Jim Kaat

Jim Kaat excelled at Zeeland High School in both baseball and basketball, but it was not until he hit a growth spurt at Hope College that the 6-foot-4 southpaw caught the eyes of Major League scouts. Kaat signed with the Washington Senators as an 18-year-old, reached the Majors at age 20, was named an A.L. All-Star at age 23, tossed a complete game to beat Sandy Koufax in Game 2 of the 1965 World Series, and went on to win 283 games, earn 16 Gold Gloves, and pitch 4,530 1/3 IP in a 25-year career. Following his retirement, Kaat served as a national broadcaster for CBS, NBC, ESPN, ABC, TBS and MLB Network over the next three decades, winning seven Emmys. In 2002, Kaat was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.