Jimmy Piersall died Saturday at the age of 87.
A member of the Red Sox Hall of Fame, Piersall spent eight of his 17 Major League seasons in Boston, appearing in 931 games with the team. He won two Gold Glove Awards in 1958 and ’61 as the primary center fielder alongside Jackie Jensen and Ted Williams.
“Ted Williams said [Jimmy] was the greatest center fielder he ever saw,” legendary White Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson told MLB.com.
Piersall was elected to the American League All-Star team in 1954 and ’56, also earning the Thomas A. Yawkey Award as Boston’s Most Valuable Player in ’56 after leading the Majors in doubles (40).
My thoughts go out to his family and friends.
Piersall posted excellent OBPs early in his career, but started to fade in his prime at age 28. Ken Harrelson talks in the article about how Piersall was not afraid of a wall, and one wonders if hitting too many walls caused the early fade.
Piersall was also an author, writing Fear Strikes Out about his battle with mental illness. When the book was made into a movie with Anthony Perkins, I suspect it was one of the few times that the real person was better looking than the actor in the role.
from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2rH8B09
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