Kaat gets fresh start in Chicago

“In ’73, I wasn’t pitching well,” said Kaat, according to Minnesota’s Pioneer Press. “I’d developed a screwball in ’72, and when I came back in ’73 after being inactive for half a year (due to a broken hand), I didn’t have a lot of touch and feel on my pitches. The organization had reached a point where they just said, ‘We don’t think this guy can pitch anymore.’”

Kaat posted an 11-12 record with a 4.41 ERA through 29 appearances for Minnesota in 1973. After spending his first two seasons with the Washington Senators before the franchise moved to Minnesota, the lefty held a key spot in the Twins’ rotation for 12 seasons, including helping lead the club to the 1965 American League pennant.

Believing there was little left in the tank for the 34-year-old, the Twins waived Kaat, only to see him get picked up by the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 15, 1973.

In the home stretch of ‘73, Kaat hurled a solid seven games for the Sox, throwing three complete games including one shutout. With a 4-1 record to begin his time in Chicago, Kaat was primed to take an important role in the rotation leading into the next season.

With confidence back in his arsenal and a new quick-pitch delivery, Kaat authored back-to-back 20-win seasons in 1974 and 1975, posting a combined 41-27 record and 3.08 ERA during those years. After completing his tenure in Chicago with an All-Star Game nod and two Gold Glove Awards, Kaat was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies after the ’75 season.

“I was lucky the White Sox chose to pick me up,” Kaat told the Pioneer Press. “In a perfect world, I would have loved to have pitched (in Minnesota) my whole career, but every place I went from then on was really a step up for me personally.”

Kaat would spend the three seasons in Philly before joining the New York Yankees for parts of the 1979 and 1980 seasons. During his time in New York, Kaat’s duties on the hill would evolve into a bullpen role, only starting one game in his short stint with the Yanks.

In 1980, Kaat was dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals, where he would finish his career after the 1983 season. As the oldest member on the team, the veteran pitcher’s leadership and work in relief helped the Cards win the 1982 World Series – in which Kaat made four appearances.

“I felt like when my career ended in St. Louis, even though I was disappointed when it ended, I thought it was the best 25-year paid vacation I could have hoped for,” Kaat told KSDK in St. Louis.

Following his retirement, Kaat joined the Cincinnati Reds as a pitching coach from 1984-1985 before venturing into a career in broadcasting in 1986. He called games for both the Yankees and Twins and served as an analyst for several national baseball media outlets.