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Joe Pepitone Passes Away

By Darragh McDonald | March 13, 2023 at 5:39pm CDT

The Yankees announced today that former major league first baseman/outfielder Joe Pepitone has passed away at the age of 82. “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 statement reads. “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 first signed with the Yankees as an amateur in 1958 and was able to make his major league debut in 1962. He got into 63 games for the Yankees that year, hitting seven home runs and batting .239. He didn’t make any postseason appearances that year, though the Yanks did go on to win that World Series.

He would go on to establish himself more firmly the next season, hitting 27 home runs in 157 games while batting .271. He would remain a fixture of the club’s lineup for the remainder of that decade, playing at least 100 games in each season from 1963 to 1969, hitting at least 13 long balls in each of those. He also won three Gold Glove awards in that stretch, one in 1965, 1966 and 1969, in addition to being selection to the All-Star game three straight years beginning in 1963.

He was traded to the Astros prior to the 1970 season and then was traded to the Cubs midway through that campaign. He’d go onto to spend roughly three years with the Cubs before getting traded to Atlanta in the middle of the 1973 season. He only played three games for Atlanta, which were the last of his major league career. He went to Japan that summer to join the Yakult Atoms, now known as the Yakult Swallows, but he hit just .163 in 14 games.

Pepitone’s major league career finished with him having appeared in 1,397 games. He racked up 1,315 hits, including 219 home runs. He stole 41 bases, scored 606 runs and drove in 721. We at MLB Trade Rumors join others in sending condolences to Pepitone’s family, friends, acquaintances and all those mourning him today.

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50 Comments

  1. Robrock30

    2 years ago

    I am sorry to reveal that I somehow can see deaths just before they occur or are announced. Joe Pepitone appeared to me just prior to this announcement. See below my postings regarding Quintana. RIP

    2
    Reply
    • phenomenalajs

      2 years ago

      Yeah, I was just thinking that I saw his name in a comment today. May his memory be a blessing.

      3
      Reply
    • foppert

      2 years ago

      That is spooky. After I googled him and replied to your post, I was cursing myself for my poor form in using past tense.

      RIP Joe.

      1
      Reply
      • Robrock30

        2 years ago

        This has happened to me previously but I am never sure as sometimes I get the wrong guy with similar name but Pepitone is unique.

        Reply
        • User 1855579867

          2 years ago

          Ok then who is next ?

          1
          Reply
        • Robrock30

          2 years ago

          It doesn’t work like that. I think of an individual sometimes for example James Brown on Christmas Eve when he passed or a catcher for the Cardinals WS team Porter who I barely knew of and he passed under unusual circumstances in a park. Other times I think of someone with a similar name to the deceased for example the actor on the Fast & Furious who I didn’t know.

          Reply
        • User 1855579867

          2 years ago

          I see Robeock30 people…

          Reply
        • User 1855579867

          2 years ago

          I see Robrock30 people…

          Reply
        • njbirdsfan

          2 years ago

          The spirits want me to acknowledge a man, he was wearing pinstripes? Something with a J?

          Reply
    • Lonchair

      2 years ago

      What are you referring to?

      Reply
    • User 1855579867

      2 years ago

      I see births before they happen.

      7
      Reply
      • Cleon Jones

        2 years ago

        “I knew I wasnt the 1st born in my family. The womb had graffitti. It said ‘Bob was here’. “Steven Wright

        4
        Reply
        • Unclemike1525

          2 years ago

          Joe Pepitone. Not only a very good ballplayer but one of Life’s great characters. Never forget in Ball Four where he put a piece of popcorn under his junk and went to the trainer and claimed to have some new kind of disease. One of a kind.

          1
          Reply
    • itsmeheyhii

      2 years ago

      We are sorry you revealed this info as well.

      1
      Reply
  2. wahoomaniac

    2 years ago

    Read his book “Joe, You Coulda Made Us Proud” as a teenager and that was quite the eye-opener. Not the most mature guy but one of the more interesting characters around.

    3
    Reply
  3. User 3014224641

    2 years ago

    He designed Central Park.

    – Cosmo Kramer

    7
    Reply
    • stevewpants

      2 years ago

      During the civil war so the northern armies could practice fighting on grass. Also, Kramer owns the inside of that plate.

      4
      Reply
      • paddyo furnichuh

        2 years ago

        Sometimes you gotta brush ’em back…fantasy camp or not.

        2
        Reply
  4. leftykoufax

    2 years ago

    RIP Joe, he enjoyed playing the game. He was also born on the same day as John Lennon.

    2
    Reply
  5. MattyD 2

    2 years ago

    First major league player to use a hair dryer in the locker room. He was customer of mine years ago what funny guy with a great personality. Rip joe p

    7
    Reply
    • wvpirate

      2 years ago

      Bet Dock Ellis was the first with curlers

      2
      Reply
  6. rondon

    2 years ago

    I saw him play a couple of times at Wrigley when I was very young. Whatever “curse” it was to be a Cub fan (hey, my dad was and he was this boy’s biggest influencer), there was something about Pepitone that made the game fun. He always seemed to have a smile on his face as if to remind us all, in the end, it’s just a game. I loved that about him.

    9
    Reply
    • CubsWS2016

      2 years ago

      Us liitle league Cub fans used to grow our hair long in back so it would stick out of the cap ala Pepitone

      3
      Reply
    • olmtiant

      2 years ago

      Rondon.. us too as a youngster pops would take us to Wrigley.. get there at 9 to park in a convent ( much cheaper) a gallon of lemonade/ 4 ham sandwiches and me and brother would finish by first pitch if there was any hope for ron santo pizza or frosty malt with wooden spoon… rip Joe…and thanks for being a cub…

      1
      Reply
  7. libertybell444

    2 years ago

    “And here is Central Park…built by Joe Pepitone!”

    4
    Reply
  8. Mickey777

    2 years ago

    RIP Peppi! Thanks for the memories!

    1
    Reply
  9. baseballnerd20

    2 years ago

    Remember going to Bat Day at Yankee Stadium in the late sixties and getting a Joe Pepitone bat. How excited I was! RIP Joe.

    1
    Reply
  10. Friarguy19

    2 years ago

    Funny story in Ball Four about something he did with the Yankees. Something to do with a popcorn kernel.

    1
    Reply
    • cornwhisperer

      2 years ago

      Funny you said that. Kind of odd that whenever I heard his name, the was the first thing I’d think of. That book scarred my memories of some players for life

      2
      Reply
  11. Rick Wilkins

    2 years ago

    “Anthony, you see the Yankee game last night? Joey Pepitone, 3 RBIs!

    “No, my mother made me good to bed”

    If you know, you know.

    2
    Reply
    • CubsWS2016

      2 years ago

      Young Uncle Junior “TREE RBI”

      2
      Reply
  12. The Saber-toothed Superfife

    2 years ago

    Very, very saddened to hear this. My condolences to his family, the Yankee organization and all MLB fans, who hear this great name.

    2
    Reply
  13. Mad Hatter

    2 years ago

    He was a favorite of mine when he came up. Unfortunately, the team was pretty bad at that time. He was a real character. The first guy to bring a hair dryer into the clubhouse. He had a biography “Joe, You Coulda Made us Proud”. Some funny stories!

    3
    Reply
  14. darthdragula

    2 years ago

    Joe Pepitone or not, I own the inside of that plate. – Cosmo Kramer

    4
    Reply
  15. Yankees21

    2 years ago

    I’m too young to have seen him play, but old enough to remember when Scooter would bring his name up with Messer & White (as Scooter called them) and tell a story. I loved hearing about the players from those years I just missed.

    The man was a true character through a transitional time for the Yankees and the city he was born and played in. Certainly one of a kind, from a time we’ll never see again. RIP.

    5
    Reply
  16. Lucky Strike

    2 years ago

    Minor league summers in Fargo and Amarillo.

    Reply
  17. all in the suit that you wear

    2 years ago

    RIP

    1
    Reply
  18. Assdribble_Cabrera

    2 years ago

    A slice of Americana that exudes what baseball is all about, a kid who got the chance to live every kids dream and ran with it. Bless you Joe Pepitone. Whether you are a Yankee fan or not, we got to appreciate everything Joe was about. Love you Joe.

    5
    Reply
  19. IronBallsMcGinty

    2 years ago

    Never knew Yakult was once known as the Atoms. That sounds way cooler than the Swallows.

    2
    Reply
  20. YankeesBleacherCreature

    2 years ago

    RIP Joe.

    1
    Reply
  21. John Bird

    2 years ago

    First guy I ever heckled. RIP Joe.

    2
    Reply
  22. soxwin1

    2 years ago

    He owned a bar in Chicago called Pepi’s Place. He was a real character.

    2
    Reply
  23. soxwin1

    2 years ago

    He owned a bar in Chicago called Pepi’s Place. What a character.

    2
    Reply
  24. Giant1962

    2 years ago

    Was on Trenton softball team..

    1
    Reply
  25. User 1855579867

    2 years ago

    Resting in Peace for eternity doesn’t sound so great. After about eight hours that would get kinda boring.

    Reply
  26. Yankeesforever

    2 years ago

    Being Italian, my old man made sure he was the Yankee we sons liked the most.
    I remember coca-cola sporting collectable bottles caps that had the image of every Yankee on the underside. My thrill when I got the Pepitone one.
    I even have an autographed picture of him sent after I wrote him a fan letter.
    So long Joe, thanks for being number#1 in our household.

    3
    Reply
  27. User 2976510776

    2 years ago

    Recently read a David Israel profile on him. He hung out with the racket guys at the Copa during the Henry Hill Goodfellas era.

    Reply
  28. rememberthecoop

    2 years ago

    I recall his time with the Cubs fondly. RIP Joe.

    Reply
  29. Raysasineppswasplanted

    2 years ago

    Joe Pepitone, with that name and playing for the damned Yankees, there’s star writting all over it. Hope you’re in a better place now.

    Reply
  30. CrikesAlready

    2 years ago

    Born the same day as John Winston Lennon 10-9-40

    Reply

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