Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-07-09
By MILTON GROSS

North american Newspaper Allianee
CLEVELAND, July 9.-The
way Joe Pepitone figures It,
If the older Yankees didn't kid
him, then he'd conclude they
didn't like him.
But they do rib him I'M
mercifully and Pepitone pre-
tends indignation. Beneath it
all there's a sense of pride
that he's become an important
part Of baseball's best team
and a near vanity that he was
chosen by his peers to be the
American League first base
man in the All-Star Game.
"You know what they say
about me-" said Pepitone, in
terviewed just before the ALI
Star Game. They say ! wear
clothes like q gangster. You
know, the tight pants, no
pleats, continentals, you know.
and pointed shoes. I stand be-
fore the mirror and I comb
my hair and they tell me I'm
O dude because I'm there q
half hour. They kid me I'm
losing my hair and I got q
big nose. But I like it. It keeps
me loose"
Stin Can't Believe Il
And so Joe answers back In
the only way he knows. It's
the way q kid from Park Slope,
who can't quite believe he Is
where he is. It's the way Of
the 22-year-old to whom every
awakening is a new adventure.
"You know what he did the
other night when we got in
here?" said Tony Kubek. He
got a list Of the rooms some
of the fellows were in and he
knocked on the door and when
the guy came to open 1t think
ing the bellhop was bringing
UP his bag, Pepitone threw
lighted firecrackers under the
door"
Scared the hell out Of me-"
said ElSton Howard, feigning
anger.
Joe says we keep him loose,
but he doesn't realize he's keep
ing us Just as loose. He's our
good humor man." Kubek said.
Pepitone Is really something
new to the Yankees, the Brook
lyn kid with the Brooklyn &C
cent, and in q way he is to
them what Billy Martin once
was.
Brash I'm Nice Way
There's q difference though"
Kubek said. "Joe's brash, but
In q nice way. He talks q lot
and acts UP q lot and keeps
thinking Of practical Jokes to
play, but nobody's resented
him. You Just appreciate that
from the beginning he was try
ing to get the fellows to like
him"
Why that should be necessary |
now that Pepitone has estab-
lished himself may not be i'm
portant, but somehow 1t Is to
this drawn-faced first baSeman |
with the piercing eyes and
bushy eyebrows.
Maybe it goes back to the
fact that Joe never thought he
could be a ballplayer who would
make it big. Or maybe it stems
from his gratitude that he Is
here at all because by all rights
he shouldn't be.
Shot by SchOOlmate
It is not a new story, but 1t
bears repeating here how Joe
was shot in an accident only |
five years ago, and as he re-
peats the story Joe becomes
solemn, which is q rare thing |
for him.
This kid in my class brought
this gun to school, Manual
Training High. Nobody knew
about it. walked back to get |
my jacket and he sticks the |
gun at me and says, Stick 'em
up
II think he's kidding, but the
next thing I know there's this
noise and the gun goes off. II
didn't feel anything for a min
ute, but I see the powder burn
on my shirt and there's a
hole in my stomach and it's
bleeding and q hole all the
way through to my back where
the bullet came out. All Of a
sudden was numb. I guess
] was in shock"
Missed Heart, Ribs
The bullet went in almost at
the pit Of Pepitone's stomach
"a half inch away from my
heart" Joe said-but some
how managed not to knick any
Of his ribs, and the next thing
Pepitone knew he was on the
operating table at the hos
pital.
II was on it nine hours" Joe
recalled. land in the hospital
~ days. I was Just too afraid
to think about anything. II
Just thought I was going to
die. ] didn't think a guy could
get shot that way and not
die"
Pepitone doesn't quite say 1t
was the same way when Man
ager Ralph Houk Of the YAM
KEGS told him that he had been
IL MI. c..