt and fish and be out in the country. Catfish Hunter, the baseball player, was a quite a different story. He thrived on big game pressure. He pitched for five teams that won the World Series. He won the American League Cy Young Award in 1974. He was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 1987.

Hunter's biography was published in 1988 shortly after he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. The book covers his childhood in North Carolina and his rise to athletic prowess. Late in high school, Hunter injured his foot - actually severing a toe - in a hunting accident. The injury scared away some of his suitors. But the Kansas City Athletics and their owner the irrepressible Charles Finley signed Hunter. Ushered to the majors quickly, Hunter threw a perfect game in 1968 and helped the A's to three consecutive World Series championships in 1972, 1973 and 1974.

The bombastic Finley gave Hunter the nickname Catfish, making up a story about how Hunter had ran away from home as a kid to go fishing and when his parents found him, he had caught some catfish. Finley also gave the nickname "Mudcat" to pitcher Jim Grant. However, Finley was miserly and failed to pay an annuity that was stipulated in Hunter's contract. Hunter took his case to arbitration and became a free agent when the case was ruled in his favor. He became baseball's best paid pitcher when he signed with the New York Yankees and their owner George Steinbrenner. Hunter played for both of the Yankees World Series winners in 1977 and 1978. However, arm injuries forced him to retire following the 1979 season. He was only 33 years old.

The book continues with his post-playing days back in North Carolina where he settled into the role of gentleman farmer, far away from the bright lights of baseball. Though Hunter was a teammate of Sparky Lyle, anyone expecting a crass, yet funny, tell-all in the same style of Lyle's The Bronx Zoo will be disappointed. This book is mostly devoid of controversy and outrageousness. It reflects well on the kind of person Jim Hunter was.

The book was written a decade before Hunter was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease. Hunter suffered a fall at his home in North Carolina and died as a result on September 9, 1999 at the age of 53.