Catfish Hunter

Birth Name:

James Augustus Hunter

Birth Date:

April 8, 1946

Birth Place:

Hertford, North Carolina

Death Date:

September 9, 1999

Place of Death:

Family Farm, Hertford, North Carolina

Age:

Cause of Death:

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease)

Cemetery Name:

Cedarwood Cemetery

Claim to Fame:

Sports

Jim "Catfish" Hunter, whose pitching prowess earned him five World Series rings, 224 victories, a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame and made him the game's first big-money free agent. Recruited right out of high school at age 18, Hunter won his first major-league game, and a year after that, at 20, he made the American League All-Star team in a season in which he finished 9-11. He reached 20 wins for the first time in 1971 with a 21-11 record and won at least 20 games the next four seasons. In 1974, he was 25-12 and won the Cy Young Award. In 1968, he pitched a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins, the seventh perfect game in modern baseball history at the time. And the Athletics, by then in Oakland, dominated baseball in the early '70s with the likes of Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, Gene Tenace, Rollie Fingers and a group that played hard, on and off the field. "We were the long-haired, mustached gang from Oakland," Hunter said. "We were lucky just to be there, was what they said." After the Oakland A's, Hunter signed with the New York Yankees not because they offered the most money, but rather it was close to his home in North Carolina. Hunter's first season with the Yankees was his last of five consecutive 20-win years. He was 23-14 for the 1975 Yankees and pitched for them until 1979, when he retired at 33, with a 224-166 record and a 3.26 ERA. He was on World Series-winning teams with Oakland in 1972-74 and New York in 1977-78. At age 52 he was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and passed away the following year.

Fun Fact

The story goes the nickname “Catfish” was due to his enjoyment of catching catfish in the river in his hometown. Not true. Charlie Finley, owner of the Athletics baseball team coined the nickname for Jimmy as a marketing ploy.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Cedarwood Cemetery

372 Hyde Park Street

Hertford, North Carolina, 27944

USA

North America

Map:

Cemetery map of Cedarwood Cemetery in Hertford, North Carolina (copyright 2022 Google).

Grave Location:

Hunter Family Plot

Grave Location Description

As you enter the cemetery on Hyde Park Street drive through the old section through a tree break and continue 300 feet to the monument for baseball legend Jim “Catfish” Hunter on the left, opposite the flag pole.