1963 Profile: Joe Pepitone

1963 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR

"Is Joe Pepitone ready to follow in the tradition of Yankee first basemen? If confidence is a qualification, the smooth swinger out of Brooklyn has the job won. Prepped as an outfielder in his four minor league seasons, he did get a brief fill-in trial at the bag in 1962 before getting sent to Richmond. Pepitone swings a quick bat, lashing at the pitch at the last moment.

He was almost killed by a bullet in a schoolboy accident."

-Don Schiffer, 1963 Major League Baseball Complete Handbook

" 'Quick wrists ... a good looking hitter with natural instincts.' That's what Joe DiMaggio said of Joe Pepitone at the Yankee Advance Training Camp at Ft. Lauderdale in 1962. That prediction and Ralph Houk's confidence in the Brooklyn-born 22-year-old will be tested this year as Peppy bids to become the Yankees' regular first sacker.

Now a resident of the Bronx, Pepitone was a much sought after outfielder-first baseman in Brooklyn as a free-swinging member of the Nathan's Famous (Hot Dog) team. Most other major league clubs lost interest in Joe after he was accidentally shot through the chest in a high school classroom. But his great desire to become a Yankee may soon pay off for the World Champions.

'As a little kid, I wanted to be a Yankee. I guess I've never wanted anything else,' Pepitone said to a reporter last spring.

Pepitone served a Yankee apprenticeship during the first half of 1962. He played first, the outfield and he pinch-hit. He batted only .239, but played well in the field and hit seven homers. Actually, he entered the record books with his slugging prowess, tying a major league record by hitting two home runs in one inning, May 23, 1962 versus Kansas City.

He spent about six weeks in Richmond last year, hitting .315 with eight homers. He's back at Yankee Stadium now ... he hopes to stay."

-The New York Yankees Official 1963 Yearbook

Joseph Anthony Pepitone (1B)     #25

Born October 4, 1940, in Brooklyn, resides in the Bronx. Height: 6-2, weight: 185. Bats left, throws left.

Married and father of one girl, Eileen (2) and one boy, Joseph, Jr. (3 months).

-The New York Yankees Official 1963 Yearbook

Signed by Yankee organization, April 13, 1958.

Tied major league record by hitting two home runs in one inning, against Kansas City, May 23, 1962.

-1963 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide

"Trying his best to become a Yankee regular is 22-year-old Joe Pepitone, the Brooklyn native who lives in the Bronx.

Though he spent little more than half the 1962 campaign with the Yanks before being sent to Richmond, Joe tied a major league record by hitting two homers in one inning against the Kansas City A's on May 23.

While batting only .239 with the Yanks, Pepitone showed the Bomber board of strategy that he has the talent to make it big at the Bronx ballyard.

Signed by the Yanks in August of 1958, Joe has seen service with Auburn, Fargo-Moorhead, Binghamton and Amarillo. His best season came with the latter club in 1961 when he batted .316, with 21 homers and 87 RBI."

-1963 Jay Publishing New York Yankees Yearbook