RIP Joe Pepitone
 

We lost a good one here. Met him many times at Cubs fantasy camp. He was hilarious in his own vulgar way. Rest In Peace Mr Pepitone!

Rest In Peace Joe P.

Prayers and thoughts with the family

Pepi was truly a character. He and Phil Linz were buddies in the minors, one crazier than the other. Pepi had some really bad wigs over the years. But the guy could hit!

Joey Gallo would still be on the Yankees, if he could have hit like Joey Pepitone! The fans loved Pepi!

RIP!

One of my all-time favorite ballplayers. I hope he rests in peace. Sad...

RIP Mr. Pepitone. Here is Joe with Joe.

Two photos from the 1975 book Dynasty: The New York Yankees 1949 - 1964. The book was written by Peter Golenbock, with whom I worked at the time at the publisher, Prentice-Hall. Mr. Golenbock interviewed and photographed many of the players covered in his book. The second photograph is one that Mr. Golenbock took personally. We had intracompany softball teams and Pepi came to watch a game that my team played against Mr. Golenbock's! :)

I don’t know which one is the best story, the brushback pitch to Pepitone from Denny McLain after the gift home run pitch to Mickey Mantle in 1968, the word ‘Pepitone’ becoming vernacular for ‘goof-off’ in Japan after his fake injury antics there in 1973, or getting cut by the Padres in Spring Training in 1975 after instinctively protecting his toupee rather than trying to field a bad hop ground ball.

I will remember him this way. My favorite Yankees first baseman, all-time, after Lou Gehrig.

Don’t forget the chin music from Kramer at the Yankee fantasy camp.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7vqJ-WSC-QI


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My favorite Pepitone story is recounted in Ball Four. During the late innings of a game the Yankees eventually lost, somebody snuck into the clubhouse and filled Pepitone's hair dryer with talcum powder. So, after the disappointing loss, and after the players were showered and the clubhouse was quiet and somber, Pepitone turns on his hair dryer and WHOOSH! his entire head and hair is instantly covered in white powder. He looked like a ghost with George Washington hair.