Why Jim Kaat Deserves His Plaque in the Hall of Fame

Today, Jim Kaat, 39 years after the end of his 25-year pitching career, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. Kaat, now 83 years old, was the lead-off speaker from the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022. The love of baseball is often passed on from father to son; so it was for Kaat. He opened his speech by recounting a trip to Briggs Stadium in Detroit in 1946 when he was 7 years old. He told us about the joy of seeing the expanse of green grass and watching future Hall of Famers Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, and Hank Greenberg. He finished by describing the pride he felt when he won his first and only World Series Championship with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982, in his second to last Major League Baseball season at the age of 43.

Last December, Kaat was one of the ten candidates on the Golden Days Hall of Fame ballot, which considered players who played between 1950 and 1969. Kaat was one of four players elected by the Golden Days Committee, the others being Minnie Minoso, the Cuban-born outfielder and first black player for the Chicago White Sox, longtime Dodgers first baseman Gil Hodges, and Kaat’s teammate with the Minnesota Twins, right fielder Tony Oliva. Minoso and Hodges will be inducted posthumously, as will Negro League legends Buck O’Neil and Bud Fowler. Kaat and Oliva, who were teammates with the Twins for 10 seasons, will be on stage to enjoy the honor, as will David Oritz, the lone inductee by the BBBWAA (Baseball Writers Association of America).

Kaat, whose career spanned four decades (from 1959-1983), had been considered for a plaque in Cooperstown 20 previous times before without success, although he came close a few times recently. Kaat was one of only four players (and the only pitcher) to compete in the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s: Willie McCovey, Minoso, and Tim McCarver (Kaat’s teammate during his Philadelphia years) were the others. Prior to his election, Kaat’s 283 career wins and 4,530.1 innings pitched were the 3rd highest totals (in both categories) for any pitcher since 1901 absent the Hall of Fame (behind Roger Clemens and Tommy John). Kaat pitched until he was 44 years old but only started 19 games in his final five seasons (while appearing in relief 204 times), depriving him of the chance to reach the 300-win park that would have punched his ticket to Cooperstown decades ago.

The 6’5″ Kaat (nicknamed “Kitty’) was a swift worker and a terrific all-around athlete. He was a good hitter for a pitcher, with 16 home runs and 106 RBI. He was also one of the best fielding pitchers in baseball history, earning 16 Gold Gloves. Kaat had unconventional views about conditioning when he was playing, believing in spending much more time throwing and less time running. Kaat’s theories worked for him. He was durable, rarely missing time due to a pitching-related injury. He logged 200 or more innings in 14 out of his first full 16 campaigns.

This was the 6th time Kaat had been on the Hall’s “2nd chance” ballot. In his five previous appearances on either the Veterans or Eras Committee ballots, he got over 50% of the vote but less than 75%. In most things in life, gaining over 50% of the vote makes you a winner, but not when it comes to the Hall of Fame. This time, he hit 75% “on the number,” getting 12 votes out of 16, just enough to get his plaque in Cooperstown in the summer of 2022.

“I really didn’t think this day would ever come. It comes as more of a gift to me, and I’m so appreciative of the guys that I played with and against that I think rewarded durability and dependability along with dominance, which the Hall of Fame usually rewards — rightly so. The added happiness I have is I get to share it with my teammate Tony Oliva, who I have known for so long since he came up as a kid and developed into a Gold Glove outfielder.”

— Jim Kaat (mlb.com, December 5, 2021)

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Cooperstown Cred: Jim Kaat (SP)

• Senators (1959-60), Twins (1961-72), White Sox (1973-75), Phillies (1976-79), Yankees (1979-80), Cardinals (1980-83)
• Career: 283-237 (.544), 3.45 ERA, 108 ERA+
• Career: 50.5 bWAR (Wins Above Replacement) (including pitching and hitting)
• Career: 4,530.1 IP is the 17th most since 1901
• Won 20 or more games three times
• 3-time All-Star, won 16 Gold Glove Awards

(cover photo: SB Nation)

This piece was originally posted in October 2021. It has been updated to reflect Kaat’s status as a Hall of Famer.

Jim Kaat Career Highlights

James Lee Kaat was born on November 7th, 1938, in Zeeland, Michigan, a small Dutch town about 25 miles west of Grand Rapids. Kaat’s father, John, was a passionate baseball fan and passed on that passion to his red-haired son, who wanted to be a pitcher ever since attending that first game in Detroit

At age 18, in June 1957, Kaat’s dreams of being a professional baseball player came true when the Washington Senators signed him. He pitched in 3 games with the big club in Washington in 1959 and 13 in 1960 before becoming a full-time starter with the Minnesota Twins in 1961 (the franchise moved from the nation’s capital to the Twin Cities after the 1960 campaign).

Kaat pitched well in his first full-time campaign (3.90 ERA) but managed just a 9-17 record due to weak run support. Then, the tall lefthander had a breakout campaign in 1962; he went 18-14 with a 3.14 ERA. He was selected to his first All-Star team and won the first of his 16 consecutive Gold Gloves. Kaat’s 16 Gold Gloves are tied for the second-most (with Brooks Robinson) in Major League Baseball history, behind only Greg Maddux‘s 18.

Thanks in part to Kaat’s 18 wins and Camilo Pascual‘s 20, Sam Mele’s Twins improved from 70 wins in 1961 to 91 wins in ’62, putting them 5 games behind the New York Yankees in the American League. Led by Kaat, Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew, and Tony Oliva (also inducted to the Hall of Fame today), the Twins were one of the top teams in the A.L. from 1962 to 1970.

Bothered partly by shoulder soreness, Kaat had an off-year in 1963 (10-10, 4.19 ERA) before rebounding in 1964 (17-11, 3.22 ERA). In 1965, Kaat went 18-11 with a 2.83 ERA, while teammates Killebrew, Oliva, and shortstop Zolio Versalles (the A.L. MVP) helped the Twins to a 102-win campaign, which was good enough to secure the franchise’s first A.L. pennant since 1933.

The 1965 World Series

The Twins were matched up in the Fall Classic against the Los Angeles Dodgers, led by Hall of Fame hurlers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. Koufax, in particular, was at the top of his game: he went 26-8 with a 2.04 ERA, a stratospheric 382 strikeouts, and microscopic 0.855 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning) while Drysdale was a mere 23-12 with a 2.77 ERA.

Although Koufax could have started Game 1, the game occurred on Yom Kippur. Thus, Drysdale started the opener at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington against 21-game winner Mudcat Grant. The Twins scored 7 runs off Dandy Don in less than 3 innings of work, leading to an easy 8-2 win.

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In Game 2, in a matchup of pitchers with last names starting with K, it was Kaat against Koufax. For the first 5 1/2 frames, the two lefties matched zeroes. Then, in the bottom of the 5th, an error by third baseman Jim Gilliam allowed Versalles to reach 2nd base. After a sacrifice bunt by Joe Nossek, Oliva delivered an RBI double, followed by Killebrew’s RBI single. The Dodgers clawed back with a run in the top of the 7th. With one out and runners on 1st and 2nd, Alston decided to pinch-hit for Koufax (with Drysdale). Kaat struck out Drysdale and then got Maury Wills to fly out.

The Twins scored a run in the bottom of the 7th against Dodgers reliever Ron Perranoski. Then, in the bottom of the 8th, Mele left Kaat in the game to bat with two outs and the bases loaded. Kitty helped his cause by delivering a two-run single to increase the lead to 5-1. The Dodgers started to rally in the top of the 9th (Jim Lefebvre singled, Wes Parker reached on a hit batsman), but Kaat induced a groundout to first by John Roseboro and recorded the final out himself by spearing a line drive back to the mound by Dick Tracewski. Overall, Kaat gave up just one run in his complete-game victory, giving up 7 hits while recording a World Series record with 5 putouts.

With the series back in Los Angeles for Game 3 through 5, the fortunes of the Dodgers turned around. In Game 3, Claude Osteen tossed a 5-hit shutout to lead the Dodgers to a 4-0 win. Then, in a rematch of the Game 1 pitching card, Drysdale bested Grant in Game 4 (with Los Angeles winning 7-2).

Kaat and Koufax matched up again in Game 5. At Dodger Stadium, Koufax was almost always brilliant, and so he was in this game. He tossed a 4-hit shutout (with 10 K’s) while the Dodgers scored 4 runs (3 earned) against Kaat in just 2.1 innings of work.

The teams returned to Minnesota for Game 6. Grant, pitching on two days of rest, bested Osteen for a 5-1 victory. For Game 7, both managers rolled out their ace lefties, both also pitching on just two days’ rest in front of a record crowd of 50,596. Kaat and Koufax both started with 3 scoreless frames. Then, in the top of the 4th, Dodgers left fielder Lou Johnson belted a solo home run to left field. The next batter (right fielder Ron Fairly) doubled to right. Then, Parker stroked a ground-ball single to right to score Fairly. With everything on the line, Mele replaced Kaat with reliever Al Worthington.

Neither team would score after that. Koufax finished with a 3-hit shutout (along with another 10 strikeouts). For the 2nd time in 3 years, The Left Arm of God was the World Series MVP. Overall, Kaat was 1-2 with a respectable 3.77 ERA in 3 Fall Classic starts. He had the misfortune of being matched up all three times against the greatest World Series pitcher of all time, who was elected to the Hall of Fame 50 years ago (in 1972) and was in Cooperstown today to witness Kaat’s induction.

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25-Game Winner

The Twins were expected to contend again in 1966 but slumped early in the season before rebounding to win 89 games, a good total but 8 fewer than the 97 of the Baltimore Orioles. For the Twins’ ace lefthander, it was a career year. Kaat went 25-13 with a 2.75 ERA. He led the American League in wins, complete games (19), innings pitched (304.2), and his rate of 1.6 walks per 9 innings was also the league’s best. Kaat made his second All-Star squad and finished 5th in the A.L. MVP vote, behind Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Boog Powell (all on the Orioles), and Killebrew.

Given that no other A.L. pitcher finished in the top 10 of the MVP vote, Kaat would have undoubtedly won the Cy Young Award in ’66 except that, at the time, only one award was conferred, to the best pitcher in all of Major League Baseball. Koufax, in his final campaign, went 27-9 with a 1.73 ERA and 317 punchouts. He was an easy unanimous selection as the MLB Cy Young winner. Given that, at the time, writers only voted for their first choice for the Cy Young, Kaat didn’t even get the “credit” of a 2nd place finish. It was Kitty’s bad luck that his best campaign came in the last year before the leagues awarded separate Cy Young honors.

The 1967 Pennant Chase

The 1967 season was famous for its four-team pennant chase involving the Twins, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago White Sox. The Twins started the season with a mediocre 25-25 record, which led to the firing of Mele. Kaat got off to a lousy start himself, which didn’t help Mele’s cause: Kitty was 1-7 with a 6.00 ERA in his first 13 outings. Under new manager Cal Erner, Kaat turned things around, going 15-6 with a 2.11 ERA in his final 29 games pitched.

By the end of August, after a walk-off win against the Orioles, the Twins were 74-58 and a half-game behind the Red Sox. At the time, Kaat’s record was a mere 9-13, and he had a 3.55 ERA. In September, Kitty went on a great run, winning 7 consecutive starts with a 1.56 ERA; he completed 6 out of those 7 starts, all of which occurred on three days of rest or less.

The Twins were in Boston for a season-ending two-game series. On Saturday, September 30th, they entered play with a one-game lead over the Red Sox and Tigers. Kaat started the first game for Minnesota and had a 1-0 lead as he took to the hill for the top of the 3rd inning. After striking out Red Sox pitcher Jose Santiago, Kitty was lifted after throwing two balls to second baseman Mike Andrews. The usually durable lefty felt “something pop” in his left arm. Three Minnesota relief pitchers gave up 6 runs to the Red Sox. Kaat was later diagnosed with a torn muscle; his and the Twins’ season ended as Boston won both games to secure the pennant.

Minnesota slumped in 1968, winning just 79 games. Still recovering from his injury the previous fall, Kaat started the campaign on the disabled list, ultimately going 14-12 with a 2.94 ERA in just 29 starts.

1969-70: Dawn of the LCS Era

Before the 1969 season, baseball expanded from 20 to 24 teams. The leagues were each split into two divisions, and the pitching mound was lowered. Ermer was replaced as the team’s skipper by Billy Martin. As it would be many times in his managerial career, Martin turned his team’s fortunes around quickly.

Offensively, the Twins were deep, led by Killebrew, Oliva, and third-year star Rod Carew. The Twins comfortably won the A.L. West with a 97-65 record; they finished 9 games ahead of the Oakland Athletics.

On this team, Kaat was the 3rd best starter (14-13, 3.49 ERA), behind 20-game winners Jim Perry and Dave Boswell. However, Martin wasn’t a big fan of the 30-year-old lefthander. So, after posting four losses in August, Kaat was used chiefly in relief in September. In one of those relief appearances (in Oakland), Kaat entered in the 9th inning and stuck around until the Twins finally prevailed in the 18th!

In the first-ever American League Championship Series, the Twins were matched up against the 108-win Baltimore Orioles. The O’s won Game 1 by a 4-3 score in 12 innings and eked out a 1-0 victory in Game 2, in 11 frames. Although Kaat was the obvious choice to start Game 3 in Minnesota, Martin chose instead to start swingman Bob Miller, against the wishes of owner Calvin Griffith. Martin’s move backfired; Miller and six relief pitchers (not including Kaat) were battered by the Orioles, who cruised to an easy 11-2 win and a sweep of the ALCS.

Due in part to his insubordination in the ALCS, Martin was fired and replaced by veteran skipper Bill Rigney. The 1970 Twins had a rotation filled with pitchers who were already big names or would be later. Besides Kaat (14-10, 3.56 ERA), they had Jim Perry, who went 24-12 (3.04 ERA) to win the A.L. Cy Young, beating his younger brother Gaylord to the honor. This was also the rookie campaign for 19-year old Bert Blyleven (10-9, 3.18 ERA). The Twins also had Boswell and the newly acquired Luis Tiant, but both hurlers missed significant time due to injury. (Incidentally, Blyleven was a member of the Golden Days Committee that elected Kaat and Oliva to the Hall of Fame).

Thanks additionally to a career-best year for Oliva (.325, 23 HR, 107 RBI, 204 Hits), the Twins were good enough to win 98 games and claim their second straight A.L. West crown, setting up a rematch with the Orioles. This edition of the O’s (108 wins) was just as powerful as the 1969 edition; once again, the Twins were swept in the ALCS. Kaat drew the Game 3 start against future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer. After giving up 4 runs on 6 hits, Kaat was lifted in the bottom of the 3rd inning; the O’s cruised to a 6-1 victory and another World Series berth.

Jim Kaat’s Final 3 Seasons in Minnesota

Kaat was steady but not superb in 1971 (13-14, 3.32 ERA), but Perry regressed (17-17, 4.23 ERA), and the bullpen collapsed: the Twins fell to a 74-win team, beginning a 16-year stretch of mediocrity in which the franchise would miss the postseason.

The first player’s strike briefly delayed the 1972 season, and Kaat’s was slowed slightly further by a mild arm injury. He made his season debut with 6 innings of scoreless ball on April 29th in the team’s 9th game. The scoreless outing sparked a terrific run of 15 starts in which he went 10-2 with a scintillating 2.06 ERA. In the 15th start, on July 2nd, Kaat reached first base on a fielder’s choice in the top of the 6th (off the White Sox’ Goose Gossage) and then injured his left hand while sliding into 2nd base on a groundout by Cesar Tovar. Kaat stayed in the game to toss 2.2 more innings but X-rays later revealed a fracture, and Kaat’s season was finished.

Kaat did not pitch nearly as well in 1973 as he had in 1972. After going 10-9 in his first 23 appearances (3.50 ERA), Kitty had a rough stretch in which he posted an ugly 10.88 ERA in 6 starts. Then, in what would turn out to be a disastrous move, Twins owner Calvin Griffith put Kaat on waivers. Three teams (the New York Yankees, Kansas City Royals, and Chicago White Sox) claimed the 34-year old lefty, with the Chisox getting the rights to Kaat’s services.

1973-75: Renaissance in Chicago

In Chicago, Jim Kaat was reunited with pitching coach Johnny Sain, who had been with the Twins in 1965 when Kitty won 25 games. As it often happens in baseball, a change of scenery breathes new life into a player’s career. In his first game with the White Sox, Kaat tossed a complete game against the Detroit Tigers. Ultimately, he finished the season overall with a 15-13 record and 4.37 ERA.

Under manager Chuck Tanner, Kaat was a workhorse for the White Sox and once again emerged as a top-flight hurler in the American League. Despite pitching for an average 80-win team in 1974, Kitty went 21-13 with a 2.92 ERA in 39 starts (277.1 IP). At 36 years of age (in 1975), Kaat had another big season, going 20-14 with a 3.11 ERA in 303.2 innings. He made his 3rd All-Star team in ’75 and finished 4th in the Cy Young voting behind Palmer, Catfish Hunter, and Rollie Fingers.

During his brief tenure with the Chisox, Kaat’s teammates included the future Hall of Famer Gossage and Dick Allen, who is was a candidate for the Hall on the Golden Days ballot but fell one vote shy of the Hall of Fame.

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1976-79: Sunshine and Clouds in Philadelphia

In December 1975, after his two consecutive 20-win seasons, Kaat was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, an emerging contender looking to bolster their starting rotation. On the Phillies, he was reunited with Allen and joined a team featuring two future first-ballot Hall of Famers,  Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton.

At the start of the ’76 campaign, the 37-year-old Kaat was given the honor of being named the team’s Opening Day starter. Kitty delivered a 7-inning effort (3 runs, 2 earned) in a no-decision. Overall, Kaat got off to a great start with the Phillies, going 10-4 with a 2.63 ERA in his first 23 outings (including one relief appearance). However, he slumped severely in his next 15 outings (1-10, 5.31 ERA) before finishing his season with 6 scoreless innings (and a victory) in St. Louis. Thanks to having 14 starts in which the ordinarily high-scoring Phillies managed two runs or less, Kitty finished his maiden campaign in Philadelphia with a 12-14 mark (3.48 ERA).

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The Phillies easily won the National League East (101-61), setting up an NLCS date against the defending World Series champion Cincinnati Reds. The Reds won the first two games (at Veterans Stadium) reasonably easily, setting up a Game 3 matchup between Kaat and Gary Nolan.

Against the mighty Big Red Machine lineup, Kaat started the game with 6 scoreless innings. The Phillies had a 3-0 lead as the 7th inning started. Kaat gave up a leadoff single to Griffey and then walked Joe Morgan. With three right-handed sluggers coming up (Tony Perez, George Foster, Johnny Bench), manager Danny Ozark replaced Kaat with righty Ron Reed. The veteran Reed then allowed both inherited runners to score, followed a few batters later with a 2-run triple by Cesar Geronimo. The Phillies would come back to take a 6-4 lead, but then Reed gave up back-to-back home runs to Foster and Bench in the 9th. Later in the frame, Griffey delivered a one-out, walk-off, bases-loaded single off Tom Underwood, giving the Big Red Machine a sweep and a Fall Classic date with the New York Yankees.

Kaat, now at 38, had a pretty awful year in 1977, going 6-11 with a 5.39 ERA (in 27 starts, 8 relief appearances). However, Kaat started strong in 1979, tossing a 3-hit shutout in his first start of the season. He went 3-0 with a 2.63 ERA in his first 8 outings but sagged to a 5-5 record (5.04 ERA) in his final 18 appearances. Overall, he went 8-5 with a 4.10 ERA in 140.1 innings. The Phillies won the East in both ’77 and ’78, but Kaat did not appear in either postseason, with the team falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS both years.

1979-83: Jim Kaat’s Final 5 Seasons

Jim Kaat started the 1979 season as the odd-man-out in the Phillies rotation, a 5th starter who was only scheduled to be used when the team played for five days in a row. His first start was in the team’s 15th game; he showed his rust, getting tagged for 3 runs in 2.1 innings. That would be his final start for the Phillies. After that, he made two relief appearances in May, the second of which was a 4-inning effort that gave him his 262nd career win and caught the eye of New York Yankees team president Al Rosen, who made a deal to purchase Kaat’s contract.

Rosen, who referred to Kitty as “a very young 40-year old man,” purchased Kaat to help a beleaguered bullpen. Goose Gossage was on the disabled list, Sparky Lyle had been traded, and Dick Tidrow had been ineffective. The move to New York gave Kaat a chance to pitch for a team that had won two straight World Series titles, but the transition to a full-time relief role may have ultimately been what had previously kept him out of the Hall of Fame for decades. Kaat pitched reasonably well out of the bullpen (3.86 ERA in 58.1 innings), but he only won two games.

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The 1979 season was the one in which catcher Thurman Munson was killed in a plane crash; the Yankees won 89 games but finished far behind the Baltimore Orioles in the A.L. East. Kaat was re-signed by the team in the off-season (getting a healthy $150,000 deal) but was ineffective at the start of the 1980 campaign. As a result, he was sold to the St. Louis Cardinals at the end of April. Kaat was primarily used in relief but did get 14 spot starts; he finished the campaign with an 8-8 record and a 3.94 ERA.

Kaat spent the final three years of his career (1981-83) almost exclusively out of the pen, appearing in 127 games; only 3 were starts. He went 11-9 in those three campaigns, with a 3.82 ERA. The ’82 Cardinals (skippered by future Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog) won the World Series in 7 games. Kaat appeared in the first 4 games in the ’82 Fall Classic (against the Milwaukee Brewers), posting a 3.86 ERA. Kaat called the World Series title the greatest moment of his career.

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At the age of 44, Kitty appeared in 24 games in 1983 (3.89) without adding to his career total of 283 wins. He was released on July 6th. He went to spring training with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1985 but did not make the team.

Kaat has spent most of his post-playing career as a broadcaster, working for the Twins, Yankees, and six different national networks.

Jim Kaat and the Hall of Fame Ballot

By hanging around until 1983, Kaat may have unintentionally hurt his chances at getting higher vote totals from the members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). The reason is this: had he retired after the ’82 campaign (as a World Series champion), he would have hit the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot in 1988, when the only other major pitching candidates on the ballot were Jim Bunning, Luis Tiant, and Mickey Lolich.

Remember that, at the time, the key factors that Hall of Fame voters looked for were total wins, ERA, 20-win seasons, Cy Young Awards, and All-Star appearances. With those thoughts in mind, take a look at the basic resumes for this quartet, none of whom won a Cy Young:

• Jim Kaat: 283-237 (.544), 3.45 ERA, won 20+ games 3 times, 3-time All-Star
• Luis Tiant: 229-172 (.571), 3.30 ERA, won 20+ games 4 times, 3-time All-Star
• Jim Bunning: 224-189 (.549), 3.27 ERA, won 20+ games once, 9-time All-Star
• Mickey Lolich: 217-191 (.532), 3.44 ERA, won 20+ games twice, 3-time All-Star

Now, Kaat was not on this ballot, but he does look pretty good compared to the others. The career wins total is what separates him from the rest. In real life, Bunning was on the ballot for the 9th time and nearly got into the Hall with a 74.2% vote share. On the ballot for the first time, Tiant got a solid 30.9%, while Lolich got 25.5% in his 4th turn with the BBWAA.

But Kaat wasn’t on that ballot. His first look by the writers came on the 1989 ballot, but he was one of three hurlers to hit that year, the others being Gaylord Perry and Fergie Jenkins. By comparison to those guys, Kaat’s record looked considerably weaker.

• Gaylord Perry: 314-265 (.542), 3.11 ERA, won 20+ games 5 times, 5 ASG, 2-time Cy Young
• Fergie Jenkins: 284-226 (.557), 3.34 ERA, won 20+ games 7 times, 3 ASG, 1971 Cy Young
• Jim Kaat: 283-237 (.544), 3.45 ERA, won 20+ games 3 times, 3 ASG

Besides Perry and Jenkins, the 1989 ballot had two legends on it, Carl Yastrzemski and Johnny Bench. The writers put both Yaz and Bench into the Hall on the first try, while Perry (68.0%) and Jenkins (52.3%) fell short. In the meantime, Tiant’s vote share plummeted to 10.5%, while Kaat debuted with 19.5%.

Anyway, it just kept getting harder for Kaat: in 1989, Jim Palmer hit the ballot (with Joe Morgan); both players were first-ballot inductees. Palmer was a 3-time Cy Young Award winner and won 20+ games a whopping 8 times, so he was an easy Hall call despite “only” 268 career victories.

In 1991, with no new big-name starters hitting the ballot, Perry and Jenkins finally got their plaques, and any momentum Kaat might have gained was lost forever.

With Tom Seaver hitting the ballot in 1992, Phil Niekro in ’93, and Steve Carlton/Don Sutton in ’94, Kaat’s numbers kept looking inferior (and they were inferior) to his peers.

Kaat never got more than 29.6% of the vote, which he got in 1993.

I am not saying that Kaat would have made the Hall via the BBWAA if he had hit the ballot one year earlier. My point is this: Tiant debuted in 1988 with 30.9% but, one year later, got barely half of the vote share that Kaat received. In the meantime, Bunning, so close in ’88, fell back to 63.3%. So, had Kaat been on that 1988 ballot, he might have garnered a vote tally in the mid-to-high 40s. But that’s not how it happened. Instead, Kaat had to compete for votes against Perry and Jenkins. The BBWAA members of that era were much stingier with their ballots than they are today; many would limit their selections to 1 or 2 names from a particular position.

Anyway, most (not all) players who reach 40% or higher in the BBWAA vote eventually get into Cooperstown via the Veterans Committee.

Five Close Calls with the Veterans Committees

As previously noted, Jim Kaat had previously gotten a lot of respect from the Veterans Committee (now called the Eras Committee) over the years. After topping out at 29.6% in 15 turns on the BBWAA ballot, Kaat got over 50% support in five different appearances on the Veterans Committee ballots before making it with exactly 75% this Sunday.

From 2003-09, the Hall of Fame opened the Veterans Committee vote to all living Hall of Famers. Unfortunately, nobody ever got the requisite 75% vote tally to get a plaque in Cooperstown, and, thus, the Hall decided to go back to the smaller committees. Kaat was on the Vets ballot in 2005, ’07, and ’09.

• 2005: got 43 out of 80 votes (54%)
• 2007: got 52 out of 84 votes (63%)
• 2009: got 38 out of 64 votes (59%)

Kaat finished behind Ron Santo, Gil Hodges, and Tony Oliva on the 2005 ballot but was the 2nd-highest vote-getter (behind Santo) in both ’07 and ’09. Santo was finally elected (posthumously) on the “Golden Era” ballot in 2012. On that small-committee ballot, Santo got 15 out of 16 votes. Kaat again was in 2nd place, getting 10 votes, two shy of the 12 required for a plaque.

Then, in the infamous “Golden Era” shutout of 2015, Kaat again came up just short, again getting 10 out of 12. (On that same ballot, Oliva and Dick Allen received 11 votes, both falling merely one vote short of immortality).

The Case for and against Jim Kaat for Cooperstown

Now we’ve just established that a majority of Jim Kaat’s peers felt that he was worthy of a spot in the Hall of Fame, but not a super-majority (75%) until last December, the question is whether the majority was correct, that Kitty deserves his plaque.

Let’s start with the most obvious point in favor:

Kaat’s career wins (283) were the most for any 20th-century pitcher who is not in the Hall of Fame. (Tommy John had 288 W’s, while Roger Clemens logged 247 out of his 354 victories in the 20th century).

Other points in favor:

• He won 20 or more games 3 times in his career.
• His 625 career games started are the 17th most in baseball history.
• He won 16 Gold Gloves, the same number as the great Brooks Robinson. Only Greg Maddux (18) has won more.
• His 4,530.1 career innings are the 25th most of all time. Among non-Hall of Famers, he’s behind only Clemens, John, and 19th-century workhorses Bobby Mathews and Tony Mullane.

Who are Bobby Matthews and Tony Mullane?

Please enjoy the following tangent before returning to our regularly scheduled programming.

For those who are curious, here is a brief history lesson about Mathews and Mullane. Mathews started his MLB career in 1871, at the age of 19, in the National Association (NA). He pitched for 5 years in that league (the only 5 years that the league existed), going 131-112 with a 2.69 ERA. He then went 21-34 with a 2.86 ERA in the National League; that ERA seems good until you are informed that the league ERA was 2.31. Mathews won only 20 games in the N.L. from 1877-81 before logging 19 wins with the Boston Red Stockings in ’82. The 5’5″ Mathews spent his final 5 seasons pitching for the Philadelphia Athletics in the American Association (AA), which existed only from 1882-91. Mathews finished his career with a 297-248 (.545) record and a 2.86 (104 ERA+). His 297 wins are the most for any pitcher absent from the Hall of Fame other than Clemens.

Mullane went 284-220 (.563) with a 3.05 ERA (117 ERA+) in his 13-year career. Mullane’s spent most of his prolific years in the American Association, from 1882-89. In those years, he posted 202 out of his career 284 victories.

Although the NA and the AA are officially considered Major Leagues, they were not of the same quality as the National League, founded in 1876. There are only two pitchers who won over 100 games in the NA or the AA who are in the Hall of Fame. The two (Al Spalding and Candy Cummings, who both pitched in the NA) were elected as pioneers, not as players.

As for the other non Hall of Famer ahead of Kaat in Wins, Games Started, and Innings, most baseball fans have heard of Tommy John, if not for his pitching prowess, then for the ulnar collateral surgery that bears his name.

We now return to our featured attraction.

Why it Took So Long for Kaat to Make the Hall of Fame (the Basic Case Against)

The reason why Jim Kaat (and Tommy John) never made the Hall of Fame (until Kaat got elected last fall) essentially comes down to this: they were workhorses who logged a lot of innings but fell short of the magic number of 300 wins. Kaat’s career was from 1959 to 1983 (John’s from 1963-89). This was an era in which 300-game winners were plentiful: Carlton, Sutton, Ryan, Niekro, Perry, and Seaver all passed that magic mark. Kaat and John were lumped into the “260-288 club” with Bert Blyleven, Jenkins, and Palmer, and, frankly, neither were as good as any of those three.

For many years, Blyleven (who won 287 games) was in the same low-respect boat with Kaat and John on the BBWAA ballot. In his first 6 years on the ballot, the Flying Dutchman topped out at 29.2%. However, Blyleven started gaining respect with the voters when the statistic WAR (Wins Above Replacement) began to gain traction. Because of his scintillating 2.8 strikeout-to-walk ratio, Blyleven’s career WAR is 96.1, which is a slam-dunk number for a plaque in Cooperstown. (By comparison, John’s Baseball-Reference pitching WAR is 62.1, Kaat’s just 45.2).

Still, for the years that Kaat was on the BBWAA ballot, WAR was not a known (or even-yet-invented) statistic. He was just a guy who, despite pitching forever, never cracked the 300-win barrier.

The Counting Stats Problem

This leads to another problem with Katt’s Cooperstown case: he’s 31st all-time in Wins (with 283) but 16th in Losses (with 237). He’s also given up the 17th-most Earned Runs (1,738), the 16th-most Hits (4,620), and 15th-most Home Runs (395) despite being “only” 25th in innings pitched (4,530.1). Generally, for a Hall of Famer, you would want to have those numbers reversed, being lower on the “bad stat” leaderboards than on the “how much you pitched” leaderboard. Kaat himself has acknowledged as much, self-reflecting that he was “durable” but not “dominant” as a MLB pitcher.

When compared against his peers in the ’60s and ’70s, there’s another factor to consider. His 625 career games started are the 17th most in baseball history, but he had “only” 180 complete games (173rd most) and 31 shutouts (103rd most). Now, in fairness, those ranks compare him to 19th-century pitchers and those from the early 20th century, when almost all starters went 9 innings.

Anyway, in today’s game, 180 games completed and 31 completed with zero runs allowed would make a pitcher an all-time great, but in Kaat’s era, those numbers were rather pedestrian.

Similarity Scores

Decades ago, sabermetric pioneer Bill James created the “similarity score,” which assigns points on a 1-to-1,000 scale to indicate the two players whose career statistics are “most similar.” Since this was an 80s invention, the only statistics considered are the traditional counting stats: no WAR, WHIP, or FIP.

These are the top 4 players on Jim Kaat’s similarity score list, as shown on Baseball-Reference:

1. Tommy John (923.3 similarity score)
2. Robin Roberts (917.6)
3. Fergie Jenkins (892.1)
4. Eppa Rixey (875.9)

OK, three of the top four names (Roberts, Jenkins, and Rixey) belong to players with plaques in Cooperstown. Plus, there are four more Hall of Famers (Blyleven, Early Wynn, Burleigh Grimes, and Red Ruffing) on Kitty’s Top 10 list.

Let’s take a look at Kaat’s numbers compared to the top four on the list, using basic counting stats:

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At quick glance, we notice that Kitty has the highest ERA, but it’s not much higher. Regarding Jenkins’ 3.34 ERA (just 11 points lower than Kaat’s), he gets bonus points for spending more than half of his career pitching for the Chicago Cubs and calling Wrigley Field his home ballpark.

As a Hall of Fame candidate, Jenkins sailed into Cooperstown on the 3rd try because he had a couple of things that Hall of Fame voters used to really care about, 20-win seasons and a Cy Young Award.

Still, on this list, Kaat looks like he belongs in the Hall.

The Fog of Pitching WAR

To finish our comparison between Jim Kaat and the top four pitchers on his Similarity Score list, let’s dive into some metrics that weren’t considered when any of these men were being considered for the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA.

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bWAR = Baseball-Reference Version of WAR

fWAR = FanGraphs version of WAR

FIP = Fielding Independent Pitching 

You’ll notice that the two main sabermetric sites (Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs) have wildly different WAR calculations for pitchers. This is one reason why many people who vote for Hall of Famers don’t pay much attention to WAR. The calculations represent objective methodology, yes, but they are fueled by subjective decisions by their creators regarding how to calculate that “value.”

Kaat’s WAR per Baseball-Reference makes him a fairly dubious candidate for the Hall, but his FanGraphs WAR shines a much more favorable light on his career. So why is Kaat’s fWAR so much higher than his bWAR?

Pardon me while I dive into the weeds. First, the Baseball-Reference version of WAR is calculated using Runs Allowed per 9 innings (whether they’re earned or not). Then, there are plusses or minuses based on ballpark effects, the quality of the pitcher’s opponents, and the quality of the defense behind him. The FanGraphs version of WAR is calculated by using Fielding Independent Pitching: it takes defense out of the mix by focusing on walks, hit batters, strikeouts, and home runs allowed.

Breaking down Jim Kaat’s 1965 Campaign

Let’s use 1965 as an example. We’ve already shared Kaat’s raw numbers (18-11, 2.83 ERA). Looks really good, yes? Well, the two WAR calculations have wildly different conclusions. His fWAR for 1965 is a solid 4.3, but his bWAR is a mere 0.4, barely above replacement level. That’s a massive difference, the difference between calling ’65 a season that builds towards a Hall of Fame career and one that doesn’t.

What is it that the Baseball-Reference algorithm found so weak in Kaat’s ’65 campaign? Well, for starters, Kaat allowed a lot of unearned runs, 38 to be precise. So, although his ERA was a solid 2.83, his RA9 (runs allowed per 9 innings) was a not-so-great 4.12. At the same time, the formula credits the Twins’ defense with being 0.47 runs above average per 9 innings of Kaat’s starts. So, generalizing, the formula concludes that the good defense combined with lots of unearned runs means that most of those unearned runs were the pitcher’s fault.

It’s always been true that there’s a loophole that diminishes the value of ERA as a metric of pitcher performance: it’s that, once there are two outs in the inning, and there was an error that kept the inning alive, all subsequent runs are unearned.

Here’s an example of the “spirit” of the ERA statistic, at least in my opinion. On Opening Day in Minnesota, Kaat and the Twins had a 4-3 lead over the New York Yankees. In the 9th, Kaat had gotten two outs, and there was a runner on 2nd. Then, needing just that one out to secure a victory, third baseman Cesar Tovar dropped a popup by Joe Pepitone, allowing the tying run to score. Thus, the run was unearned (deservedly), and Kaat was deprived of a victory (remember, he finished the season with 18 wins).

Now, here’s an example of where ERA doesn’t work. In his fourth start of the season, against the Indians, Kaat lasted only 2.2 innings, giving up 5 hits with a walk and 6 runs, all of which were unearned. In the 1st inning, a two-out error on a pop fly to short right field by Tovar (playing 2nd base) prevented Kaat from having a 1-2-3 inning. The batter (Leon Wagner) reached 2nd base on the miscue. After the error, Rocky Colavito singled to center field to drive in the run. The next batter (Max Alvis) hit a 2-run home run to give the Indians a 3-0 lead. All 3 runs were unearned.

Then, leading off the bottom of the 3rd, Dick Howser hit a fly ball to right field; Tony Oliva made an error, and Howser reached 3rd base. He was driven in by the next batter (Chuck Hinton), who singled to left. Then Wagner came up again and grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, which would have ended the inning if not for Oliva’s error. However, the inning wasn’t over in real life, and Kaat walked Colavito. Then, Alvis hit a fly ball to left, which was misplayed for a two-base error by Bob Allison. Then, with runners on 2nd and 3rd, Vic Davalillo drove in both runs with a single to left. After giving up another single, manager Sam Mele took Kaat out of the game.

OK, I’m sure you see what I’m referring to as the ERA “loophole.” All of Kaat’s runs in this game were unearned, but he did give up a single and home run after Tovar’s first-inning drop. And, although he was bedeviled by two errors in the 3rd, he did give up three hits and a walk. But, for his overall ERA, it’s as if he pitched 2.2 scoreless innings. ERA doesn’t count any of the 6 runs, but RA/9 counts them all. What Kitty deserved is somewhere in the middle.

Anyway, if you go through all of Kaat’s game logs, you’ll find more examples of this. On July 25th in Baltimore, Kitty lasted only 1.2 innings after giving up 4 runs on 5 hits. All of the runs were unearned because they scored with 2 outs after first and second-inning errors by the Twins that prolonged the innings.

What Does This All Mean?

In the previous section, we’ve seen quite plainly that Kaat didn’t pitch quite as well in 1965 as his 2.83 ERA might suggest. But does he deserve a paltry 0.4 WAR from Baseball-Reference? Remember, that weak number is based on the high number of unearned runs (which is, at least partially, legitimate) but also based on the overall defensive excellence of the Twins. The formula, which diminishes Kaat’s WAR in 1965 by assigning 0.47 runs of benefit to him by superior team defense, is explained this way:

“We take the team’s total balls in play, the balls in play for this pitcher and the team’s total runs saved and split the runs among all of the team’s pitchers.”

— Baseball-Reference (explaining RA9def, “Runs per 9 IP of support from defense”)

Led by MVP winner and Gold Glover winner Zolio Versalles, the 1965 Twins had a great overall team defense but, note the key phrase: “split the runs among all of the team’s pitchers.”

Take a look at the stats for the pitchers on the 1965 Twins:

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I’ve highlighted the Runs and Earned Runs on the graphic to illustrate that the bulk of unearned runs given up by the 1965 Twins pitchers were attributed to Kaat. To be precise:

• Jim Kaat: 38 unearned runs
• Rest of Team: 54 unearned runs

Here’s another simple way to look at it.

You don’t have to have a Ph.D. in sabermetrics to see that, while the Twins team defense might have been superb overall, it sure seems like they weren’t always their best when Kaat was on the mound!

This is why Kaat’s bWAR was 0.4 in 1965, and his fWAR was 4.3. The bWAR version is fielding-dependent; the fWAR version is fielding-independent.

Here’s the conclusion and the answer to “what does this all mean?”: WAR is evolving science. The different versions involve complex calculations which can amplify minor biases. It’s a valuable tool to compare pitchers across generations or to compare the relative value of a hitter to a pitcher. But, if you’re a serious baseball fan with a basic understanding of statistics, you’ll see things that just don’t make sense. The exercise I always attempt to undertake is to figure out why someone’s WAR is surprisingly low or high.

Concerning the Hall of Fame worthiness of Jim Kaat, as measured by WAR, I’m looking at his career pitching value as something in between his 45.3 bWAR and his 70.9 fWAR.

Also noteworthy: Kaat was a pretty good hitter for a pitcher: he had 106 career RBI, the 8th most for a pitcher since World War II. Baseball-Reference credits him with 5.3 WAR in value from the offensive side of the game, giving him a total of 50.6.

Was Kaat Unlucky to Have Not Won 300 Games?

We’ve already established that as fine a career as Jim Kaat had, his record was surpassed by several of his contemporaries. Hall of Fame candidates are usually compared to their peers, and justifiably so. In today’s game of 6-inning starters, Kaat’s career totals of 180 complete games and 31 shutouts would be other-worldly, but they’re not extraordinary at all for his era.

And, so, before getting to the conclusion of this piece, which is now almost as long as Kaat’s career, allow me to pose this question: was Kaat unlucky to have not finished with 300 career victories, which would have certainly punched his ticket to Cooperstown decades ago? He finished with 283 wins in real life, which is pretty darned good but, clearly, not good enough for a long time when it comes to the Hall of Fame.

We’ve already seen how, in 1965, his defense let him down for 38 unearned runs, likely costing him his first 20-win season.

Then, remember that in 1972, Kaat was 10-2 with a 2.06 ERA in his first 15 starts, but, on July 2nd, he broke his hand while sliding into 2nd base and missed the rest of the season. I never, ever give pitchers credit for “lost time” due to an injury to their pitching arms, but this was a freak injury that had nothing to do with the wear-and-tear of his left arm. It was incredibly unlucky because, just one year later, the American League instituted the designated hitter rule. If the rule had been implemented in 1972, the traditionally durable Kaat wouldn’t have been on the bases and might have won another 8-to-10 games.

If he’d gotten those 8-to-10 more wins in 1972, he would likely have been close enough to 300 near the end of his career that some team would have given him a chance to get there.

As we’ve seen, Kaat’s final year as a full-time starter was in 1978. Kaat only logged 19 more starts in his last 5 seasons while pitching 204 times out of the bullpen. With only 22 wins in those 5 years, Kaat finished short at 283.

Take a look at the numbers of Kaat and some of his contemporaries who also pitched well into their 40s.

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Now, Phil Niekro and Nolan Ryan were freaks (for completely different reasons) but Kaat’s performance (based on ERA or ERA+) in his 40+ campaigns isn’t demonstrably different than the seasons authored by Tommy John, Gaylord Perry, or Don Sutton, with the notable exception that the other three hurlers got to start games and Kaat didn’t.

What’s the point? If Kaat had been pitching for different teams with different managers, he might have made more starts and gotten enough wins to cross the 300-W finish line. John, in particular, got the chance to “compile” his 288 wins in a way Kaat didn’t for his 283.

Conclusion

Jim Kaat deserves his plaque in the Hall of Fame. While he was clearly not quite up to the standards of the top pitchers of his era, he was very close and, with a little luck, could have gotten the 300 wins that would have punched his ticket to Cooperstown decades ago.

For those who have scrolled to the “conclusion” section of this piece, I’ll briefly recap some of the bad luck that has helped keep Kaat from reaching 300 wins, earning more accolades, and thus out of the Hall:

1. Kaat would have won the A.L. Cy Young Award in 1966, but this was the last year in which only one award was issued (to all pitchers in Major League Baseball). His 25-13 record (2.75 ERA) was the best in the A.L. but was dwarfed by Sandy Koufax’s 27-9 mark (1.73 ERA).
2. He lost about 20 starts in 1972 when he injured his left hand while running the bases. He was having a great year (10-2, 2.06 ERA); the injury may have cost him a 4th 20-win season. Injuries are a part of the game but if the A.L. had implemented the DH rule one year earlier, this one would never have happened.
3. His teams and managers used him almost exclusively in relief for the final 5 years of his career. From 1979 to 1983 he appeared in 223 games but in only 19 of them as the starting pitcher. Thus he won only 22 games in these 5 seasons, another reason he fell 17 wins shy of 300.

“I can take pride in saying that I never really missed a start because of an arm injury. I slid into second and broke my wrist in ’72. That cost me maybe half of the season I was having. And then I pinch-ran in ’76 and hit third base and cracked my kneecap. Two baserunning injuries hurt my career, but I always took pride in saying I want the ball every four days.”

— Jim Kaat (mlb.com, December 5, 2021)

It would be fair to argue that bad luck and “what might have been” isn’t good enough as an argument for a spot in Cooperstown. So I’ll finish by making the point that Kaat is far and away the best pitching candidate available from the era that was considered on the Golden Days Committee, which looks at candidates whose primary impact was from 1950-69.

Note: Tommy John and Luis Tiant have recently been candidates considered by the “Modern Baseball” Eras Committee, which is for players whose primary impact was from 1970-87 (John pitched from 1963-89).

Here is a list of the 7 pitchers who debuted between 1940 and 1960 and who won at least 200 games or posted a Baseball-Reference WAR of 45 or above.

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In my humble opinion, it’s not close.

Jim Kaat won 283 games. He pitched 4,530.1 innings. He won 16 Gold Gloves. He was durable, helping his teams for decades. He’s now 83 years old. It was time. He deserves his plaque in Cooperstown and is a welcome addition to the Hall of Fame family now that his plaque has been unveiled today.

Thanks for reading.

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