Base paths of ‘Catfish’ and ‘Mudcat’ lead to Oakland A’s

Only 537 baseball fans were in the stands at old Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minn., to witness the historic “battle of the fish” on Sept. 20, 1965. 

Rookie Jim “Catfish” Hunter of the Kansas City Athletics took the mound to pitch against the Minnesota Twins. Hunter was matched against the Twins’ wily veteran Jim “Mudcat” Grant, who was having the best season of his career. 

Major League Baseball archivists believe this game may have been the only time these two great athletes of southern origin with ichthyological nicknames actually faced off against one another as starting pitchers. 

The weather at game time was “perfect” – chilly and damp. Like old anglers like to say: “The best time to fish is when it’s raining and when it ain’t.” Play ball. 

(The Athletics were in the cellar, while the Twins were at the top of the standings. On this evening, Hunter got the win, and Grant took the loss.)

 Hunter and Grant later became teammates with the Athletics (now known as the A’s) in 1970, when the team moved to Oakland, Calif. Grant, now in the twilight of his career, was relishing his new role as a relief pitcher.

Indeed, Mudcat Grant had a very good year with the A’s in 1970, pitching in 72 games (nearly half the total games played), recording 24 saves (included 11 of Catfish Hunter’s 18 wins) and posting an earned run average of 1.82. 

Their stories are core to baseball lore. 

Grant, an African-American, was born in 1935 in Lacoochee, Fla., a small town in the central part of the state. 

He was scouted by Fred “Bonehead” Merkle, a former big leaguer, and signed by Cleveland of the American League, joining the team in 1958.

Interestingly, Grant’s boyhood idol, Larry Doby of Camden, S.C., became his roommate and mentor with Cleveland. Doby was the second player to break baseball’s “color barrier” in 1947, following Jackie Robinson of Cairo, Ga., who debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

One story about Grant’s nickname is that Doby called Jim Grant “Mudcat” because he was “ugly as a Mississippi mudcat.” Grant was actually quite handsome, but the name stuck. 

Baseball opened other doors for Grant. As a vocalist, he performed with bandleader Charlie Barnet and formed the group, “Mudcat and the Kittens.” Grant made more money singing than in baseball, reported sports journalist Steve Jacobson. 

Yet, he was a disciple of Jackie Robinson and early civil rights vibrations. Jacobson wrote that Grant once said: “You got to keep pushing; the rolling stone can never roll back, but sometimes it’s slow.” 

Grant’s best year as a starter was in 1965. His 21-7 won-loss record helped the Twins win the American league pennant that year. Grant was the first African-American pitcher in the American League to post a 20-win season, a baseball benchmark of excellence. 

He wrote a book in 2006 about “The Black Aces,” with vignettes about the only 12 African-Americans who have won 20 or more games in a season in pro baseball. Listed chronologically, they are: Don Newcombe, Sam Jones, Bob Gibson, Mudcat Grant, Fergie Jenkins, Earl Wilson, Vida Blue, Al Downing, J.R. Richard, Mike Norris, Dwight Gooden and Dave Stewart. 

Only three 20-game winners have come along since 2006 to qualify as “black aces.” They are: Dontrelle Willis, CC Sabathia and David Price. 

Grant wrote the book to offer inspiration to African-American youths. “Hopefully, we can motivate more young black kids to play the game,” he said.