Joe Pepitone, a former first baseman and outfielder with the New York Yankees, passed away on Monday, the team reported.
At age 82, Pepitone. Brooklyn-born player played for the Bronx Bombers from 1962 to 1969, then from 1970 to 1973 he played for the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, and Atlanta Braves.
The Yankees mourns Pepitone’s death in a statement released this afternoon.
“The Yankees are deeply saddened by the passing of former Yankee Joe Pepitone, whose playful and charismatic personality and on-field contributions made him a favorite of generations of Yankees fans even beyond his years with the team in the 1960s,” the Yankees said in a statement.
“As a native New Yorker, he embraced everything about being a Yankee during both his playing career — which included three All-Star appearances and three Gold Gloves — and in the decades thereafter. You always knew when Joe walked into a room — his immense pride in being a Yankee was always on display. He will be missed by our entire organization, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, friends and all who knew him.”
Pepitone joined the Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1958. He was born and reared in Brooklyn, New York. In 1962, he made his Major League Baseball debut, and in 1963, at the age of 22, he played his first full season and batted.271/.304/.448 with 27 home runs. That year, Pepitone was an All-Star and contributed to the Yankees winning the American League pennant.
In Game 4 of that 1963 World Series, Pepitone committed a costly error by dropping the ball on a throw from third baseman Clete Boyer while the Dodger Stadium crowd was watching. Due to Pepitone’s error, the runner was able to reach third base and eventually score the game-winning run in the World Series.
With the Yankees, Pepitone batted.252/.294/.423 and hit 26 home runs on average every 162 games from 1963 through 1969. He participated in three All-Star Games with New York (1963–1965), was nominated for the MVP twice (1963 and 1966), and collected three Gold Gloves (1965-66, 1969). Pepitone was a member of the Yankees in 1963 and 1964, although he never helped the team win a championship.
Pepitone’s career was completed with Houston (1970), the Chicago Cubs (1970–73), and the Atlanta Braves after the Yankees dealt him to the Houston Astros in December 1969. (1973). In June 1973, he parted ways with the Braves and concluded the year in Japan with the Yakult Atoms. Pepitone finished his career with 219 home runs, 1,315 hits, and a batting line of.258/.301/.432 across 1,297 games.
Pepitone played in a professional softball league after finishing his major league career, and from 1981 to 1982 he coached the Yankees’ minor league team. He temporarily served as the team’s MLB hitting coach in 1982 and had spells in the front office. Later in life, Pepitone encountered legal issues and was sentenced to four months in jail for two drug-related misdemeanor charges in 1988.
Pepitone was one of the game’s best characters, and Jim Bouton gave him a lot of attention in Ball Four. He chronicled his upbringing and life away from baseball in his own memoir, Joe, You Coulda Made Us Proud, which was published in 1975.