RIP Joe Pepitone (link)

A New York Italian who got to play for the Yankees, he was one of the great baseball characters. He even "invented" a new venereal disease as chronicled in "Ball Four".

He had multiple hairpieces, including one just for games (which was interesting considering he was, you know, wearing a hat).

When he was with the Cubs he had a column in the Chicago Daily News "Pepi Pops Off". In one of the few Cub games I attended as a kid, he hit two home runs.

He was actually quite a good ballplayer for a number of years, especially in the field.

Click here for link at https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/sports/baseball/joe-pepit

Bouton should've paid a share of book royalties to...

Pepitone, Joe Schultz, and Fred Talbot. "Ball Four" wouldn't have been half as interesting w/o those 3 characters.

It's funny how a book that disclosed that many ballplayers (most notably Whitey & Mickey) spent much of their time on the road drinking & chasing women was considered so explosive at the time. Same goes for amphetamine use.

Several years ago, I read Pepitone's account of a time that the NYY played an exhibition game at West Point. Mantle rented a limo and he & Pepitone filled a thermos with screwdrivers which they drank in the back of the limo on the ride up.

Bouton is gone, Pepitone is now gone, I assume Schultz is long gone, and I don't know about Talbot.

Schultz died in 1996, while Talbot died in 2013. *

5 seasons with over 25 homeruns *

Also designed Central Park in 1850 *

And 1 HBK

Hit By Kramer

our local radio station played that sound clip this morning *

Outstanding.

When I saw the original post the first thing that came to mind was that episode. Even before thinking about him as a Cub of my youth.