1964 Profile: Joe Pepitone

1964 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR

"Joe DiMaggio was the first to call the turn on Joe Pepitone, the Brooklyn-born belter who led the Yankees in driving in runs (89) in his first full year at the Stadium. DiMag marveled over Pep's quick wrists and natural hitting instincts when he was on trial in the spring of 1962.
DiMaggio proved an excellent critic and the brass evidently thought the same, trading first baseman Bill Skowron before the 1963 season and giving the job to Pep, who had reported as an outfielder. Pep was brilliant defensively, but proved too anxious to pull everything into New York's short right field seats."

-Don Schiffer, Major League Baseball Handbook 1964

"Another young Yankee who looms as a star for another decade, first baseman Joe Pepitone hopes to wipe out the memory of his game-losing error in the World Series finale last year. Installed as the Yankee first baseman after the Yankees traded Bill Skowron a year ago, Pepitone established himself with a .271 average, 27 homers and a team high of 89 RBI.
At 23, look for him to improve on all three categories this season. Lanky and loose, he's a free swinger who's tailor-made for the short right field Stadium wall."

-Dave Anderson, 1964 Major League Baseball Handbook

"He led the Yankees in runs batted in last season and was second to Ellie Howard in home runs, but he thinks he should do much better. So says Joe Pepitone, the Yankees' 23-year-old first baseman.
Despite wearing the goat's horns after the last World Series game, Joe is considered a top-flight first baseman defensively. The ball he missed in Los Angeles came on a throw from Clete Boyer out of a white-shirted background and Pep simply didn't see it. But he sees most of them and does a fine job around the bag.
Many, including such experts as Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio, believe Pepitone's quick bat should produce more hits in the years ahead, including an even higher ratio of homers. His 27 round-trippers in 1963 were the most he's ever hit in one season. In clutch situations last year, Joe hit .381 (times at bat in the eighth or ninth innings with the winning run on base).
Joe made the American League All-Star team in his first full big-league season, though he was up for 63 games in 1962. But if predictions prove only partially true, this young native of Brooklyn who now lives in the Bronx should be around Yankee Stadium as a star for a long time to come."

-The New York Yankees Official 1964 Yearbook

"When the Yankees traded away Bill Skowron after the 1962 season, they handed the first baseman's portfolio to Joe Pepitone, the Brooklyn-born youngster who resides in the Bronx.
And the left-hand hitter came through handsomely, walloping 27 homers, besides leading the Bombers in runs batted in with 89. His .271 batting mark was second highest among Yankees appearing in 100 or more games.
Strangely enough, the southpaw swinger hit for a higher average against left-handers in '63 than against right-handers. His mark against southpaws was .278 and .267 against righties.
Says Pepitone, 'Southpaws don't scare me. It's just a question of batting against them regularly.'
Among his other accomplishments of '63, Pepitone was the American League first baseman in the All-Star game and clinched the pennant with a homer off Minnesota's Camilo Pascual on September 13.
Joe admits he was constantly reminded over the winter about his costly three-base error on a throw by Clete Boyer on Junior Gilliam's grounder in the last game of the World Series, which led to the winning run. But Pepitone says, 'I'm not letting something like that get me down. People have been very nice, and I honestly don't think about it anymore.'
Joe, who inked a Yank pact in August 1958, appeared in 63 contests for the Bombers in '62, batting .239 before being shipped to Richmond for the balance of the campaign where he hit .315."

-1964 Jay Publishing New York Yankees 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.
Led Yankees in games played (157), 1963.
Led Yankees in total bases (260), 1963.
Led Yankees in RBIs (89), 1963.
Knocked in winning more times  (16) than any other Yankee, 1963.

-1964 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide