Kaat’s 25th win in 1966 put him in elite company

Since the first round of MLB expansion in 1961, 14 different pitchers have posted a single season with at least 25 victories.

For Hall of Famer Jim Kaat, his season with 25 wins marked the apex of his 25-year career in the big leagues.

On Sept. 25, 1966, Kaat pitched a four-hit shutout for the Twins against the Detroit Tigers to improve to 25-11. Kaat struck out nine and walked only one in a 1-0 victory powered by a walk-off home run by Tony Oliva in the bottom of the ninth inning.

With the win, Kaat became the third American League pitcher in the Integration Era (post 1946) to win at least 25 games in one season, joining the Red Sox’s Mel Parnell in 1949 and the Yankees’ Whitey Ford in 1961.

“I’ve had a chance to get organized this year,” Kaat told United Press International after his 25th victory. “I go out to the mound with a plan. You must have in mind what is your best pitch for that day, what is your second best and third best and so on. Rate them and use them in order of importance for certain situations, batters you are facing and things like that.”

Kaat set a goal of 20 wins at the start of the 1966 season and was 9-6 heading into action on July 4 when he rolled off wins in five straight outings. He went 7-1 in August to bring his record to 21-9.

From June 24 through the end of the season, Kaat started on three days’ rest – or less – every time out except for the All-Star break and one four-game rest in early September. Four times during that stretch, Kaat started on two days’ rest.

“You can’t classify a man who wins 20 games as any better than a man who wins 17 or 18,” Kaat told the Associated Press after his 21st win. “I guess it is sort of a pitcher’s luck. But scoring and defense aren’t luck entirely and they’re the difference. And you’ve still got to hold them to less runs than you get.”

Kaat finished the season with a 25-13 record over 304.2 innings pitched, the top total in the AL. Kaat led the league in wins, innings, starts (41) and complete games (19) while earning his fifth of what would become 16 straight Gold Glove Awards.

Remarkably, Kaat received no votes in the Cy Young Award balloting. In the final year where only one Cy Young Award was presented, Sandy Koufax of the Dodgers received all 20 votes cast. But Kaat did finish fifth in the AL Most Valuable Player Award balloting, an award that went unanimously to Triple Crown winner Frank Robinson of the Orioles.

Kaat would post double-digit win totals every year from 1962-76, including his second and third 20-win seasons with the White Sox in 1974 and 1975. He retired with 283 victories and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2022.

Craig Muder is the director of communications for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum