Hanging Out With Jim “Catfish” Hunter

Hertford, North Carolina has one of the last remaining "S" bridges that is still in use.
Hertford, North Carolina has one of the last remaining “S” bridges that is still in use.

I previously wrote a story called My Crazy Night With The Starkist Tuna Man and the Heineken Lady which told of one of my more interesting nights in my grocery career. So I figured I should share one of my more pleasant experiences as well.

In 1992 I got some good news, I was promoted to the position of store manager for the very first time. The promotion also came with some bad news, I would have to leave the good old state of Virginia and move to North Carolina. My boss at the time said “They want you away from the corporate office….so if you mess up ….nobody will know”.

So I moved to the small town of Hertford, North Carolina….population of roughly 2,000. Amazingly when I moved to Hertford, two of the population of Hertford were pretty famous people. Legendary disc jockey Wolfman Jack and Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Jim “Catfish” Hunter.

Wolfman Jack passed away in July 1995, his recording studio still exists in Hertford.
Wolfman Jack passed away in July 1995, his recording studio still exists in Hertford.

I would end up in Hertford for almost three years. I quickly learned two things when I first arrived in Hertford….. most people had great stories about Wolfman and Catfish……and Helen Hunter (Catfish’s wife) was the best customer at my store. Over the those three years I got to know Mrs. Hunter during her weekly shopping trips. I can tell you she was and is a very down to earth person, very friendly, easy going and always in a happy mood.

Now let’s move ahead to Thanksgiving of 1994…..although I had lived in this small town for nearly three years…..I had never met either Catfish or Wolfman. Two days before Thanksgiving, I helped bag up this huge order of turkeys and hams…..when the customer left…the cashier said….”I guess Catfish is having a huge Thanksgiving Day dinner”…..I had just bagged Catfish’s order and did not realize that this was a Hall of Fame baseball pitcher….the big fish had gotten away….lol.

About this time I was hearing rumors that I was about to be transferred to another store after the holiday season ended. …..also around this time my dairy manager, Jerry, offered to get me Catfish’s autograph…I responded with…”I appreciated the offer, but I really would like a chance to meet Catfish….I do not want to say that I lived in this very small town for three years and never got to meet him”. Jerry said “I will see what I can do” and walked away.

Jim "Catfish" Hunter won 224 games in his career and helped the A's and Yankees win multiple World Series titles.
Jim “Catfish” Hunter won 224 games in his career and helped the A’s and Yankees win multiple World Series titles.

In mid December of 1994, I got word that I was officially leaving my Hertford store after the holidays were over in only a few weeks. As I was getting ready for Christmas and my big move, I heard the local hardware store was selling Catfish Hunter autographed baseballs for five dollars each. I thought those would make great Christmas gifts. So I went down to the hardware store and purchased four balls for twenty dollars. The owner of the store said….”Jimmy’s supposed to be in later this week and will sign the balls and then you can come and get them”….. as my days in Hertford were winding down, I figured I better it least secure his autograph.

Three days before Christmas, Jerry, the dairy manager, walks up to me and says “I have a Christmas and a goodbye present for you”…he then handed me a piece of paper and said….”This is Catfish’s home address, they (the Hunters) say tonight between 6 and 7, would be a good time for you to come over and meet Catfish”. …stunned and flabbergasted ….I originally refused to believe this was true….but at 6:00 that night I was on Catfish’s porch ringing his doorbell.

As I rang the doorbell I was thinking….”This could be a huge joke, and they could think I am a stalker”….but Catfish’s daughter opened the door, and said “You are that guy from the grocery store….my dad is not here yet….come on in”. She took me to their kitchen, where Mrs. Hunter said “Jimmy will be here in a couple minutes make yourself at home” …. I sat at their kitchen table and waited for Catfish to come home.

About 5 minutes later, I finally got to meet Jim “Catfish” Hunter after nearly three years of living in the same small town. He shook my hand and said it was nice to meet me….imagine that! I was there about a hour, he seemed more interested in the grocery business than talking about his baseball glory days (the strike of 1994 was still going on)….at the end of the hour he asked if I wanted him to sign anything …..I produced two baseball cards….which he signed to my brother and my father. He then said….”Did you bring any baseballs for me to sign?”….when I said no…..he reached into a box and signed two baseballs and gave me the balls and the autographs.

One of the balls he autographed on that Christmas night back in 1994.
One of the balls he autographed on that Christmas night back in 1994.

The coolest thing in his house was his staircase pillars….instead of just plain old wood…the pillars were baseball bats signed by the greatest players of the 1970s, players like Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, and Reggie Jackson. On my departure I thanked them for being so kind and wished them a Merry Christmas. As walked to my car I was one happy camper.

But Catfish had one more surprise for me…..on Christmas Eve, the hardware store owner called my store and said “Sorry, Jim could not sign the balls you paid for, come by and get a refund when you get a chance”.. no problem I responded…….later that Christmas Eve, about half a hour before the store closed for Christmas, I got paged to the front of the store.

Standing at the service desk, was Catfish’s daughter, with the four baseballs I had bought from the hardware store……she said “My Dad heard you wanted to give the autographed balls as Christmas presents…and he did not want to disappoint your friends and family…..Merry Christmas” stunned I wished her Merry Christmas as well.

Jim "Catfish" Hunter's final resting place.
Jim “Catfish” Hunter’s final resting place.

To this day I still can not believe how nice the entire Hunter family was to me during my time in Hertford. Since I left Hertford in January of 1995, both of Hertford’s famous sons have passed on. Wolfman Jack passed away in July 1995 while Catfish Hunter died at his home in Hertford, in 1999 after he took a fall down the stairs at his home. He had been suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease. An annual softball event is held in Hertford in memory of Hunter. All proceeds from the weekend benefit ALS research.

I often wonder about today’s celebrities….I wonder how many would send their daughter out on Christmas Eve to make sure a stranger can give his family a Christmas present. I am thinking not too many….before I met Catfish I thought of him as a great baseball player….but now I realize he was a great man as well….so thank you Mr. and Mrs. Hunter for taking a stranger into your house one Christmas season….and thank you Jerry for arranging it. So from this former Hertford resident..that was my Catfish Hunter story.

68 thoughts on “Hanging Out With Jim “Catfish” Hunter

  1. I had the privllege of seeing him pitch an old timers game In Hertford in 1996. He signed balls for our nephews. I was on a Baptist Disaster Relief trip in Lakeland Florida with Mrs. Hunter in 2004. She was such a nice lady.

  2. I was just a kid growing up in Ardsley , NY spending NYE w my siblings. When the announcement of Hunter’s signing came over the radio I ran through the house banging pots and pans . Hunter and Bonds were supposed to lead the Yanks to the ‘75 Pennant. Lynn and Rice begged to differ

    1. Hey Mark…thanks for sharing the memory of Catfish signing with Yankees. They did win two World Series championships with him as a Yankee. Granted he did not really do much during the 1978 season. The man picked up 5 rings in the 1970s. Back then….I was a Red Sox fan….mainly due to Dwight “Dewey” Evans. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

  3. I remember New Years Eve 1974 and I was taping WXLO 99X New York’s top 99 of the year. In the middle of the count they announced the Yankees had signed Catfish Hunter. My cheering rises over the old countdown recording.

    Do have a couple of baseball stories. The Miracle Mets of 1969 made a record album and some of their players would autograph the albums at E. J. Korvette stores (a long forgotten local department store chain). The kids in my neighborhood wanted Tom Seaver but we had to settle for Tug McGraw, better known with the Phillies in the 70’s.

    Went to a Met game against the Cubs and got Paul Reuschel (Rick’s brother, woa) and Bill Bonham who lost 20 games in a season one year (remember when that used to happen). One kid who we never heard of was signing everybody’s programs but my friend and me wouldn’t waste our time on him. He was Bruce Sutter who later made the hall of fame.

    Wolfman Jack was a dj on WNBC radio in New York but I never listened to him.

    1. Hey Dan….thanks for sharing your baseball memories. Love hearing about Catfish’s signing with the Yankees, the Miracle Mets’ record album, the Reuschel brothers and Bruce Sutter. I used to love the Cubs…during that time Rick Reuschel was the ace of the team. Great trivia on the Reuschel brothers….they combined to throw a no-hitter one time. The only time brothers have done that in MLB history. I always thought the looked liked the complete opposite of how a world class athlete should look. Good stuff.

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