Joe Pepitone
| Joe Pepitone | |||
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Pepitone at the 2009 Yankees' Old-Timers' Day
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| First baseman / Center fielder | |||
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Born: October 9, 1940 Brooklyn, New York |
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| MLB debut | |||
| April 10, 1962, for the New York Yankees | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| May 25, 1973, for the Atlanta Braves | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .258 | ||
| Home runs | 219 | ||
| Runs batted in | 721 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Joseph Anthony "Joe" Pepitone (born October 9, 1940) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and outfielder who played the bulk of his career for the New York Yankees. He also played several seasons with the Chicago Cubs and had short stints with the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves. During his time with the Yankees, Pepitone was thrice-named to play in the All-Star Game and also won three Gold Glove awards.
In 1958, Pepitone was signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent. After playing four seasons in the minor leagues, he broke in with the Yankees in 1962, playing behind Moose Skowron at first base. A much-discussed legend was that while on his way to 1962 spring training in Florida, Pepitone spent his entire $25,000 ($207,526 today) signing bonus.
Yankee management believed he could handle the first base job and traded Skowron to the Dodgers before the 1963 season. Pepitone responded, hitting .271 with 27 HR and 89 RBI. He went on to win three Gold Gloves, but in the 1963 World Series he made an infamous error. With the score tied 1-1 in the seventh inning of Game Four, he lost a routine Clete Boyer throw in the white shirtsleeves of the Los Angeles crowd, and the batter, Jim Gilliam, went all the way to third base and scored the Series-winning run on a sacrifice fly. He redeemed himself somewhat in the 1964 Series against the Cardinals with a Game 6 grand slam.
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