Bob Dylan and “Catfish”

Jim “Catfish” Hunter, the first modern major league player to cash in as a free agent, was an unusual subject for a Bob Dylan song. Nonetheless, Dylan chronicled Hunter’s rise from a country boy to “a million dollar man” smoking cigars and wearing alligator boots. He also commented on the pitcher’s proficiency: “Reggie Jackson at the plate/Seein’ nothin’ but the curve/Swing too early or too late/Got to eat what Catfish serve.” Joe Cocker covered the song in 1976, but Dylan’s version was not released until 1991.