Today we reach the final American League player to get the "on-base-card" All-Star banner for 1974, Hall of Fame pitcher Jim "Catfish" Hunter:
Hunter had himself quite a
year in 1973, topping 20 wins for the third straight season with 21,
going 21-5 with a 3.34 earned run average and 124 strikeouts over 36
appearances.
Along the way he tossed three shutouts while completing 11 games, pitching a total of 256.1 innings.
Of
course more importantly he also helped the Oakland A's win their second
straight World Series, and they weren't done yet as they'd march to
their third straight championship in 1974, beating the Los Angeles
Dodgers.
Of course we all know Hunter would become one of the
early big-time Free Agents, signing with the New York Yankees in time
for the 1975 season, and he'd go on to enjoy another two championships,
helping the "Bronx Zoo" Yanks win it all in both 1977 and 1978.
Sadly,
though still only 33 years of age in 1979, he called it a career after
injuries took their toll, finishing up with a record of 224 and 166,
with an ERA of 3.26 with 42 shutouts and 2012 strikeouts over 500 games,
476 of those starts, completing 181.
In 1987 he'd be voted into the Hall of Fame, and sadly just 12 years later he would pass away at the age of only 53 due to ALS.
