RIP Jim Bunning

Former senator, hall of famer Jim Bunning dies

 

A Phillies hero of my youth. RIP.

 

Jim was one of the founders of the MLBPA and maybe the player most responsible for the selection of Marvin Miller as executive director back in 1966. I spent a good part of a day with him at his home outside Cincinnati about a year ago to collect his thoughts about the union's 50th anniversary. I obviously did not agree with him on a huge range of political issues, but he was a principled gentleman and fearless in his convictions.

 

A terrific pitcher. As a politician, well, I once started a thread on here titled "F-ck you Jim Bunning" which pretty much sums up my opinion of him on that subject.

RIP.

 

Pitched a perfect game on Father's Day 1964 with the Phillies.

 

Saw that one on TV at age 14. It was against the Mets of that time, so sort of an asterisk accomplishment.

 

He'd been out of the limelight since leaving the Senate in 2010, and I wondered how long he had lived with Alzheimer's, which I remembered hearing about while still in office. Looked up several stories, and it turns out the Alzheimer's thing was stirred up by his political enemies, many of them Republicans who had beefs about his strange behavior.
Truly a Man Not To Be Fucked With.

 

Near-great pitcher, not-too-great politician.

 

Or, as per Ted Williams, via Ball Four: "Jim Fucking Bunning and that little shit slider of his."

 

The constituents of Kentucky who elected him to six House terms and two Senate terms obviously disagree.

 

Interesting that a Republican was a founder of a union. Anybody know how he felt or voted re other unions?