Philadelphia Phillies Legends Jim Bunning Suffers Stroke
Jim Bunning was a major league pitcher for seventeen years in the majors. Although he won only 224 games, he is currently a resident in the Baseball Hall Of Fame (more later). He also pitched a perfect game on Fathers Day and following his retirement was elected as a U.S. Senator. In the last few days, he suffered a stroke that is being evaluated. His story follows……
Jim Bunning suffered a stroke the other night while watching (what else) a ballgame. He’s recovering nicely, but it’s one of those things that happens sometimes and your memory gets jogged a bit as you recall, “Oh yeah Jim Bunning, he was a pretty good pitcher in his day”.
Jim Bunning was that and more. And if he had played on teams that were more successful, he would have been closer to or even over the 300 wins mark (he finished with 224). He was inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 1966 at a time when election was based more on factors other than numbers. Namely, was this player dominant in his time?
Bunning was certainly that and he solidified his presence by pitching a perfect game on June 21, 1964 against the New York Mets at the old Shea Stadium (see the box score here). Fittingly, the game was played on a Fathers Day.
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He won 19 games in a season four times including three years in a row and 20 games once when he went 20-8 in 1957. More remarkable, he had 151 complete games in his career. To put that in perspective, Max Scherzer has 6 thus far in his nine year career. And in fact, his durability was something that he took pride in himself, “I am most proud of the fact I went through nearly 11 years without missing a start. They wrote my name down, and I went to the post.”
Jim Bunning: From Baseball To Politics
Perhaps even more remarkable, Bunning was elected as a U.S. Senator from Kentucky for four terms following his retirement from baseball. He would reluctantly decline to run again in 2009 because “The job of being a U.S. Senator today has unfortunately become a job of raising money to be re-elected instead of a job doing the people’s business.”
In fact though, he was as stubborn in politics as he was on the pitching mound and he soon wore out his welcome with the Republican leadership as he explained to Time Magazine:
"“Unfortunately, running for office is not just about the issues,” said Bunning, the baseball Hall of Famer known in Congress for being as stubborn as an angry umpire. “Over the past year, some of the leaders of the Republican Party in the Senate have done everything in their power to dry up my fundraising. The simple fact is that I have not raised the funds necessary to run an effective campaign for the U.S. Senate.”"
But as Gene Mauch, one of his former managers said about him, “He’s 200 pounds of pride. He takes care of himself, likes money, loves his family, has a great arm and a great delivery. ”
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And you’d have to say that about covers it all, wouldn’t you? Many would say too that it was probably his stubborn pride that’s the reason he’s still with us today………..