As a player, coach and broadcaster, Jim Kaat has given more than 65 years of his life to the game of baseball.
When you are that devoted to any field for that amount of time, there should be a plaque in your honor somewhere.
Kaat will get that plaque, but it won’t be on display just anywhere: It will grace the prestigious Plaque Gallery in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
A consistent, reliable, workhouse of a hurler, Kaat spent most of his playing days as a starting pitcher. However, he also proved to be effective coming out of the bullpen late in his major league career.
Kaat was elected to Cooperstown on Dec. 5, 2021 by the Hall of Fame’s Golden Days Era Committee. The honor came years after the crafty left-hander last took the mound in 1983.
“I really didn’t think this day would ever come,” a grateful Kaat said. “This is a gift to me, and I’m so appreciative.”
After retiring from playing, Kaat was never far from the game. He put together an award-winning career as a television baseball analyst and broadcaster, which included stints in the booth with the Twins and Yankees, as well as national networks CBS, NBC, ABC, ESPN and MLB Network. He has won seven Emmy Awards for excellence in broadcasting.
As Kaat neared the end of his playing career in the early 1980s, baseball fans thought his 283 wins would make him a cinch to get into Cooperstown. But things didn’t work out that way. The three-time All-Star just missed garnering enough votes to get elected on a number of occasions.
Still, when considering pitchers of his era, Kaat was always ranked among the best. He managed to play major league baseball for 25 seasons (1959–1983), compiling one of the game’s longest careers.
The southpaw said his career was one of “durability and dependability” more than dominance.
“I know I’m
