Catfish Hunter
Baseball · Hometown: Elizabeth City, NC
- High school
- Perquimans County High School
- Pro team(s)
- Kansas City Athletics, Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees
- Hall of Fame
- ⭐ National Baseball Hall of Fame
James Augustus "Catfish" Hunter was born on April 8, 1946, in Hertford, North Carolina, in Perquimans County, and attended Perquimans County High School, where he was a standout pitcher. At 18, Oakland A's owner Charlie Finley — who gave him the nickname "Catfish" — signed him directly out of high school, and Hunter never spent a single day in the minor leagues. A control artist with a devastating array of pitches, Hunter went on to win five consecutive World Series championships — three with the Oakland Athletics (1972, 1973, 1974) and two with the New York Yankees (1977, 1978) — and win the 1974 American League Cy Young Award. In 1974, after Finley violated his contract, Hunter became the first major free agent in baseball history, signing a landmark $3.75 million deal with the Yankees that transformed the economic landscape of the sport. He retired with 224 career wins and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987. He died in 1999 from ALS at age 53. Attended Perquimans County High School in Hertford, North Carolina.