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Kaat's Memoir Pitch Perfect Of A Baseball Life

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As his memoir Good as Gold: My Eight Decades In Baseball affirms, Jim Kaat is living a hall of fame life. At age 83, Kaat now has been part of Major League Baseball for 62 years.Twenty-five seasons as a player, followed by coaching, and in his current role as a television analyst, the Zeeland, Michigan native knows the game.

How he reached the big leagues with the Washington Senators in 1959, and the road Kaat traveled that ultimately led to him being voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York last December, the details of his travels is why Good as Gold (www.triumphbooks.com) is a must-read.

So many questions many sports fans may not have thought of are asked and answered in Good as Gold. Why would Kaat accept a signing bonus of $4,000 from Washington, as opposed to the $25,000 being waved at him by the Chicago White Sox? The details and explanation are offered.

In June 1957, when signing his first pro contract, the average major leaguer was earning less than $7,000. When Kaat's pitching days came to an abrupt ending after being released on July 6, 1983, by the St. Louis Cardinals, his final contract was for $200,000.

How did Kaat, who was 44-years-old when he last put on a Cardinals uniform, grow his income? His struggles in dealing with club owners, including with one of the game's all-time, notoriously frugal in Calvin Griffith will keep you turning pages.

Likable, friendly, and most important - honest. Kaat is a person you can't help but cheer for. Cramming in a lifetime of experiences on and off the baseball diamond in 265 pages had to be a monumental task, both for Kaat and his collaborator Doug Lyons.

Good as Gold is a lovely story of a teenager in the 1950s who goes from being a baseball fan to a fan and a professional player. Kaat, like so many kids of his youth, happily played outside of their home, many riding their bicycles with baseball cards of their favorite players placed on the spokes of the wheels by clothespins.

His innocence also includes living in southeast Michigan, being able to pull in on transistor radios not one but four major league team broadcasts - Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, and Milwaukee Braves.

What's it like to pitch to the legendary Ted Williams? Kaat offers much in detail on his appreciation for being in the presence of arguably the game's greatest hitter, and also being his competitor.

With nearly 500 pro teammates, 13 of which like him, became Hall of Famers, the stories are plentiful in Good as Gold. In his next to last season as a lefty pitcher, finally, Kaat gets to taste victory as a member of a World Series championship-winning club.

What was the experience like, and equally addicting, what was said and done by Cardinal management the following winter and season to Kaat to cause readers to pause? The reality of sport as business rears its ugly head.

Working for the late New York Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner, both as a player and broadcaster is yet another captivating nugget exposed of what it's like being on the inside of the iconic organization.

Winning 283 games, throwing 180 complete games, on the pitcher's mound for 4,500-plus innings, collecting 232 hits and 16 home runs in an era when pitchers batted, Kaat has seen it all in the game, and now with great detail is sharing his experiences in Good as Gold.

"The small town in him never left," explained Lyons during a recent telephone conversation. "Kaat isn't spoiled by the game. The values ingrained early on by his parents made him who he is."

Lyons tells of Kaat being a gentleman with great respect for the game but wise to not being a pushover with management.

"He never had an agent. Jim knew his value to the team. He didn't have the best fastball on the staff but for the most part, he remained injury-free."

Kaat's long journey, from Zeeland (population 5,700) to Washington, and now to the Hall of Fame, connecting his dots in Good as Gold is a fun ride. As part of the Hall of Fame's seven-member Class of 2022, apparently, Kaat has his acceptance speech already written.

For a heads up on what might be included in his message to all on July 24 in Cooperstown, reading Good as Gold should prepare baseball fans well.

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