Jim Kaat: timeline

Born: November 7, 1938

1957: Signed by Washington Senators

1957-9: Minor Leagues

Debut: August 2, 1959 (Senators)

1961: Senators move to Minnesota

1963: Pitched shutout and hit home run in 5-0 win

1965: Twins win Pennant

1966: 25-13, 2.75 ERA, 304.2 IP, 205 Strikeouts, 1.070 WHIP, 19CG, 3 SHO

1970: Pitched shutout and hit home run for second time

1970: Twins win AL West

1973: Signed by Chicago White Sox

1975: Traded to Philadelphia Phillies

1976-8: Phillies win NL East

1979: Purchased by New York Yankees

1980: Purchased by St Louis Cardinals

1982: Cardinals win World Series

1983: Retired

1984-5: Reds pitching coach

1986-present: Broadcaster

2003: Dropped off Hall of Fame ballot (26.2% of vote)


Accomplishments:
1982 World Champion

3x All Star

16x Gold Glove

1966 TSN Pitcher of the Year

7x Emmy Winner

283-237

3.45

898 Games-625 Starts

180 CG

31 SHO

4530.1 IP

2461 Strikeouts

1.259 WHIP

15+ Wins: 8x

20+ Wins: 3x

25 wins (1966): Led League

Sub 3 ERA: 4x

10+ CG: 9x

15+ CG: 4x

200+ IP: 14x

250+ IP: 7x

300+ IP: 2x

200+ Strikeouts: 2x

1.070 WHIP (1966)

Led league in GS: 2x

Led league in CG (19): 1966

Led league in IP (304.2): 1966

Led league in HBP: 2x

Postseason: 1-3, 4.01 ERA, 24.2 IP, 10 Strikeouts, 1.541 WHIP (4 Series)

Sandy Koufax: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1972

Born: December 30, 1935

1954: Made Varsity at University of Cincinnati

1954: Signed with Brooklyn Dodgers

Debut: June 24, 1955 (Dodgers)

1955: Enrolled in Columbia University (took night classes)

1955: Dodgers win World Series

1956: Dodgers win Pennant

1956: Played winter ball

1957: Dodgers move to Los Angeles

1959: Had 16 and 18 strikeout games

1959: Dodgers win World Series

1959-63: Appeared in various television shows

1960-1: Almost quit baseball

1961: Set NL record for strikeouts (269)

1962: Dodgers move out of the Coliseum and begin play at Dodger Stadium

1962-6: NL Pitching Title

1962: No-hit Mets

1962: Struck out side on 9 pitches vs. Mets in no-hitter

1963: No-hit Giants

1963: Struck out 15 Yankees in Game 1 of World Series

1963: Dodgers win World Series

1963: WS MVP

1963: Wins Triple Crown (25-5, 1.88, 306 strikeouts)

1963: Wins MVP and Cy Young Award

1963-6: TSN Pitcher of the Year

1964: Struck out side on 9 pitches (Reds)

1964: No-hit Phillies

1964: Diagnosed with arthritis

1965: Perfect game vs. Cubs

1965: Declined to pitch Game 1 of WS to observe Yom Kippur

1965: Defeats Jim Kaat in Game 7 to win World Series

1965: Dodgers win World Series

1965: SI Sportsman of the Year

1965: Wins Triple Crown (26-8, 2.04, 382 Strikeouts)

1965: Sets record w/382 strikeouts (Since broken)

1965: WS MVP

1965: NL Cy Young

1966: Held out for more money

1966: Dodgers win Pennant

1966: Wins Triple Crown (27-9, 1.73, 317 strikeouts)

1966: NL Cy Young

1966: Hutch Award

1966: Retires

1967-72: Sportscaster for the Saturday Game of the Week

1972: Elected to Hall of Fame (First Ballot)

1972: Dodgers retired #32

1979-90: Minor league pitching coach

1999: All-Century team

2004: Returned to Dodgers

2013: Special Advisor to team chairman

Accomplishments:

4x World Champion

7x All Star

1963 NL MVP

3x Cy Young

3x Triple Crown

2x World Series MVP

Four no-hitters (one perfect game)

All-Century Team

382 Strikeouts (1965)

Won Game 7 of 1965 World Series

165-87

.655 win percentage

2.76 ERA

397 Games-314 starts

137 CG

40 SHO

2324.1 IP

2396 Strikeouts

1.106 WHIP

15+ wins: 5x

25+ wins: 3x

Led league in wins: 3x

Led league in win %: 2x

Led league in ERA: 5x

Sub 3.50 ERA: 5x

Sub 3.00 ERA: 5x

Sub 2.50 ERA: 4x

Sub 2 ERA: 3x

Led league in GS (41): 1966

10+ CG: 6x

15+ CG: 5x

20+ CG: 3x

Led league in CG: 2x

11 SHO (1963)

Led league in SHO: 3x

200+ IP: 5x

300+ IP: 3x

Led league in IP: 2x

200+ Strikeouts: 6x

300 Strikeouts: 3x

Led league in strikeouts: 3x

Led league in WHIP: 4x

1.0            WHIP or less: 4x

Postseason: 4-3, 0.95 ERA, 8 games-7starts, 4 CG, 2 SHO, 57 IP, 0.825 WHIP (4 World Series)

Top 10 Moments in Minnesota Twins History

...and one from the Old Senators....

Senators: 4 Giants: 3 (12 innings) 1924 World Series Game 7: Walter Johnson atones for stinking it up earlier in the series and Bucky Harris’ bad hop single wins the future Minnesota Twins first World Series. The Senators never won another series. The franchise won its next title in 1987.

Twins: 6 Yankees: 0 (April 11, 1961): Twins win first game since move from Washington beating the mighty Yankees and Whitey Ford. Ford went 25-4 that season.

Minnesota: 2 Washington: 1 (September 26, 1965): Jim Kaat beats Senators 2-1 to win pennant. Ironically, the Twins used to play in Washington.

1977: Rod Carew makes a run at .400 and finishes at .388.

Twins: 9 Tigers: 5 (1987 ALCS Game Five): Twins win first pennant since 1965.

Twins: 4 Cardinals: 2 (1987 World Series Game Seven): The Twins win a thrilling Fall Classic in seven games. Frank Viola goes 8 for the win and is the series MVP. It is the franchise's first title since 1924.

Twins: 4 Braves: 3 (11 Innings) 1991 World Series Game 6: The Puckett Game: Hall of Famer Kirby Pucket demonstrated how a single player can take over a game. He made an amazing catch and hit a game winning walk off forcing Game 7 vs. Atlanta.

Twins: 1 Braves: 0 (1991 World Series Game 7): The Jack Morris Game:  Jack Morris pitched 10  shutout innings vs.the Braves. Before the game, most people put their money on John Smoltz. However, those that watched Morris' career and knew the game understood that the Twins held the advantage. The Twins win 1-0 in 10 innings. Morris is the MVP.

2006: Joe Mauer became the first catcher to lead the AL in hitting. Two national league catchers have won batting titles. Bubbles Hargrave in 1926 and Ernie Lombardi in 1938 and 1942. To date, he is the only  catcher with three batting championships.

Twins: 6 Tigers: 5 (12 innings) October 6, 2009: The Twins come back from 3 down with 4 to play to win the Central. In the one game playoff, they beat Detroit in an exciting 12 inning contest. The Tigers led by a run in the 10th and the Twins tied it. In the 12th, Detroit loaded the bases, but failed to score. Brandon Inge was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, but the umpire ignored this. The Twins scored in the 12th and moved on to the ALDS.