Kansas City/Oakland Athletics Hunter signed with the A's on June 8, 1964, for a reported $75,000, but did not play professionally during the 1964 regular season due to foot surgery and the subsequent recovery from his hunting accident the previous fall. He made his professional baseball debut in the
Florida Instructional League in the fall of 1964. It is commonly cited that Finley gave Hunter the nickname "Catfish" in
1965 because he thought his 19-year-old pitcher needed a flashy nickname. However, news articles published mere days after his signing in 1964 reference the nickname (as well as that of
John "Blue Moon" Odom, who signed at the same time). Aside from the fall stint in the instructional league, Hunter never played in the
minor leagues. He made his major league debut in May, 1965 and earned his first win on July 27 in
Fenway Park over the
Boston Red Sox. In
1966 and
1967, he was named to the
American League All-Star team. Prior to the
1968 season, Finley moved the A's from
Kansas City to
Oakland. On Wednesday, May 8, against the
Minnesota Twins, Hunter pitched the ninth
perfect game in baseball history. It was the first regular season perfect game in 46 years in the American League since
Charlie Robertson's perfect game in , (excluding
Don Larsen's perfect game in the
1956 World Series). Hunter continued to win games, and in
1974 received both
The Sporting News's "Pitcher of the Year" award and the American League
Cy Young Award after going 25–12 with a league-leading 2.49
earned run average. The A's also won their third consecutive
World Series. Hunter's statistics while he was with the Athletics were impressive: four consecutive years with at least 20 wins, and three
World Series championships without a loss. Twenty days later on December 16, arbitrator Peter Seitz decided in favor of Hunter, officially making him a
free agent. Hunter recalled being scared after he was declared a free agent. "We don't belong to anybody", he told his wife. He had been courted by 23 of the 24 teams, including the A's but not the
San Francisco Giants, and refused higher offers from the
San Diego Padres and the
Kansas City Royals. New York was closer to his home in North Carolina and the team played on natural grass. Finley attempted to have the arbitration ruling overturned, but was unsuccessful after several appeals. Further details of Finley's history with Hunter gave the A's owner added negative publicity. Hunter became known as baseball's "first big-money free agent". He also became only the fourth (and last) American League pitcher to win 20 games in a season for five consecutive seasons (1971–1975). The others were
Walter Johnson (10),
Lefty Grove (7), and
Bob Feller (5). In
1976, Hunter won 17 games, led the Yankees in complete games and innings pitched, and was again named to the
All-Star team. The Yankees won three straight pennants with Hunter from 1976 to
1978. In 1976, Hunter became the fourth major league pitcher to win 200 games before the age of 31 and the only one since
Walter Johnson in 1915, preceded by
Cy Young and
Christy Mathewson. Hunter was also a competent hitter, with a career batting average of .226; in
1971 he hit .350 with 36 hits in 38 games. After the
designated hitter was adopted by the American League in , Hunter had only two plate appearances in his final seven seasons, with one base hit in 1973. Hunter won his Opening Day start in
1977, limiting the
Milwaukee Brewers to three hits over seven shutout innings in a 3–0 victory on April 7. He left the game with a bruised foot and was eventually placed on the 21-day
disabled list with the injury, not pitching again until May 5. Arm injuries plagued Hunter beginning in
1978. In spring training, he was diagnosed with
diabetes and combined with his chronic arm trouble the disease began to sap Hunter's energy. Following the
1979 season and the end of his five-year contract, Hunter retired from baseball at age 33. Hunter won 63 games in his five seasons with the Yankees. He retired with appearances in six World Series and with five World Series championships. While with the Yankees, Hunter was a resident of
Norwood, New Jersey, preferring to live outside of New York City. ==Later life==