Catfish in Pin Stripes

Where has all the glory gone? New York Yankee fans have been asking that question for a decade as they watched the team that once dominated baseball wallow in mediocrity. Now some rescuers are on hand. Earlier this winter the Yankees acquired Bobby Bonds, potentially a superstar outfielder, from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for the steady Bobby Murcer. Last week in an even more dramatic--and promising --move, the team signed Pitcher Jim ("Catfish") Hunter, the self-liberated ace of the world champion Oakland A's. This time the price was not a player but a fortune.

The signing, which cost the Yankees a cool $3 million for a five-year deal, ended the most extravagant bidding war in baseball history. The financial fireworks were set off three weeks ago when an arbitration panel ruled that Hunter, who won 25 games and the Cy Young Award in 1974, was a free agent. The reason: A's Owner Charles O. Finley had defaulted on part of Hunter's $100,000-a-year contract. Instantly, Hunter's home town of Hertford, N.C., became the unlikely mecca for owners eager to place their bids. By early last week Hunter's lawyers had weighed the 24 offers and picked four top prospects: San Diego, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles.

Hunter's reaction: "What about the Yankees?" Clyde Kluttz, the scout who originally signed him ten years ago and has been a friend and hunting partner ever since, is now working for New York. "Clyde never lied to me then," says Hunter, "and he never lied to me now." Add to Kluttz the appeal of the Yankee heritage ("Just walking into Yankee Stadium, the chills run through you," says Hunter) and other assorted blandishments, including a letter from Mayor Abe Beame. No wonder Catfish was intent on trading Oakland's mod pastels for New York's dignified pin stripes.

He got his wish on New Year's Eve after some frantic last-minute negotiations on the way to New York in a jet chartered by Edward Greenwald, a Yankee owner. The deal is unprecedented in a sport where a player contract for even two years is unusual. It assures Hunter a yearly income of $150,000, plus a $1.5 million bonus and a $1 million life insurance policy. Hunter hardly seemed impressed. Immediately after signing, he flew back to Hertford so he could be there on New Year's day --the last day of the deer-hunting season.

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