Rip Jim Piersall

[refz]

Being a Waterbury Ct native myself, you will be missed thank you!

[kailes2872]

I just upgraded my '54 Bowman #66 Piersall this week. Got it in the mail on Friday. The last card that I have bought.

I told my wife that I wouldn't be buying any Aaron's or May's anytime soon out of fear of something similar happening...

[irv]

I just upgraded my '54 Bowman #66 Piersall this week. Got it in the mail on Friday. The last card that I have bought.

I told my wife that I wouldn't be buying any Aaron's or May's anytime soon out of fear of something similar happening...

You're not the only one! The last card I had purchased (for quite some time) was a Roy Sievers 52 Topps card.

Within a week, or very close to it, I read on here he had passed. When you went to my FlickR link below (not now) it was the first card you saw.

[conor912]

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/234322170/jimmy-piersall-passes-away-at-87/

My grandfather used to tell me stories about "Loopy" Jimmy Piersall. Definitely one of baseball history's lesser known but equally entertaining characters.

[bgar3]

I was at Yankee Stadium when fans attcked him in right field. One of the first players to help him was Mantle, all the way from the dugout. Very impressed.

[brian1961]

Thanks bgar3, I had never heard that story about Mickey coming to Jim's aid. Very moving.

I have always had a tremendous amount of respect for Jim Piersall. The movie "FEAR STRIKES OUT" was so disturbing. His father was so dominating and rough on him, and Jim could never seem to please him. Karl Malden did a fine job of portraying Jim's father, as did Anthony Perkins as Jimmy. He truly overcame a lot of damaged emotions and bad memories. I'm certain his loopy behavior was a safety valve to let out all the anger and frustration that was pent-up inside of him, and to calm him down.

He was a colorful character, as a player and from what I've read, as an announcer. I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, but had moved away before Jim entered the White Sox broadcast booth.

RIP dear Jim. May God help his grieving family and fans.

---Brian Powell

[bbcard1]

He was the general manager for the Roanoke Buckskins, which was a Redskins pro football farm team in my area.

[drcy]

I'm bipolar as with Piersall, though don't exhibit loopy behavior and my dad was nice. My theory is that Joan of Arc was bipolar. Numerous famous creative types, artists and original thinkers, such as Mark Twain and Van Gogh, were bipolar.

[bgar3]

Brian, I trust my memory only so far so I looked up the attack on Piersall. September 10, 1961, my 12 th birthday. Doubleheader vs Cleveland. What I got wrong was Piersall was in center, the fans came from right field line area, and Mantle came to his aid from first, not he dugout. Anyway, it was amazing.
According to an online account Piersall decked one of the guys and, although not mentioned in the article, I recall Mantle kicking the other guy in the ass. The article also mentioned Piersall's father had died just 5 days before.

[Mark]

I became acquainted with Jimmy while listening to him and Harry Carey do White Sox games in the late 70's and early 80's. Those were probably the most entertaining sports broadcasts that I have ever heard. Where else does the color man rib the play-by-play man about being drunk on the air and where else does the play-by-play man jokingly reply by asking the color man if he has been taking his medications? It was must listen/ must watch. Seriously, he and Harry made a great contribution to the game.

[refz]

I admire jimmys defensive outfield play, and speed. Playing shallow to rob base hits etc.

[ncinin]

This is an example of why Carey/Piersall calling games was entertaining. Look at this example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBxv_Ehb1xw

Watch 9:00 - 10:20 mark where they criticize a White Sox player and 17:30 - 18:40 minute mark where Harry tries to pronouce diverticulitis and Piersall makes fun of Jim Fregosi's drinking.

[tedzan]

Jimmy Piersall was the guest signer at one of the last Willow Grove Shows in 1992. There was a huge crowd lined up to meet him and get his autograph.
Jimmy was very friendly with everyone, except the guy who was in line in front of me. This guy was a dealer who had a box of 25 baseballs for Jimmy to
sign.
These balls were arranged in the box in a 5 x 5 grid separator. The guy hands Jimmy the first ball and tells Jimmy that he was in a hurry. It was apparent
that Jimmy was not too happy about this guy. Jimmy signs his ball and hands it back to the guy. The guy tells Jimmy to place the ball in the box. So what
does Jimmy do....after every ball he signs, Jimmy tosses each ball into the box, attempting to get it in its slot in the box. The signed balls are bouncing all
over the place, and this dealer guy is going nuts. Meanwhile, Jimmy is laughing.


Jimmy's rookie card......

http://photos.imageevent.com/tedzan77/images/websize/1951BowmanPiersall50x.jpg


I watched Jimmy play a lot of games in Yankee Stadium when I was a kid. He was a fantastic outfielder; and, had some really great moments hitting.


GOD Bless you, Jimmy......and, condolences to your family and friends.


TED Z
.

[brian1961]

Jim Piersall knew the game of baseball. He was also gifted with the ability to call a spade a spade. Once in the broadcast booth, he exercised that gift, and knew how to take that spade and clunk you over the head over the airwaves when he thought you deserved it.

Playing this card was rarely thought humorous by players, team management, and all the way up to the owners. Who, even more rarely are willing to own up to their mistakes. So, they managed to fire Mr. Piersall. I guess that was their idea of good management.

We need more Jim Piersalls---in all walks of life.

I salute your memory, Mr. Piersall. May GOD rest your soul in peace.

--- Brian Powell

[cardsfan73]

Thanks bgar3, I had never heard that story about Mickey coming to Jim's aid. Very moving.

I have always had a tremendous amount of respect for Jim Piersall. The movie "FEAR STRIKES OUT" was so disturbing. His father was so dominating and rough on him, and Jim could never seem to please him. Karl Malden did a fine job of portraying Jim's father, as did Anthony Perkins as Jimmy. He truly overcame a lot of damaged emotions and bad memories. I'm certain his loopy behavior was a safety valve to let out all the anger and frustration that was pent-up inside of him, and to calm him down.

He was a colorful character, as a player and from what I've read, as an announcer. I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, but had moved away before Jim entered the White Sox broadcast booth.

RIP dear Jim. May God help his grieving family and fans.

---Brian Powell

Mr. Piersall himself distanced himself from that moving stating that it portrayed a lot of things that never actually happened.

“I hated the movie,” Piersall wrote in his memoir. Perkins, he said, gave a fine performance but looked foolish trying to play baseball. He maintained that the movie included events that had never happened, and that he had never blamed his father for his breakdown."


I was a huge fan of his work with Harry Caray on the White Sox broadcast. Alas he was a little to honest when expressing his criticism of the team which rubbed a lot of players and some of the front office the wrong way and he was fired.


He was also the manager of the Class A Orangeburg Cardinals team that had a young Catcher by the name of Randy Poffo who would later go on to fame as Professional Wrestler Randy Savage! Can you imagine the "Macho Man" & Jimmy in the same locker room?

[Tom Hufford]

As Todd mentioned earlier, Jimmy was the General Manager of the minor league Roanoke Buckskins football team, 1969-71. (I couldn't remember the years, so I Googled it!)

So, it must have been about 1970 when I was in Roanoke (not far from where I lived), and thought I'd stop by and pay Jimmy a visit. I didn't have an appointment or anything, just stopped in at the team office - he was there, and he seemed happy to have a visitor.

We must have sat and talked about two hours. I told him I didn't know a whole lot (or cared much) about football, so he asked me about Roanoke. I was about 20, so how much could I tell him. But I did tell him that the Red Sox had a farm team there in the 1940s-early 1950s, which he remembered, then I mentioned some of the RoSox players, and we talked about them.

And he went into great detail telling me that the old hotel/office building where the Buckskins office was, had been used as a bordello back in the 1930s-40s. He said lots of folks he had met since he came to town had told him about that.

Then he signed a few cards that I'd brought along, and he pulled a few photos out of his desk drawer and signed them for me, too. All in all, a nice way to spend an afternoon. And he sure seemed like a great guy.

RIP, Jimmy!

[vintagesportscollector]

'53 Batting Order card with Piersall batting leadoff.

275898

[tjb1952tjb]

I was fortunate enough to see Jimmy play with the Angels toward the end of his career.......1965, 1966. I remember him being very entertaining, and quite humorous. His acrobatic pre-game fielding in center field was a real treat to watch......always made my dad and I laugh. Thanks for the memories. RIP. My only Jimmy Piersall baseball card...........

[RTK]

One of the most entertaining and educational ex athletes on radio or television. His years with Harry Carry doing Sox games in Chicago were must watch events. Carry's best years in Chicago BTW.

[whitehse]

I got to "know" Jimmy a bit back in the 80's as he was an outfield instructor for the Cubs when I worked for the team. There was nobody that worked harder in making "his" outfielders better ball players than Jimmy did. I watched him hit fungo after fungo to the outfielders and he would often challenge them in their positioning. It was fun to watch as it was like watching an old master painter create a masterpiece.

I also grew up listening to Jimmy and Harry in the Chicago area. Jimmy would do the White Sox play by play as well as appear on various radio shows in Chicago over the years and he never disappointed the listeners that is for sure.

I also produced a series of mall card shows in the 80's and early 90's in which we brought Chicagoland sports figures out to sign free autographs and Jimmy was one person everyone would ask me about. I was finally able to get a show where Jimmy's schedule was open and he happily signed autographs and chatted with fans for over two hours. I had the honor of sitting next to him and heard him say how much he hated the movie made about his life, how he thought Anthony Perkins was a real p***y and how much he loved the game of baseball. There was one issue that came up as a rather good looking teenage girl came up for his autograph and Jimmy asked the girl how old she was. The girl replied that she was 16 years old and Jimmy then asked her if she wanted some advice. The girl sheepishly said "Sure" and Jimmy proceeded to tell her to stay out of back seats. The poor girl was shocked and embarrassed and I think her father wanted to kill him but Jimmy just sat there and laughed. That was Jimmy.

Baseball will miss this man.

[irv]

I got to "know" Jimmy a bit back in the 80's as he was an outfield instructor for the Cubs when I worked for the team. There was nobody that worked harder in making "his" outfielders better ball players than Jimmy did. I watched him hit fungo after fungo to the outfielders and he would often challenge them in their positioning. It was fun to watch as it was like watching an old master painter create a masterpiece.

I also grew up listening to Jimmy and Harry in the Chicago area. Jimmy would do the White Sox play by play as well as appear on various radio shows in Chicago over the years and he never disappointed the listeners that is for sure.

I also produced a series of mall card shows in the 80's and early 90's in which we brought Chicagoland sports figures out to sign free autographs and Jimmy was one person everyone would ask me about. I was finally able to get a show where Jimmy's schedule was open and he happily signed autographs and chatted with fans for over two hours. I had the honor of sitting next to him and heard him say how much he hated the movie made about his life, how he thought Anthony Perkins was a real p***y and how much he loved the game of baseball. There was one issue that came up as a rather good looking teenage girl came up for his autograph and Jimmy asked the girl how old she was. The girl replied that she was 16 years old and Jimmy then asked her if she wanted some advice. The girl sheepishly said "Sure" and Jimmy proceeded to tell her to stay out of back seats. The poor girl was shocked and embarrassed and I think her father wanted to kill him but Jimmy just sat there and laughed. That was Jimmy.

Baseball will miss this man.

:D