Joe Pepitone passed away on Monday at the age of 82. Though know mostly for his time with the Yankees through most of the 1960s, Pepitone had an interesting run with the Cubs from 1970 - 1973.
The Cubs picked him up off of the Astro's scrapheap on July 29, 1970, as the Cubs were in need of a first baseman to take over for an over-the-hill Ernie Banks. Pepitone became an immediate fan-favorite as he hit 12 homers and knocked in 44 runs over the last two months of the season.
Injuries got him off to a very slow start in 1971 and he even temporarily retired. But when he got healthy he found his bat and ended up with a career-high .307 average over 115 games. That was his last good season. Injuries limited him to just 66 games in 1972 and he was traded to the Braves after just 31 games in 1973.
There aren't many cards that show Pepitone as a Cub. I have just nine in addition to the one at the top of the post. Below are the 1971 Dell (showing him in an Astros uniform, and four cards from O-Pee-Chee and Topps.
Pepitone was one of the star players when I first started collecting. I remember getting his 71 card and looking at the 1970,s stats and thinking this guy is really good. Anyone who had 25 homers or more really impressed when I was a kid.
ReplyDeletejust barely caught the end of his time with the Cubs. RIP Joe.
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