Quote:
Originally Posted by nolemmings
You are not misremembering-- Kaat was often used as a pinch hitter, and was a great athlete. One blogger noted that he was used as a pinch hitter or pinch runner 106 times in his career.
Twins fans of my vintage remember that 1972 season when he broke his hand/wrist sliding into second. He continued to pitch through a couple more innings, won the game and was 10-2 less than halfway through the season, with an ERA barely over 2. Oh, and he was batting .289 with a couple of dingers!! The broken wrist ended his season and messed him up in 1973 as well.
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What I remember is after that, Calvin sent him to the White Sox, and then stated in the papers that the Twins were in need of a left-handed starter... Kaat went on to win 20 games each of the next 2 years in Chicago.