Steve McCatty

Steve McCatty, a big right-hander who pitched for the Oakland A’s from 1977-1985, was known for his fun-loving nature. Sports Illustrated said he was “the leading prankster on . . . a team of practical jokers.”1 Philadelphia infielder John Vukovich called him “a bona fide nut.”2 And A’s beat writer Glenn Schwarz described him as “a gregarious, jocular sort whose quips and pranks qualify him as one of the game’s liveliest personalities.”3

But McCatty provided the A’s with much more than laughs. He was an integral member of Oakland’s “Five Aces” who in 1980 broke (and still hold) the record for complete games in a 162-game season. The following year, he was the runner-up for the American League Cy Young Award and was tabbed by Bill James as 1981’s top major league pitcher.4  Although arm problems sabotaged his playing career, he later parlayed his unique combination of competitiveness and irreverence—what one writer described as “part George Patton, part George Carlin”5—into successful stints in the broadcast booth and as a pitching coach. 

***

Steven Earl McCatty was born March 20, 1954, in Detroit. His father Don once had a tryout with the Yankees before eventually becoming a carpenter, while his mother Frances (née Cox) was a restaurant manager. Steve was the fourth of five kids; he had two older brothers, an older sister, and a younger sister.

Settling in the Detroit suburb of Troy, Don established a youth baseball program called the Twin Pines Dairy League and served as president.6  The minimum age to participate was nine, but when Steve was seven, “he was so good we just had to get him in there,” said Boyd Larsen, his coach.  “So we forged his birth certificate. He had to wear his brother John’s shoes. They were about three sizes too big.”7

Baseball remained a big part of McCatty’s life during his teenage years. In addition to pitching and catching for Troy High School, he played in Detroit’s highly competitive Adray League (other Adray alums include Willie Horton, Bob Welch, and Steve Garvey.)8

Despite an excellent high school career, McCatty went undrafted. He attracted interest from four-year schools, but no scholarship offers, so he enrolled at Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan, for the 1972-73 academic year and played catcher. While competing in a summer league in 1973, McCatty took the mound to replace an injured teammate who was being scouted by the Oakland A’s. He pitched well, and after the game A’s scout Fred Goodman offered him $1,500 to sign. McCatty didn’t hesitate. “I couldn’t believe I was getting paid to play baseball,” he said.9

He soon headed to Lewiston, Idaho, to join the A’s short-season Single-A club. He noticed the difference from community college ball immediately. “Everybody was as good as you or better.”10  In Lewiston he met future Gold Glove center fielder Dwayne Murphy, who at that time was an 18-year-old shortstop. Murphy would later become McCatty’s road roommate and close friend.

In his inaugural professional season, the 6-foot-3, 195-pound McCatty threw 70 innings, mostly in relief, and finished with a 2-2 record. He returned to Lewiston in 1974 and went 8-3 as a starter, with an ERA of 3.28.  

Promoted to full season Single A Modesto in 1975, McCatty appeared in 37 games and had a 4.57 ERA in 126 innings. In the offseason, he and Audrey Dittenber, a friend whom Steve had started dating after high school, were married.

Pitching out of the bullpen with Chattanooga in the AA Southern League in 1976, “Cat” was 2-0 in mid-June when he unexpectedly became involved in a dramatic turn of events in Oakland.

After an arbitrator opened the door to free agency, penurious A’s owner Charlie Finley faced the prospect of a mass exodus of talent at the end of the 1976 season.   Attempting to recoup something for his star players, Finley announced on June 15 that left fielder Joe Rudi and reliever Rollie Fingers had been sold for $1 million apiece to Boston, while pitcher Vida Blue was sent to the Yankees for $1.5 million.  At 4:00 a.m. on June 16, McCatty was awakened by a phone call directing him to immediately report to Oakland to fill one of the vacated roster spots.11 “We were in Florida on a road trip. It was hot, so I’d left my shoes at the ballpark that night and worn thongs back to the hotel,” remembered McCatty. “When I got the call, they told me I had to catch a 7:00 a.m. flight—I couldn’t get my shoes. So my first day as a big-leaguer I showed up in flip-flops.”12

McCatty’s big league promotion was short-lived, as Commissioner Bowie Kuhn voided the sales, leading Finley to send Cat back to Chattanooga without having appeared in a game. 

McCatty attended his first spring camp in 1977 but started the season back in Chattanooga, where he was leading the Southern League in ERA before being promoted to AAA San Jose. His ERA ballooned to 5.73 in 146 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League; nevertheless, Oakland called him up in September.

The 1977 A’s looked quite different from the club McCatty had joined briefly the prior year. Rudi, Fingers, Gene Tenace, Sal Bando, Don Baylor, and Bert Campaneris had all departed via free agency. Other than Blue and center fielder Bill North, the A’s roster was now populated by unproven youngsters and castoffs from other organizations. After years of meaningful September baseball, the only suspense in 1977 was whether the A’s would avoid finishing last behind the expansion Seattle Mariners in the American League West (they didn’t).

McCatty made his major league debut on September 17 at County Stadium in Milwaukee, allowing three runs (two earned) in three innings in an 8-1 loss to the Brewers. He pitched in three more games before season’s end and posted a 5.02 ERA without figuring in a decision.

He began the 1978 season in AAA but was recalled to Oakland in June. The highlight of his month-long stay with the big club was a seven-inning, two-hit appearance in relief of starter Steve Renko in a loss to the Royals. Overall, McCatty posted a 4.50 ERA in 20 big league innings before returning to AAA to finish out the campaign.

The 25-year-old hurler began the 1979 season in AAA, but after a month was recalled by Oakland. He was immediately pressed into service, throwing three innings of one-run ball in relief against Boston, earning his first major-league win.

McCatty authored five additional scoreless relief appearances before manager Jim Marshall moved him into the starting rotation. On May 27 in Milwaukee, Cat threw 8 2/3 innings in a 2-1 A’s victory. Brewers manager George Bamberger said McCatty had the best fastball he’d seen all season until he was reminded that Milwaukee had earlier faced Nolan Ryan. “Right,” he conceded. “McCatty’s got the second-best fastball I’ve seen all year.”13

In his next start, McCatty ran his record to 4-0 with a complete game in Oakland against the Detroit Tigers, which his parents were able to follow back in Troy. “It’s just great that they got to hear it on the radio. I know it makes ’em very happy.” said McCatty. “A big factor in my life is the way my dad and mom always made it very easy for me to play baseball. I’m very fortunate.”14

A couple of weeks later, the A’s traveled to Detroit, where McCatty started against the Tigers and suffered his first loss of the season in front of some 60 relatives who attended. “We had more McCatty’s out there tonight than all the people we usually get in Oakland,” he observed ruefully.15

The loss did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the hundreds of youngsters who gathered the following day to celebrate “Steve McCatty Day” in Troy.16  “This is something else,” noted McCatty after signing a host of autographs and receiving a proclamation from Troy’s mayor. “I never expected anything like today.”17

McCatty ended the season with an 11-12 record, a 4.22 ERA, and a WAR of 2.5 for an awful Oakland club that managed only 54 wins. “I thought I did all right, only to be told by Charlie [Finley] I sucked,” said McCatty. Still, he and Finley agreed on a raise from the $17,500 Cat had made in 1979 to $32,500. “It wasn’t until later that I realized the major league minimum had been raised to $32,500.”18

In February 1980, Finley announced the hiring of Billy Martin as manager. Martin’s track record of success at previous stops in Minnesota, Detroit, Texas, and New York provided the A’s with hope. “Before Billy got there, we always felt that some of us got the opportunity on a false pretense because [the A’s] were so bad,” said McCatty. “We started to realize we belonged there. He made us believe.”19

Martin was notorious for pushing his starting pitchers hard, and early in the campaign the A’s top three—Mike Norris, Rick Langford, and Matt Keough—piled up complete games at a startling rate. McCatty, on the other hand, completed only two of his 16 starts before the All-Star break while compiling an unimpressive 5.24 ERA. After the break, however, McCatty’s effectiveness improved. On July 19 he threw his first career complete game shutout, scattering four hits against Cleveland. “The guy who constantly has his teammates in stitches with his sharp wit now has reason to have a few laughs of his own,” noted A’s beat writer Kit Stier.20

In August, McCatty became the fourth A’s pitcher that season to throw a 14-inning complete game. “Billy kept checking with me to see if I felt OK—I finally told him to stop asking,” said McCatty.21 Unfortunately, one of the six hits he allowed was an opposite-field home run to Dan Meyer in the 14th, leading to a 2-1 defeat. 

On September 7, McCatty went the distance in a 5-2 victory over Baltimore. It was the 78th complete game thrown by an A’s starter, breaking the record for a 162-game season set by the 1968 San Francisco Giants.22 The A’s went on to raise their record-setting total to 94, including 11 by McCatty.

Led by their outstanding outfield of Rickey Henderson, Tony Armas, and Murphy, and their strong starting pitching, the team won 83 games, a 29-game improvement that was good for second place in the AL West. For McCatty, too, 1980 was a success, as he came on strong to finish with a 14-14 record and a 3.86 ERA in 221 2/3 innings.

Another positive development occurred late in the season when Finley sold the team to Levi Strauss & Company Chairman Walter Haas, who pledged to invest in the club and treat it as a community asset. In McCatty’s eyes, the two men could hardly have been more different. On the one hand, when learning that Finley had undergone heart surgery, McCatty noted, “it took eight hours . . . seven and a half to find the heart.”23 On the other hand, he thought highly of Haas. “He was one of the nicest people I’ve ever been around.”24    

Between the new owner, the ascending young core, and the exciting, aggressive style of baseball under Martin known as “Billy Ball,” optimism reigned in Oakland in the spring of 1981. When the club went undefeated on its season-starting eight-game road trip, the A’s were suddenly the hottest ticket in town. With Cat on the mound for the home opener, a Coliseum-record baseball audience of 50,255 watched the A’s obliterate Seattle 16-1. “It’s pretty easy to pitch with a 15-run lead,” observed McCatty.25

Oakland extended its season-opening win streak to 11 (then a major-league record) before losing, then won six more to improve to 17-1. The national media took notice. The A’s staff (Norris, Langford, Keough, McCatty, and fifth starter Brian Kingman) was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the headline, “The Amazing A’s and Their Five Aces.” Norris, who’d finished second in 1980 American League Cy Young Award voting, received most of the ink in the accompanying article. Yet it was McCatty who developed into the ace of the 1981 staff. By mid-June, when the player’s strike halted play, he boasted a 7-4 record and a 2.30 ERA with eight complete games in 11 starts.

In July, with play still suspended, a reporter looking for a baseball-related story invited McCatty to join her at the Alameda County Fair to see how a major leaguer might fare at carnival “pitching” games. McCatty’s performance had its ups and downs. He dominated in a game called “Tip 3 Cats,” and brought home “four floppy-eared animals and other indescribable stuffed companions.” Ironically, he had difficulty hitting the target in “Catcher’s Mitt.”  At the dunking booth, McCatty experienced a galling lack of control while being taunted by his would-be victim. “I’m not leaving until that guy goes in,” he vowed. Down to his last coin, “McCatty finally sent his tormentor swimming with a slider.”26

When play resumed in a split-season format, McCatty picked up where he’d left off, pitching a 10-inning complete came in the A’s “second home opener” to beat the Angels 4-2. Though he threw over 150 pitches, McCatty didn’t complain. “I should have been able to pitch 50 innings—I had 64 days off.”27  He continued to pitch well and finished the truncated campaign with a 14-7 record.

As pre-strike leaders of the American League West, the A’s faced off against the second-half winners, the Kansas City Royals, in the makeshift Divisional Series. Oakland won in a three-game sweep, with McCatty contributing a six-hitter to defeat the Royals 2-1 in Game Two. But the A’s and McCatty’s magical season ended in the League Championship Series against the New York Yankees. After winning Game One, the Yankees knocked Cat out of the game in the fourth inning of an eventual 13-3 win in Game Two before finishing their own three-game sweep the next day.

Despite its disappointing ending, 1981 was an outstanding season for McCatty. His 14 wins tied for the league lead, as did his four shutouts. He finished second in the American League Cy Young vote behind Rollie Fingers. Though his ERA of 2.327 in 185 2/3 innings was a tick higher than the 2.324 compiled by Baltimore’s Sammy Stewart in 112 1/3 innings, the official rules at that time rounded innings pitched to the nearest whole number, so McCatty was credited with 186 innings pitched compared to 112 for Stewart.  The adjustment resulted in McCatty overtaking Stewart to win the ERA title. The rounding rule was eliminated the following year.28 

In the off-season, McCatty was rewarded by the A’s with a four-year contract. His new deal was reported at between $400,000 and $500,000 per year.29  “I don’t think we’re worth what we’re getting,” McCatty said. “But if they’re going to pay it, I’ll take it.”30 

Ever the comedian, McCatty elicited much merriment in spring training when, implementing Martin’s desire to protest that American League pitchers had to hit for themselves in National League parks, he strode to the plate brandishing a 15” plastic bat.31 Unfortunately, it was one of his few lighthearted moments in spring training, as he experienced soreness in his shoulder.  He kept pitching but his arm never felt right. Though an examination by noted orthopedist Dr. Frank Jobe didn’t reveal any structural damage, continuing discomfort led to a stint on the disabled list.32  

After Cat’s reinstatement, his availability was limited, and he ended the season having appeared in only 21 games, finishing with a 6-3 record and 3.99 ERA in 128 2/3 innings. McCatty’s drop-off was mirrored by that of the A’s, who won only 68 games. The disappointing finish led to the end of “Billy Ball,” as Martin left Oakland at season’s end for an encore as Yankees manager.

Martin’s replacement, Steve Boros, moved McCatty to the bullpen to open the 1983 season. Cat started off well, earning five saves in his first five chances. “I like relief pitching,” he said. “I like getting paid the same for getting six outs as I did for getting 27.”33 But after a blown save and a five-appearance stretch in which McCatty walked nine and struck out only one, Boros moved him back into the starting rotation. “If we are going to get that arm back the way it was two years ago, he’s got to get regular work,” Boros said. “The pop isn’t there.”34

Though he had one effective stretch that included two shutouts in three starts, McCatty was inconsistent in his starting role, finishing the season with a 6-9 record, a 3.99 ERA, and more walks (82) than strikeouts (65).

McCatty remained a starter for the A’s in 1984, but by then it was clear he would never regain the blazing fastball that was his trademark prior to his arm trouble. “We all lose our fastballs eventually. I just wish mine hadn’t gone so quickly,” he said. “Now I’m known as ‘Steve McCatty and his traveling junk shop.’”35 

Forced to rely on guile rather than gas, McCatty had some good performances in the season’s first half. After scattering three hits over seven scoreless innings for a victory over Milwaukee on July 19, he improved his record to 7-6 and lowered his ERA to 3.90. But in his next nine starts, he went 0-7, giving up 39 earned runs in 50 1/3 innings. “I look at the numbers and I say [to myself], ‘Hey, you stink,” McCatty said.36 

That same year, Sports Illustrated ran an update to their 1981 cover story about the A’s starting rotation. Entitled “Whatever Happened to the Class of ’81?”, the article chronicled the arm woes of four of the Five Aces and noted that many experts blamed Martin for overworking his pitchers and inducing “Billy Burnout.”  But McCatty refused to blame Martin. “Billy didn’t ruin our arms. Our own competitiveness did it. We wouldn’t take ourselves out.”37

Though under contract for 1985, Cat wasn’t sure he’d make the team, particularly after the A’s obtained Don Sutton and Jay Howell in offseason deals. When he pitched well in a Cactus League contest, he noted “I felt good . . . for an outcast.”38 He ultimately earned a roster spot as a reliever but was ineffective, with a 5.57 ERA in 30 appearances. The A’s expressed no interest in retaining their longest-tenured player, and he became a free agent. 

McCatty signed a one-year deal with the White Sox but failed to make the club and was sent to AAA Buffalo.  He struggled there, posting a 9.64 ERA before being released. Hoping for another shot, he pitched in 1986 and 1987 for the unaffiliated San Jose Bees in the Class A California League. He threw well enough there to earn an invitation to spring training from the California Angels in 1988 but was released, so he officially retired.39 His final major league stat line included a 63-63 record with a 3.99 ERA and 45 complete games in 161 starts.

McCatty’s outgoing personality and way with words made broadcasting a natural next step, and he quickly landed a gig doing color on A’s radio broadcasts with Bay Area legends Bill King and Lon Simmons. Later he was an analyst for ESPN.

But Cat found himself more drawn to coaching than broadcasting, and in 1996 he was hired by Detroit as pitching coach for their co-op minor league team in Arizona (where he was reunited with his buddy and longtime teammate Murphy, the team’s manager). McCatty rose through the ranks and in 2002 served as pitching coach for the Tigers. He moved to the Baltimore Orioles organization from 2003-05 before taking a job with the Washington Nationals, first as pitching coach with AAA New Orleans, then filling that role at the big-league level in mid-2009.

Under Cat’s tutelage, a Nationals pitching staff that finished last in the National League with a 5.02 ERA in 2009 became the league’s ERA leader in 2012 at 3.34 and again in 2014 with an outstanding 3.03 mark. McCatty discounted his contributions, calling himself “a glorified pitch counter,” but the Nationals’ pitchers disputed that notion. “He’s been really good for this staff,” said reliever Craig Stammen.40 “He just let me be me,” said starter Gio Gonzalez.  “He didn’t want to change my personality [or] . . . my mechanics. He has a big influence in my success this year.”41

“Some pitching coaches focus on mechanics, some focus on the mental aspects,” said McCatty. “I was more of a mental guy. The trick is to understand what makes guys tick.”42

A Washington Post profile illustrated McCatty’s ability to help his pitchers focus on the task at hand. On June 8, 2010, highly hyped top draft pick Stephen Strasburg made his major league debut before an MLB Network audience and a packed house at Nationals Park.  The crowd roared when Strasburg was introduced over the PA system. McCatty was with him in the bullpen, and whispered in the notoriously high-strung Strasburg’s ear: “You know what? You’ve done nothing in this game! It’s me. They’re cheering for me!”43 

“Together they emerged from the bullpen and strode toward the Nationals dugout. McCatty milked the moment by theatrically doffing his cap. Strasburg couldn’t help but smile, which apparently calmed his nerves. He tamed the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-2 . . . A few weeks later, Strasburg presented McCatty with a framed photo of the two of them waltzing to the dugout. He inscribed it, ‘To Cat. Thanks for letting me be part of your special day.’”44

After a disappointing 2015 season, the Nationals fired manager Matt Williams and the entire coaching staff, including McCatty.  Cat retired to his home in Michigan, where both of his sons—Shane (who was born in 1987 and spent several years pitching in the Nationals organization) and Luke (who was born in 1992 and pitched in the independent USPBL for a couple of years)—reside. In retirement, Steve fishes, plays golf, and spends time with Audrey, their sons and daughters-in-law, and their three grandchildren.

Last revised: February 17, 2026

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Steve McCatty for his memories.

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and David Bilmes and checked for accuracy by SABR’s fact-checking team.

Sources

In addition to the sources listed in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com.

Notes

1 Ron Fimrite, “Whatever Happened to the Class Of ’81?” Sports Illustrated, September 10, 1984: 56.

2 Terence Moore, “Howard Lays Down Law,” San Francisco Examiner, May 19, 1981: 51.

3 Glenn Schwarz, “McCatty a Cy Young Candidate?” San Francisco Examiner, September 9, 1981: 67.

4 Bill James, The New Bill James Historical Abstract (The Free Press: New York, 2001): 299.

5 Art Spander, “Scant Comfort for Kansas City,” San Francisco Examiner, October 8, 1981: 73.

6 Steve McCatty, telephone interview with author, November 12, 2025 (hereinafter “McCatty interview.”)

7 Mick McCabe, “Homecoming,” Detroit Free Press, June 14, 1979:  12D.

8 The long list of former major leaguers who played for Detroit in the Adray League can be found at https://aaabajohnstown.org/franchise/detroit/. Website accessed by the author on December 19, 2025.

9 McCatty interview. 

10 McCatty interview.

11 Larry McCarthy, “Baseball,” Orlando Sentinel Star, July 2, 1976: 3-C.

12 McCatty interview.

13 Tom Weir, “Fireballer McCatty Pride of A’s Hill Corps,” Sporting News, June 16, 1979: 28.

14 Brian Bragg, “Sorry About That, Tigers!  Troy High’s McCatty ‘Always Loved Detroit,’ but Snaps its 6-Game Win Streak,” Detroit Free Press, June 3, 1979: 2E.

15 “Rude Homecoming for A’s McCatty,” San Francisco Examiner, June 12, 1979: 51.

16 McCabe, “Homecoming.”

17 McCabe, “Homecoming.”

18 McCatty interview.

19 Dale Tafoya, “Billy Ball,” Lyons Press, Lanham MD, 2020: 129.

20 Kit Stier, “McCatty Masters Curve, Cuts HR Barrage,” Sporting News, August 16, 1980: 21.

21 McCatty interview.

22 Kit Stier, “Langford No. 1 on A’s Ironman Staff,” Sporting News, September 27, 1980: 23.

23 Paul Dickson, “Baseball’s Greatest Quotations,” HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., New York, NY, 1991: 282.

24 McCatty interview.

25 Glenn Schwarz, “A Baseball Love-In at the Coliseum,” San Francisco Examiner, April 18, 1981: 33.

26 Kit Stier, “A’s McCatty Visits Fair,” Sporting News, August 1, 1981:  32.

27 Glenn Schwarz, “Cat and Murph Show Wows A’s Rooters,” San Francisco Examiner, August 15, 1981: 29.

28 Bill Nowlin, Lyle Spatz, “Choosing Among Winners of the 1981 AL ERA Title,” SABR Baseball Research Journal, Spring 2011.

29 Kit Stier, “Armas and McCatty Sign 4-Year Pacts,” Sporting News, February 6, 1982: 39.

30 Rick Vasek, “From Troy to Oakland, Pitcher McCatty Has His Fun,” Detroit Free Press, March 11, 1982: 9F.

31 McCatty interview.

32 Kit Stier, “Loss of McCatty Depletes A’s Staff,” Sporting News, June 14, 1982: 31.

33 Peter Gammons, “Chisox Defense, Bullpen Leave Doubts,” Sporting News, June 13, 1983: 11.

34 Kit Stier, “McCatty Added To A’s Rotation,” Sporting News, June 13, 1983: 26.

35 Fimrite, “Whatever Happened to the Class Of ’81?”

36 Kit Stier, “McCatty Won’t Kick if Sent to Bullpen,” Sporting News, September 17, 1984: 16.

37 Fimrite, “Whatever Happened to the Class Of ’81?”

38 John Hillyer, “Pressure on Older A’s,” San Francisco Examiner, March 14, 1985: 65.

39 McCatty interview.  McCatty noted that after retiring from organized baseball, he played in the Senior Professional Baseball Association, a winter league featuring many former major league players, in 1989 and 1990.

40 Adam Kilgore, “‘Big Teddy Bear’ Has the Nats Well-Armed,” Washington Post, September 14, 2012.

41 Adam Kilgore, “‘Big Teddy Bear’ Has the Nats Well-Armed.”

42 McCatty interview.

43 Tom Dunkel, “McCatty Fuels Rise of Nationals’ Pitching Staff; Targets Series,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 6, 2014: C-3.

44 Tom Dunkel, “McCatty Fuels Rise of Nationals’ Pitching Staff; Targets Series.”