Everything about Joe Pepitone totally explained
Joseph (Joe) Anthony Pepitone (born
October 9 1940, in
Brooklyn,
New York) is a former
Major League Baseball first baseman and
outfielder for the
New York Yankees (
1962-
1969),
Houston Astros (
1970),
Chicago Cubs (
1970-
1973) and
Atlanta Braves (
1973).
Baseball career
In
1958, Pepitone was signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur
free agent. After playing four seasons in the
minor leagues, he broke in with the Yankees in
1962, playing behind
Moose Skowron at
first base. A much-discussed
legend was that while on his way to 1962
spring training in
Florida, Pepitone spent his entire $25,000 signing bonus. He bought a
Ford Thunderbird, a boat which he towed with the Thunderbird, and a
dog. He arrived at Yankees
spring training in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with a new car, a new boat, a new dog, and was wearing a new
shark-skin suit.
Pepitone had a powerful swing and an excellent glove, and some of Pepitone's tougher friends thought he should be the regular first baseman ahead of Skowron. They offered to help Joe out by breaking Skowron's legs; Pepitone declined. The Yankee brass believed he could handle the job, and before the
1963 season traded Skowron to the
Dodgers. Pepitone responded admirably, hitting .271 with 27 HR and 89 RBI. He went on to win three
Gold Gloves, but in the
1963 World Series he made an infamous
error. With the score tied 1-1 in the seventh inning of Game Four, he lost a routine
Clete Boyer throw in the white shirtsleeves of the Los Angeles crowd, and the batter,
Jim Gilliam, went all the way to
third base and scored the Series-winning run on a sacrifice fly. He redeemed himself somewhat in the
1964 Series against the
Cardinals with a Game 6
grand slam.
The ever-popular Pepitone remained a fixture throughout the decade, even playing
center field after bad
knees reduced
Mickey Mantle's mobility. After the
1969 season he was traded to the
Astros for
Curt Blefary. Later he played for the
Cubs and finished his major-league career with the
Braves.
In June of
1973, Pepitone accepted an offer of $70,000 a year to play for the
Yakult Atoms, a professional
baseball team in
Japan's
Central League. While in Japan, he hit .163 with one
home run and two
RBIs in 14
games played. According to an edition of
Total Baseball, Pepitone spent his days in Japan skipping games for claimed injuries only to be at night in
discos, behavior which led the Japanese to adopt his name into their
vernacular--as a word meaning "goof off".
Pepitone was a member of the
1963,
1964 and
1965 American League All Star Team. He won the
Gold Glove award for
first basemen in 1965,
1966 and
1969.
Jim Bouton talks extensively about Pepitone in his book "
Ball Four." Pepitone is described as being extremely vain. Bouton said that Pepitone went nowhere without a bag containing hair products for his rapidly balding head. Pepitone even had two
toupees, one for general wear and one for under his baseball cap, which he called his "game piece." Bouton told a humorous story about how the game piece came loose one day when Pepitone took off his cap for the national anthem.
In 1975 he posed nude for Foxy Lady magazine, featuring full frontal nudity. In the late 70's, Pepitone played for the New Jersey Statesmen in the American Professional Slow Pitch League (APSPL), one of three
professional softball leagues active during this period. Pepitone would also serve the front office of the North American Softball League (NASL) for their only season in 1980.
In June of
1982, Pepitone was hired as a batting coach with the Yankees, but was replaced by
Lou Piniella later in the season.
In the late
1990s, Pepitone was given a job in the Yankees' front office.
Problems after baseball
Pepitone spent four months at
Rikers Island jail in
1988 for two
misdemeanor drug convictions after he and two other men were arrested on
March 18,
1985, in
Brooklyn after being stopped by the police for running a red light in a car containing nine ounces of
cocaine, 344
quaaludes, a
free-basing kit, a pistol and about $6,300 in cash. He was released from jail on a work-release program when Yankee owner
George Steinbrenner offered him a job in minor-league player development for the team.
In January of
1992, Pepitone was charged with misdemeanor assault in
Kiamesha Lake, New York, after a scuffle police said was triggered when Pepitone was called a "has-been." He was arraigned in town court and released after he posted $75 bail.
In October of
1995, the 55-year-old Pepitone was arrested and charged with driving while intoxicated after losing control of his car in
New York City's
Queens-Midtown Tunnel. Police found Pepitone bloodied, disoriented and mumbling as he walked through the tunnel. Authorities charged Pepitone with drunken driving after he refused to take a sobriety test.." Pepitone pled guilty. When asked if he was staying away from alcohol, Pepitone responded: "I don't drink that much."
Recently divorced from his third wife, Pepitone has managed to stay out of trouble for the past 10 years, and on
October 9,
2007, he celebrated his 67th birthday.
Pepitone currently resides in
Farmingdale, New York, and spends his time signing autographs and baseball memorabilia at autograph shows.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Joe Pepitone'.
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