#245 Joe Pepitone

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the umpire ruled Joe Pepitone off of the bag whenever he caught the throw. You can't just set up shop smack in the middle of the infield grass, Joe!

Fun facts about Joe Pepitone:

-Joe was a Brooklyn boy who signed with the Yankees out of high school in 1958. He supposedly spent his $20,000 to $25,000 bonus on a Ford Thunderbird and a speed boat.

-After hitting .239 with 7 home runs and 17 RBI as a rookie in 1962, he took over as New York's starting first baseman the following year and made the first of three consecutive All-Star teams. His .271 average and 27 home runs trailed only Elston Howard for the team lead, and he topped all Yankees with 89 RBI. However, "Pepi" went just 2-for-13 (.154) in the World Series and made a crucial error in Game 4 that set up the Series-clinching run for the Dodgers.

-On August 29, 1964, he drove in seven runs via a first-inning grand slam and an eighth-inning three-run homer. The Yankees pounded Boston 10-2.

-Pepitone rebounded in 1964 to swat 28 home runs and a career-high 100 runs as the Yankees captured another pennant. They fell in the World Series again, with their young first baseman again managing a scant .154 average (4-for-26). However, his eighth-inning grand slam in Game 6 did fuel a series-tying Yankee win.

-Joe was recognized three times as the top-fielding first baseman in the American League, winning Gold Gloves in 1965, 1966, and 1969.

-He was famous for his hard-partying ways and vanity. According to Jim Bouton in Ball Four, Pepi had two different toupees: one for everyday wear and a "game piece", the latter to be worn only on the diamond. One of the famous anecdotes in the book had Bouton and Fritz Peterson sneaking into the clubhouse during a game to sprinkle talcum powder in Joe's hair dryer. After the game (a Yankee loss), Joe applied his "everyday" rug and turned on the dryer to straighten his actual hair, and WHOOOOSH...as Bouton told it, "he looked like an Italian George Washington". So did Pepi actually wear a rug? You tell me.

-Though he usually did not hit for a high average, his power and the lower offensive standards of his era made Pepitone a valuable player throughout the 1960s. For instance, a .255 average and .290 on-base percentage in 1966 are mitigated when you consider that the Yanks hit .235 with a .299 OBP overall that season. He also hit a personal-and-team-best 31 home runs, and finished with an 118 OPS+ (again, 100 would be league average).

-Between 1970 and 1973, Joe played for the Astros, Cubs, and Braves before heading to Japan. In a dozen big league seasons, he hit .258 with 219 homers and 721 RBI.

-He did not adjust well to Japan. He hit only .167 in 14 games for the Yakult Atoms, blew off games to go to night clubs, and soon jumped the team.

-He briefly served as Yankee hitting coach in 1982, and has spent the last decade and change employed in the club's front office. He is currently in their public relations area.

-Pepitone has run afoul of the law several times in his post-playing days. In 1985, he and two others were arrested in Brooklyn after their car ran a red light. The car contained drugs and paraphrenalia, a pistol, and $6,300 in cash. He wound up serving four months at Rikers Island and was freed for a work-release program when George Steinbrenner offered him a minor-league player development position. In 1992, he was charged with a misdemeanor assault and released on bail. Four years later, he lost control of his car in the Queens-Midtown Tunnel and charged with driving under the influence.

#208 Tommy John

Tommy John's name is synonymous with the elbow ligament replacement surgery that was patented by Dr. Frank Jobe. I realize that Dr. Jobe has benefited financially from his medical breakthrough, but I can't help but wonder whether he's bitter over it. Wouldn't you think they'd call it Frank Jobe surgery?

Fun facts about Tommy John:

-Tommy was born in Terre Haute, IN. He was a star basketball player in high school, but signed with the Indians in 1961 because he thought his career prospects in baseball were better.

-He was only 20 when he debuted with Cleveland in September 1963. The following May 3, he earned his first career win by shutting out the Orioles on three hits.

-A three-team trade sent John to the White Sox in 1965. To reacquire slugger Rocky Colavito, the Tribe gave up John, Tommie Agee, and Johnny Romano. The young southpaw went 14-7 with a 3.09 ERA in his first season in Chicago.

-In all, Tommy won 82 games with a 2.95 ERA in seven seasons with the Pale Hose. He went to his first All-Star Game in 1968, when he posted a 10-5 record and a 1.98 ERA in an injury-shortened season.

-In December 1971, Chicago dealt him to the Dodgers for slugger Dick Allen. He benefited greatly from pitching for a contender, winning 73 percent of his decisions (40-25) in his first three years in L.A. However, his career looked to be over on July 17, 1974. Pitching against the Expos, he allowed the first two batters to reach in the third inning before blowing out the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow while facing Hal Breeden. In a revolutionary procedure, Dr. Frank Jobe replaced the torn UCL with a ligament from John's right forearm. The rest, as they say, is history.

-Following more than a year of rehabilitation (assisted by teammate and physical fitness guru Mike Marshall), Tommy returned to the Dodger rotation in 1976 and went 10-10 with a 3.09 ERA and a league-best 0.3 home runs allowed per nine innings. He was named N.L. Comeback Player of the Year, and went on to pitch in the big leagues for 14 years post-surgery.

-He had his greatest stretch of success from 1977-1980. He won 20, 17, 21, and 22 games in those four seasons, went to three All-Star Games, and had a pair of second-place finishes in Cy Young voting. He also signed a lucrative free-agent deal with the Yankees prior to the 1979 campaign.

-Tommy managed to be on the losing end of three Yankees-Dodgers World Series: 1977-1978 (LA), and 1981 (NY). But he did his part, with a career 6-3 record and a 2.67 ERA in 14 postseason games.

-Throughout the 1980s, he pitched for the Yankees, Angels, Athletics, and Yankees once again. He retired in 1989 after tying the major league record with 26 seasons played. He had a 288-231 record and a 3.34 ERA, and 2,245 strikeouts.

-Since hanging up his spikes, Tommy has broadcast games for the Twins and done some managing and coaching. He was a pitching coach in the Expos organization in 2002-03 and managed the New York-Penn League's Staten Island Yankees in 2004. From 2007-09, he managed the independent Bridgeport Bluefish. He is not currently in the Hall of Fame, having garnered just 31.7% of the vote in 2009, his final year on the ballot.

#22 Charlie Smith

I'm back from a short getaway to my family's cottage in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and I'm diving into a four-card package from Rick Rodriguez. Last August, Rick sent me these cards as thanks for allowing him to use some excerpts from this blog on his own site. Always glad to help! Looking at this particular card, it's hard to tell whether the photographer was more interested in capturing Charlie Smith's likeness or a detailed close-up of the 1964 World's Fair patch on his sleeve. It is a great logo, if you ask me. Topps strikes again, by the way; most other sources list the spelling of his first name as "Charley".

Fun facts about Charley Smith:

-Charley was born in Charleston, SC, and signed with the Dodgers at age 19 in 1957.

-In his first look at AAA, he hit .322 with 35 doubles, 20 home runs, and 106 RBI for Spokane in 1960. The Dodgers gave him an 18-game look that September, and he batted .167 (10-for-60) with 5 RBI. Two of those RBI came in his debut on September 8 in a 7-4 win over the Reds.

-Just a month into the 1961 season, Smith was traded to the Phillies, who made him their regular third baseman. Overall, he hit .248 with 11 homers and 50 RBI, earning a spot on the Topps All-Star Rookie team.

-After appearing in only 71 games in parts of three seasons with the White Sox, he was dealt to the Mets in April 1964. He batted .239 with 20 home runs and 58 RBI, leading the New Yorkers in longballs. However, he struck out 101 times and walked just 19 times.

-Charley had a pair of two-homer games in his career. On August 17, 1964, he took Bob Veale and John Gelnar deep to account for four runs in the Mets' 5-0 win over Pittsburgh. Three years later, he again drove in four runs in a 5-0 victory for a New York team; this time it was for the Yankees, and the opposing pitchers were Tommy John and Hoyt Wilhelm of the White Sox.

-Playing regularly for another anemic Mets team in 1965, Smith hit .244 with 16 homers and a team-high 62 RBI.

-He started 100 games at third base for St. Louis in 1966 and hit a personal-best .266 with 10 home runs and 43 RBI.

-To the consternation of Bronx fans, Charley was traded to the Yankees straight-up for a declining Roger Maris in 1967. He carried a paltry .224/.278/.336 batting line in New York that season, scraping across 27 extra-base hits in 425 at-bats.

-After playing sparingly for the Yanks in 1968, he appeared in two games with the Cubs the following season, bringing his career to a close. In parts of 10 seasons, he hit .239 with 69 home runs and 281 RBI.

-Following a knee surgery in 1994, Charley died in hospital care. He was only 57 years old.