Remembering Jim Bunning

Baseball lost a Hall of Famer and a lot more with the passing of Jim Bunning on Friday. A star with the the Tigers and then the Phillies, and only the second pitcher to win 100 games and strike out 1000 batters in each league, he won 224 games and struck out 2855 over his 17 seasons. And while he came to the majors as a Tiger, he made his greatest mark for Philadelphia -- on Father's Day 1964, he threw a perfect game against the Mets at Shea Stadium. And I was lucky enough to be there.

Having the Phillies ace dominate the Stengel-era Mets was not a shock. So as Bunning's team pulled away and extended their lead, the outcome seemed inevitable. Sitting in the Upper Deck at Shea, slightly to the right of home plate, I still recall my father turning to me and saying, "Do you realize what's happening, this is very special?" I knew it was still a no hitter but hadn't heard the term perfect game used before. By the eighth inning, the crowd at Shea had begun rooting for Bunning. And when he retired John Stephenson on his 87th and final pitch of the day, the ovation was tremendous, as if he had pitched that masterpiece for the home team.

That also made Bunning the first pitcher ever to throw no-hitters for teams in each league. His baseball resume also includes stints as a minor league manager and player agent. And while in his later life he was known for being a conservative senator from Kentucky, he was also one of the players who recruited and pushed for the appointment of the former steelworkers union attorney Marvin Miller to head the baseball players association. That very progressive move helped to change baseball forever.

Bunning's 14 was the just the fifth number to be retired by the Phils. He's also honored in the Wall of Fame at Citizens Bank Park. The photo atop this post came from the Phillies 2015 Alumni Weekend.

Here's a thought, and maybe be a conversation starter over the rest of this holiday weekend: Was Jim Bunning the greatest pitcher never to appear in the World Series? Or the post-season, for that matter. (He later pitched for the Pirates and Dodgers, but not on teams that won pennants or division titles.)

Think about that as you remember the father of nine whose greatest achievement came on Father's Day 1964.


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