You Ought to Be in Pictures

I saw a press release yesterday announcing that Joe Pepitone's life story will soon be made into a movie. To be honest, if you'd asked which 1960s baseball figure might make a good subject for a film, maybe you'd first think of Sandy Koufax, who dominated baseball for five years before a sore elbow forced his retirement at age 30. Perhaps the intimidating Bob Gibson, the heart and soul of three Cardinal pennant winners and two World Series champion, comes to mind. Or Tom Seaver, who changed the mindset and attitude of the Mets and in just his third season, let them to an improbable World Series title. But Pepitone, the Yankee bad boy, the party animal who never lived up to his promise? I have to admit I'm a little skeptical. Visions of a bad cross of Major League and The Sopranos come to mind. OK, I'm deeply skeptical.
The film will be based on Pepitone's long out-of-print memoir, Joe, You Coulda Made Us Proud, first published in 1975.

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