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Originally Posted by 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
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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?