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by Alan Babbitt
Former Hope College pitcher Jim Kaat will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., this summer.
Kaat, who earned All-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association honors in 1957, went on to pitch in Major League Baseball for 25 seasons and win 283 games.
Kaat was drafted by the Washington Senators in 1957 and debuted in the big leagues two years later.
"I never wanted to do anything but play baseball," Kaat, now 83, said in 1982. "I owe the game a lot. "I don't think anybody in his right mind, signing a contract when he's 18 years old, could expect to be playing this game when he's 44."
Kaat and former Minnesota Twins teammate Tony Oliva were two of six legends elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday. They join fellow Golden Days Era electees Gil Hodges and Minnie Miñoso and Early Baseball Era electees Bud Fowler and Buck O'Neil.
The induction ceremony will be held on July 24, 2022, in Cooperstown.
National Baseball Hall of Fame Release
The left-handed Kaat pitched for 25 seasons with the Senators, Twins, White Sox, Phillies, Yankees and Cardinals, winning 283 games. He retired in 1983 at the age of 44.
The Zeeland, Michigan native led the American League with 25 wins in 1966, one of his three 20-win seasons. He topped the American League with five shutouts in 1962.
A three-time All-Star and 16-time Gold Glove Award winner, Kaat ranks 17th all-time with 625 career games and 25th with 4,530 ⅓ innings pitched.
Kaat helped the Twins win the 1965 American League pennant and the Phillies win National League East titles from 1976-78 before transitioning to the bullpen, when he was a key member of manager Whitey Herzog's bullpen as the Cardinals won the 1982 World Series.
The Golden Days Era Committee considered a ballot of 10 candidates whose primary contributions came from 1950-69. The Early Baseball Era Committee considered a 10-person ballot whose primary contributions came prior to 1950.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame contributed to this report.