North: There will never be another like Piersall
The great Jimmy Piersall passed away Saturday at the age of 87, and his story is one of the most polarizing, but amazingly crazy and entertaining ones in baseball history.
Baseball teams usually have a character or two on their roster, but Piersall was THE character of characters with an array of wild antics from climbing a flagpole during a game to his legendary brawls with opponents and even his own teammates.
During his rookie season with the Boston Red Sox, he suffered a breakdown and was hospitalized for mental illness. He was treated with shock therapy and returned to play with the Red Sox in 1953.
While Piersall had an overbearing father, he once told me that Karl Malden's portrayal of his difficult father in the movie based on Jimmy's struggles, "Fear Strikes Out," was played to perfection.
Piersall had to be a distraction to his teammates, but when he was on the field there was no one who played harder defensively, and I think he may be the greatest center fielder baseball in history.
Willie Mays had more assists and chances, but Piersall had the higher fielding percentage by a solid margin - .988 to .981.
Piersall won two Rawlings Gold Gloves in an era with Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Duke Snider - all better hitters who garnered more attention.
Harry Caray and Jimmy were hired to announce games for the Chicago White Sox in 1977. I think many people would agree that they were one of the most entertaining duos ever to do baseball.
Jerry Reinsdorf acquired the White Sox in 1981 and didn't like the act by Piersall and Caray.
Caray, who's contract was up, did not return after the 1981 season. Instead he went to the north side and well I guess everyone knows how that story played out!
Piersall ran into more troubles with Caray the next year, and at the end of the 1982 season he was fired, in large part, for his over-the-top comments.
In 1992 Piersall was hired by WSCR officials to bring baseball analysis to the new sports radio station (820-AM then), and he was an instant hit, along with Mike Ditka. They both deserve a lot of the credit for helping put the then dusk-to-dawn station on the map.
Jimmy and I became friends and he was as entertaining playing golf as he was on the radio. I have great memories of him, and believe his knowledge of baseball was unmatched.
One day he and I were talking at a charity golf outing. Jimmy, as everyone knows, was brutally honest, and he said to me, "Hey you sound as nutty as me on the air, but you do know your baseball."
I responded, "What a nice compliment," but he snapped back, "But not as much as me North!"
He was right, of course, and there will never be another Jimmy Piersall.
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