This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/24/2014
Dominant right-hander Jim “Catfish” Hunter was one of Major League Baseball’s most sought-after commodities in the mid-‘70s. A perennial All-Star with the Oakland Athletics, he signed a five-year deal with the New York Yankees in 1975 that made him baseball’s highest-paid player. And with good reason. In 1974, Hunter led the A’s to their third straight World Series title after compiling a 25-12 regular-season record with a 2.49 ERA and 143 K’s. For his efforts, he was named the American League’s Cy Young Award winner. It was Hunter’s only Cy Young Award of his career. The nearly 12-pound prize measure 13” wide by 16”” high and features a carved, black base with a raised sterling silver design that shows a right hand cupping a two-fingered fastball. The silver nameplate on the award reads: “CY YOUNG AWARD Presented to Jim ‘Catfish’ Hunter Most Valuable Pitcher American League 1974.” Hunter was just the 12th American League pitcher to be so honored since the award's inception in 1956 as there was just one Cy Young Award winner named for both leagues from '56 through 1966.