Jim Kaat, a Zeeland native and former Hope College baseball player, pitched for five teams over a 25-year Major League Baseball career and was an award-winning television broadcaster over three decades.
After pitching at Hope, he was signed by the then Washington Senators (Minnesota Twins) as an amateur free agent in 1957.
He pitched for the Minnesota Twins from 1959 to ’73, the Chicago White Sox from ’73 through ’75, the Philadelphia Phillies from ’76-’79, the New York Yankees in ’79 and ’80 and the St. Louis Cardinals from ’80 through ’83. At the time of his retirement in ’83, his 25-year career was the longest of any pitcher in major league history and is currently third all-time behind Nolan Ryan (27) and Tommy John (26).
He was a member of the 1965 Twins team that won the American League pennant, and he started three games in the 1965 World Series, matching up with legend Sandy Koufax on all three occasions. He won a complete game victory in that series.
His best season was in 1966, when he won a league-leading 25 games. He finished fifth in the MVP voting and was named the American League Pitcher of the Year by The Sporting News. The National League's Sandy Koufax won the Cy Young Award. That marked the last year in which only one award was given for both leagues.
He earned a World Series ring in 1982 with St. Louis. He pitched in four games out of the bullpen in the ’82 World Series.
A three-time MLB All-Star, he was a Gold Glove winner 16 times, the second-best total in MLB history behind Greg Maddux. He led the American League in shutouts with five in 1962 and was the AL leader in wins with 25 and complete games with 19 in 1966. He finished his career with 283 wins, 237 losses, and that included three 20-win seasons. He pitched in 898 games, 4,530 innings, had 625 starting assignments, 180 complete games, 31 shutouts and 17 saves with a 3.45 career ERA and .947 fielding percentage.
He launched his sportscasting career doing games for the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins on their networks for 22 years, and then worked several years calling games for the MLB Network and also worked with ESPN. He won seven Emmy awards for sports broadcasting between 1996 and 2005.
Kaat also became an author, penning Still Pitching, and started a sports management company called Southpaw Enterprises, Inc., representing baseball pitchers.
In 2014, he appeared for the second time as a candidate on the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Golden Era Committee election ballot for possible Hall of Fame consideration. He missed getting inducted by two votes.
The Zeeland Little League calls Kaat Fields its home, thanks to a memorial fund created by Kaat after his wife MaryAnn Kaat died in 2008.