Former Yankee and three-time All-Star Joe Pepitone has died at the age of 82, the team announced Monday. A cause of death was not disclosed.
“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 was born in Brooklyn and was signed to the Yankees in 1958 as an amateur. He played with the Yankees from from 1962-69. The three-time Gold Glove winner also played for the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves during his 12-year career.
In 1963, Pepitone’s second season, he was selected to play in his first All-Star Game and later helped the Yankees win 104 games in the regular season. The Bombers went on to win the American League pennant but got swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
That year, Pepitone slashed .271/.304/.448 with 27 home runs and 89 RBI in 157 games.
Pepitone and the Yankees made it to the World Series the following year in 1964 but again came up short, losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
The Yankees traded Pepitone to the Astros prior to the 1970 season and was again dealt to the Cubs midway through the season. His tenure in Atlanta lasted just 3 games, which were the final games of his major league career. For his career, Pepitone slashed .258/.301./.432 with 219 home runs and 721 RBI in 1397 games.
Pepitone was known for his colorful character and off-field incidents.
During a time when major league ballplayers stuck to the script and didn’t make much commotion away from games, the Yankees legend became the first player to bring a hair dryer into a clubhouse. The dryer was later displayed at the Burbank Central Library in California during a 2004 exhibition: “The Times They Were A-Changin’: Baseball in the Age of Aquarius.”
His autobiography, “Joe, You Coulda Made Us Proud,” detailed his time in a Rikers Island jail and nightlife with Frank Sinatra. The first baseman and outfielder once said in an interview that he hung out with mafia members in New York and hid drugs he received from fans in Wrigley Field’s ivy during his tenure with the Cubs.
“Things were a little different back then, sure,” Pepitone told Rolling Stone in 2015. “When I brought the hair dryer into the clubhouse, they thought I was a hairdresser or something; they didn’t know what the hell was going on, you know? I’d walk in with a black Nehru jacket on, beads, my hair slicked back; it was ridiculous. I think about it now, and I laugh.”
Pepitone was convicted on two drug misdemeanor charges in 1988, landing him in jail at Rikers Island for four months. The Yankees hired Pepitone to work with minor leaguers after his time in jail.
