Jim Bunning (Baseball In America) [Hardcover]

Frank Dolson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Baseball In America | Publication Date: August 13, 1998

Jim Bunning began as a $150-a-month rookie in Richmond, Indiana, spent seven years in the minor leagues, and still made it to the Hall of Fame. He pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park, even though the first-base coach was relaying his catcher's signs to the batters, retiring Ted Williams for the final out. Bunning also pitched a historic perfect game against the New York Mets and performed spectacularly in a succession of All-Star Game appearances. He was the second pitcher in major league history to win 100 games in each league. The first was Cy Young. He was the second pitcher to strike out 1000 in each league; again, only Cy Young beat him to it. When Bunning retired at the end of the 1971 season, only one man-Walter Johnson-had more career strikeouts. A proud, intensely competitive man, Bunning relished his duels with Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, and other slugging superstars of the day. What he didn't relish was dealing with sportswriters who didn't do their homework and with baseball leaders whose mismanagement, Bunning felt, jeopardized the game's place in the nation's heart. He waged battles with the likes of former commissioner Peter Ueberroth and club-owner-turned-interim-commissioner Bud Selig. But Bunning did more than play baseball. He was a driving force in the early years of the Players Association, one of the men responsible for choosing Marvin Miller as head of the union. Bunning also was a manager in the minor leagues and in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic and was even a player's agent for a time. His baseball career behind him, he began a second career in politics. With a huge assist from his wife, Mary, the mother of their nine children, he waged an unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in Kentucky and then became a six-term congressman. Bunning is currently running for the U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky. Author note: Frank Dolson, a former Philadelphia Inquirer sports editor and columnist, covered Bunning during his playing days in Philadelphia, and traveled extensively with him during his five years as a minor league manager and again along the campaign trail.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Before he was Kentucky's Republican senator, Jim Bunning was a helluva hard-throwing righthander pitcher, primarily for the Tigers and the Phillies. He earned his rightful niche in Cooperstown by tossing no-hitters in each league (including the famed Father's Day perfecto against the Mets in 1964), striking out more than 1,000 hitters in each league, and, most significant of all, notching more than 100 victories in each league; only Cy Young had scored that trifecta before him.

As conspicuous as Bunning's contributions were on the field, his real lasting legacy to the game has been off it. An early and respected authority in the Major League Players Association, Bunning helped bring Marvin Miller in to cohere the union, crack the back of the slavish reserve clause, and open the gate on free agency; his reward was to see the door slammed on his own dream of managing. Bunning then turned to politics; in six terms in the House, he has avidly opposed, to the dread and ire of baseball's establishment, the game's antiquated exemption from antitrust laws.

Dolson, who covered much of Bunning's career as a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, has written a solid and fair testament to a fascinatingly driven man. "There is no mystery to Jim Bunning," he observes, though there is plenty of complexity. "He is what you see--unfailingly direct, sometimes to the point of being abrasive.... He is a man who makes loyal friends and bitter enemies," great qualities for both pitchers and politicians. --Jeff Silverman

From Booklist

Jim Bunning eventually was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame, but his career started much more modestly, playing for $150 dollars a month. By the time he was through, he had pitched a no-hitter in the American League and a perfect game in the National and had struck out more than 1,000 batters in each league. But Bunning was always more than his statistics, as Dolson makes clear in this evenhanded portrait. He was the consummate competitor, a team leader who always spoke his mind, which may have contributed to his being passed over for the Philadelphia manager's job. But baseball's loss was the citizenry of Kentucky's gain, as Dolson shows in his coverage of Bunning's political career--first as a U.S. congressman and, currently, as a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat. Bunning is an American success story of the best sort: hard work, determination, and a refusal to accept less than one's best. This mainstream biography will satisfy baseball fans as well as those who like a little inspiration with their sports. Wes Lukowsky

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 298 pages
• Publisher: Temple University Press (August 13, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566396360
• ISBN-13: 978-1566396363
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,645,707 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A No-Hitter, But Not a Perfect Game, August 7, 2000

By 

Chad Spivak (North Miami Beach, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jim Bunning (Baseball In America) (Hardcover)

My name is Chad, and I'm a Philadelphia Phillies' fan. Yes, that's correct. I'm the one.

Having followed the Phillies my entire life, I was already a fairly big Jim Bunning fan. So, I went into reading this book slightly biased. Unfortunately, the book leaves a bit to be desired as far as a biography goes. I would say it's more of a baseball memoir.

There was very little about his private life, and his childhood and early life was practically skipped. However, the professional baseball chapters were, by far, the best. Bunning has an incredible knowledge of the game of baseball, and he was one of the smartest pitchers in the history of baseball. His hard work ethic could not be matched, and he truly did a lot for the game.

His pitching days are nicely summed up in the book. I was captivated by his recounting of the perfect game against the New York Mets. In all of the baseball chapters, the detail was phenominal. I could almost feel myself being at the game in person. The personal stories (i.e. - Ted Williams' 3 strikeouts)were nicely mixed in.

His minor league managerial career is also nicely documented, and I liked getting a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on in a professional baseball organization. I was amazed at the amount of politics involved in the front office.

I realize that the chapters on his politcal career had to be included, but they seemed a little long winded. There also seemed to be too much of a do-or-die situation involved every single time he ran for office. It was made out to be more dramatic than it probably was. In all honesty, the end of the book (the politics) got quite dry and I had some trouble staying completely interested like I was with the exciting baseball sections.

Overall, Jim Bunning's book is a pretty decent read. The flow for the first 3-quarters of the book is really smooth, and fairly exciting. The personal stories peppered throughout the book keeps you wanting to read on. It is a must for any fan of the game of baseball.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Campaign Press Release or Biography, November 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Jim Bunning (Baseball In America) (Hardcover)

Perhaps my view can be attributed to the inherent skepticism of being a Philadelphia sports fan, but the tone of this book rings more like a political endorsement than biography. It's very thin on Bunning's early life, devotes very little space to his time with the Pirates and Dodgers, and spends an inordinate amount of time on the campaign trail. About the only time I got a sense of the real Jim Bunning was in the chapters devoted to his minor league managing career. As the Phutile Phillies were apt to do during Bunning's career, Dolson doesn't get enough run support and does an admirable job with very thin material.