Oakland Athletics Top Ten Pitchers in Franchise History

#2: RHP Catfish Hunter

Athletics’ right-hander Catfish Hunter was one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the franchise. At the end of his career, he had a 224-166 record, a 3.26 lifetime ERA, and 2,012 strikeouts.

Hunter pitched a perfect game on Wednesday, May 8, 1968 against the Minnesota Twins. It was the ninth perfect game in history, and Hunter not only kept Twins’ hitters from reaching base, but also was responsible for three of the A’s runs in the 4-0 victory. In 1974, the A’s ace took home the Cy Young Award after posting a 2.49 ERA and a 25-12 record in 41 starts.

After ten very successful seasons with the Athletics that included three World Series championships, he moved on to the New York Yankees, where he won two more World Series titles before finally retiring in 1979. He was an eight-time All-Star, with six of those appearances occurring during his stint as an A’s starter, and the remaining two as a Yankee.

Twice, Hunter led the AL in wins and win percentage, once in complete games, and once in ERA. In 1991, the Athletics retired his number 27 – the first jersey in A’s history to be retired. He is also one of 14 A’s greats to be elected into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame, and he was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987 on his third year of eligibility.

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