On September 9th, 1999 Jim "Catfish" Hunter, the Yankee hall of fame pitcher, succumbed to amyothropic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This once dominating pitcher passed away on his farm in Hertford, North Carolina after a year long battle with this uncurable disease named after another Yankee great, Lou Gehrig.
Catfish, as he was nick-named by Oakland A's owner Charles O. Finley, was the foundation for the great Yankee teams of the seventies. He won five World Series championships with the A's and Yankees in addition to winning a Cy Young award and pitching a perfect game. He was one of the more dominating pitchers of his era.
In 1965 Hunter was brought up to the major leagues by the A's where he quickly established himself as a quality pitcher. He pitched the seventh perfect game ever pitched in the majors in 1968 and from 1971 to 1975 he won twenty games each season. In 1974 he was awarded baseball's Cy Young award for his outstanding performance on the field.
Hunter also helped to establish the free agent market for the superstar players of his era when he signed a free agent contract in 1974 worth $3.75 million. This five year deal with the Yankees was the first multi-million dollar contract in professional baseball and it made him the highest paid player at that time. His contract started a continually growing wave of player salaries that spilled over to other sports and continues to grow today with the signing of virtually every major superstar of every sport.
Jim was appropriately inducted into Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1987. He finished his career with the Yankees in 1979 with a total of 224 wins in fifteen seasons. He was a fierce competitor and a tremendous clubhouse leader who was looked up to by most of the men he played baseball with. In 1998 Hunter was diagnosed with ALS, a disease that attacks the nerves, causes paralysis, and ultimately death. He quickly lost control of his hands and arms and eventually had to be assisted in even the simplest tasks. On August 8th, 1999 he fell and hit his head knocking him unconscious for several days. He did recover enough to return home, but shortly passed away as the disease took it's course.