Rip Jim Piersall

[cardsfan73]

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

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.

IMG_3383.jpg

[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]

Originally Posted by 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.