Beyond the Byline: Pepitone was a true gentleman

PLAINS TWP. — The story began, “Joe Pepitone, an All-Star and Gold Glove first baseman on the 1960s New York Yankees who gained renown for his flamboyant personality, hairpieces and penchant for nightlife, has died. He was 82.”

I met Pepitone on two separate occasions — in 1962, as an 11-year-old Yankee fan, and decades later, still a Yankee fan, when he was at PNC Field for a Yankees Legends gathering.

Both encounters were awesome.

I’ve told this story before, but in light of Pepitone’s passing, I think it is worth repeating at this very sad time. If I had the opportunity, I would tell this story to his family and friends because they should hear it.

My mom absolutely loved Joe Pepitone. While in New York for a weekend series in 1962 — Pepitone’s first year with the Yanks — mom and I went into the cafeteria at the Yankee Stadium Motor Lodge, just over the George Washington bridge. We were attending a Yankees series — Friday, Saturday, Sunday — like we did so often back then.

The lodge was where many Yankee players stayed during the season. Over the years, we met many players and broadcasters there and we really got to know them.

So, on this one morning, mom and I were having breakfast in the motel’s cafeteria when Pepitone walked in and sat at the counter. I just had to go over to him — I was 11 at the time — and tell him that my mom loved him and I asked him if he could say hello to her.

Pepitone got up, walked over to our table and sat down. He gave my mom a hug and a kiss on the cheek and he thanked us for our support of the Yankees.

My mom never forgot that day. She would tell that story over and over and it always made her smile. Mom would pass just six years later.

When Pepitone was at PNC Field a few years ago for a Yankees Legends game, I got to sit with him and former Yankee catcher and broadcaster Rick Cerone graciously introduced me to “Pepi.”

I sat in the third base dugout and I told Pepitone that story — how I had met him in 1962 at the Yankee Stadium Motor Lodge.

“Was I sober?” he asked me. I assured him he was and that he gladly gave me his autograph. “What did I say?” he asked me. I told him it wasn’t what he said — it was what he did.

Pepitone was sincerely happy to hear the story. He smiled and shook my hand and he expressed sincere sorrow that my mom had died so young.

As Pepitone and I chatted, I told how my family always loved the Yankees. And as rabid a Yankee fan my dad was, his sister — my Aunt Betty — was even more vocal.

I told Pepitone that Yankee legend Mickey Mantle was the apple of Aunt Betty’s eye. “The Mick” could do no wrong. She would stop everything whenever Mantle came to bat. And Mickey seldom disappointed.

One time, we left a Yankees-Red Sox game in the eighth inning because the Yanks were trailing by two runs and Mantle wasn’t due up until sixth in the ninth inning. But when we returned to the Yankee Stadium Motor Lodge, we learned that the Yankees came back to win on Mantle’s three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth.

Aunt Betty never forgave me for that one, but who knew.

My point is that the Yankees have always been our team. I have met so many Yankees — Mantle, Berra, Ford, Boyer, Kubek, Richardson from those great 1960s teams — to more recent stars like Roy White, Bucky Dent, Reggie Jackson, Rick Cerone and Hector Lopez.

Baseball has always meant a lot to my family. My dad taught me the importance of appreciating the finer points of the game.

I still watch as much baseball as I can, not to just root for my team, but to hope there are still players like Joe Pepitone playing the game we all love.

Pepitone’s obituary states that he was living with his daughter, Cara Pepitone, at her house in Kansas City, Missouri, and was found dead Monday morning, according to BJ Pepitone, a son of the former player.

The Yankees said in a statement Pepitone’s “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.”

Pepitone was thought to be the first to bring a hair dryer into the clubhouse, an artifact later given to the Baseball Reliquary and displayed at the Burbank Central Library in California during a 2004 exhibition.

Say what you want, but Joe Pepitone was a gentleman. He may have misbehaved here and there, but he always played hard on the field and he appreciated the fans.

His true character came out when an 11-year-old fan asked him to say hello to his mother.

I’ll never forget that genuine act of kindness.

Article by: Bill O’Boyle