Maybe the struggle of making bi-weekly two-paragraph posts is taking its toll on Morsch; he hasn't published a full-length column in months, and his blog has been sorely neglected. So, given the lack of fresh material, I thought it would be swell to look back at August 2009 and see what issues weighed upon our scribe's mind.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Talking with Jim "Kitty" Kaat a doggone pleasure
Ah, the pun is as terrible as one might expect. Good to know it was always this way.
When I was a kid, my dad used to buy me baseball cards, and oftentimes I would go out to the steps of our front porch and open those treasured cardboard pictures of my heroes, gobble down the sometimes stale bubblegum and eagerly search for the Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle cards.
A preview of his magnificently rambling "Magic of Baseball Cards" article? This is so exciting. I feel like I'm cracking open King Tut's tomb.
Inevitably, I wouldn’t find as many of the aforementioned stars as I would have liked, but I could always count on finding plenty of cards or players like Jesse Gonder, Ed Brinkman, Gates Brown, Gus Gil, Jerry McNertney or Coco Laboy.
And Jim Kaat.
Nice lead-in. Morsch's writing skills have clearly declined - nowadays he would open it with, "I always loved baseball cards, and of course Jim Kaat got a card, since he played baseball." Although if this is an interview with Jim Kaat, Morsch just insulted him. "I always wanted a Mickey Mantle card... but I'll settle for a loser like Jim Kaat."
Kaat was a pitcher for the Minnesota Twins in the 1960s and early 1970s. Despite Minnesota being in relative geographic proximity to my home in Illinois, I was pretty ambivalent about the Twins. I grew up smack dab in the middle of Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals country, so I was more familiar with those teams. Even then, I didn’t follow them as closely as my pals because I was, it seemed, the only Pittsburgh Pirates fan in Illinois.
Wow. We had to wind our way through that byzantine paragraph just to learn he liked the Pirates? Classic Morsch emphasis on ridiculously uninteresting details.
Kaat went on to have a pretty distinguished career. He pitched 25 years in the big leagues — spending 1976-1979 with the Phillies — and is the third longest-tenured pitcher in the history of the game behind Nolan Ryan with 27 years and Tommy John with 26 years.
I believe Jamie Moyer tied him this year.
He amassed 283 career wins as a pitcher and holds the record for pitchers by earning 16 consecutive Gold Glove Awards from 1960-1975. Kaat has long been considered in Hall of Fame discussions, but has yet to receive that call.
Interesting, but we haven't heard a word from the distinguished Mr. Kaat and the story is almost half over.
His nickname is Jim “Kitty” Kaat, mostly because his last name looks like it could be pronounced “cat.” In fact, it is pronounced “cot” but the nickname stuck nonetheless.
Drowning... in... unnecessary... information...
After his playing career, Kaat served many years as a television baseball broadcaster for many stations and his work in the broadcast booth earned him seven Emmy Awards for sports casting.
Heck, after using "many" to describe two aspects of Kaat's broadcasting career, I'm surprised Morsch specified the number of Emmys he won. These days he doesn't even expend the 33.3% effort that required.
I got a chance to talk to Mr. Kaat last week. Turns out that growing up in Michigan, he was a big fan of Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics. Because of that connection, he has been invited by the Hatboro-based Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society to be its keynote speaker and guest at a society breakfast Oct. 4 at Williamson’s Restaurant in Horsham.
Oh, finally! The history lesson is over. What great quotes did Morsch get? What wisdom did Kaat share?
In the interest of full disclosure, I am on the board of directors for the A’s Society and my reason for speaking with Kaat was to write a story for the society’s newsletter. That story will also appear in the Public Spirit, which covers Hatboro and Horsham for Montgomery Newspapers, in an upcoming edition prior to the Oct. 4 event.
Um... okay. What? Oh... what? This statement is like the precurser to Morsch's "Shameless Promotion Alerts."
Kaat is a gentleman, told some great baseball stories and came across as a genuine fan of the game of baseball. I went home that evening and dug through all my old baseball cards to find Jim Kaat cards, of which I had plenty, just as I remembered.
First off, I like the skeptical tone Morsch (unintentionally) uses - Kaat only "came across", as a baseball fan. The bastard probably secretly hates the game.
So your story is called "Talking with Jim 'Kitty' Kaat," and yet all of one paragraph even references what Morsch talked to him about. Not a single quote from the gentleman to be found.
Sometimes, I can’t believe how lucky I am to do what I do for a living. For a baseball guy like me, talking to a baseball guy like Jim “Kitty” Kaat was just a doggone pleasure.
Yeah, I'll bet Jim had some great stories to tell. Any chance we can hear one of them? No?
It took me back to the steps of my front porch some 40 years ago. There I would sit, opening packs of baseball cards that my dad have given me, and pull out a cardboard treasure of Jim Kaat, never dreaming then that the man on the card and I would someday have a chat about a game we both love.
"...that my dad have given me," huh? Yep, this story was definitely the father of the "Magic of Baseball Cards" column that Morsch views as his magnum opus. Although it isn't as laughable as that one, it's much lamer. No wonder Morsch is lucky to do this for a living - all his job requires is for him to claim that he spoke with someone.
Labels: Jim Kaat, Mike Morsch, Montgomery Newspapers, Outta Leftfield, Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society
Welcome to Morsch's Big Bag O' Labels, Mr. Kaat. You'll never be referenced again.
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