ZEELAND, Mich. — On July 24, 1963, Major League Baseball’s Jim Kaat, a left-handed pitcher from Zeeland, Michigan, threw a complete-game shutout and hit a home run for a 5–0 Minnesota Twins win over the Cleveland Indians.

On July 24, 2022, exactly 59 years to the day later, Kaat will be in Cooperstown, New York, for the ceremony inducting him into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

It’s an honor that’s been a long time coming…

Born in Zeeland on November 7, 1938, James Lee Kaat—nicknamed “Kitty”—later attended Hope College, studying speech and journalism and pitching for the Flying Dutchmen baseball team. He earned All-MIAA honors as a freshman in 1957 and was soon signed by the Washington Senators as an amateur free agent. He spent the rest of 1957 and 1958 in the minor leagues before being pulled up to the majors in 1959.

Kaat’s 25-year career spanned four decades, and he was the first to set the 20th-century record of playing during the administrations of seven U.S. presidents: Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan. As one of the few left-handed pitchers in the MLB, Kaat was known to be durable and dependable.

“I never wanted to do anything but play baseball,” he admitted.

And play baseball he did! Kaat’s major league career looked like this:

• Washington Senators: 1959–60 (The Senators moved to Minnesota and became the Twins.)
• Minnesota Twins: 1961–73
• Chicago White Sox: 1973–75
• Philadelphia Phillies: 1976–79
• New York Yankees: 1979–80
• St. Louis Cardinals: 1980–83

With the Twins, Kaat was named the top American League pitcher in 1966. The year before, he had pitched for the Twins in the 1965 World Series, but he earned his only World Series ring in 1982 while pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Overall, with five different teams, Kaat recorded 283 victories in his career. He had three 20-win seasons and received 16 Gold Glove Awards. Of his 283 victories, 190 were with the Twins—Kaat is the winningest pitcher in Twins history. He was inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in 2001.

After he retired from baseball, he served briefly as pitching coach for the Cincinnati Reds, but soon went on to a second career as a national sportscaster. For the next 22 years, Kaat called hundreds of games for the New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins, eventually earning seven Emmy Awards for his excellence in broadcasting.

Even after his second retirement, Kaat still partners with Dick Bremer on a number of Twins broadcasts each year. He also started a sports management company, Southpaw Enterprises, Inc., which represents pitchers exclusively, and he wrote a best-selling book, Still Pitching.

In the midst of his fame and fortune, Kaat still remembers his roots. Here in West Michigan, he is a longtime supporter of Zeeland Little League and Zeeland Recreation. In addition, the Jim Kaat Ball Park on Quincy Street (part of Helder Park) was named in his honor. The professionally designed and well-manicured ball park features three little league fields, a playground, gazebo, concessions area, and restroom facilities.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame’s 16-member Golden Era Committee (focusing on players from the 1947 to 1972 era) considered Jim Kaat both in 2011 and in 2014. After twice falling short of the required 12-vote minimum, Kaat never expected another opportunity. But for him, the third time was the charm, and at 83 years old—38 years after he retired from baseball—Kaat learned on December 5 that he had finally earned the crowning achievement of his career.

“It was overwhelming when I got the call,” he confessed. “I never thought this day would come. I had the Hall of Fame in my rear-view mirror. This is truly a gift!”

Kaat was quick to say which logo he would be wearing on the plaque displayed in Cooperstown: “The Twins, no question,” he declared. “I was in that organization the longest, and that’s the team I want to be identified with.”

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