Quote:
|
And for all of you who bang on pitch and inning counts, Catfish won 200 games by age 30, 23 after 30 and was out of baseball at age 33, going 2 and 9 in his final season. His career was very similar to many young arms who started pitching in the early and mid 60's.
|
You mean like Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Fergie Jenkins, Jim Palmer, Steve Carlton, Gaylord Perry, Don Sutton and Phil Niekro?
BTW, Catfish announced before the 1979 season began that it would be his last. His wife was pregnant and he wanted to spend more time with family. Also, although he did suffer from arm trouble that year, he lost his mentor, Clyde Klutz, one of his best friends, Thurman Munson, and his father all during that season. Whether he had anything left in the tank at that point seems irrelevant under those circumstances.