RIP Joe Pepitone

Joe Pepitone just died. To be honest I never really think of him as a ballplayer, his sense of humor and wild charisma coupled with his career matching perfectly with the 1960s dog days of Yankees fandom has held him up as a pop culture reference rivaled only by the beyond-beloved Bob Uecker. There's a million great stories with him in Jim Bouton's classic Ball Four, and he was referenced in Curb Your Enthusiasm (twice), Seinfeld (THRICE!), The Golden Girls, Mystery Science Theater, The West Wing, The Sopranos....the list goes on and on. He was a 3x All-Star and 3x Gold Glover but his personality transcended his talents, and if there's one wake I'd wanna be at, with grizzled veteran ballplayers spending hours topping each other with Joe Pepitone stories, it would be Joe Pepitone's wake.

My favorite has always been this one (told to me by fucking Denny McLain!!): 

McLain had grown up idolizing New York Yankee center fielder, Mickey Mantle, who entered the game tied with Jimmie Foxx for third place in the major league career home runs list. When Mantle came to bat in the eighth inning with McLain and the Tigers holding a 6-1 lead, McLain intentionally threw a soft pitch directly over home plate. Mantle hit the ball for his 535th career home run putting him in sole possession of third place on the all-time home run list, behind only Babe Ruth and Willie Mays. As Mantle ran around the bases, McLain stood on the pitchers mound and applauded. The next batter, Joe Pepitone, waved his bat over the plate, as if asking for an easy pitch of his own. McLain responded by throwing the next pitch over Pepitone's head.

PS - I'M SO HAPPY!! I just realized the title to my McLean post is a line referencing him in a Baseball Project song that I just reminded you people of two weeks ago!

Also, McLean loved telling the story so much he gave me the signed photo from Pepitone above 🤗.