Pitcher got to Hall of Fame, Congress
Jim Bunning, a hard-throwing Hall of Fame pitcher who once threw a perfect game and later took his intimidating, combative style from the baseball diamond to Congress, died Friday at a hospice facility in northern Kentucky. He was 85.
The cause was complications from a stroke suffered in October.
Bunning gained acclaim as one of the most reliable pitchers of the 1950s and ’60s, first with the Detroit Tigers and later with the Philadelphia Phillies. He was the starting pitcher for the American League in three All Star games and on June 21, 1964, he hurled a perfect game for the Phillies against the New York Mets.
Bunning was the second pitcher, after Cy Young, to win at least 100 games, record at least 1,000 strikeouts and throw no-hitters in both the American and National leagues. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by its Veterans Committee in 1996.
Even as a ballplayer, Bunning had shown an interest in politics and off-the-field issues. He was a leader in the founding of the players union, the Major League Baseball Players Association, and in 1968, he headed a group called Athletes for Nixon.
Bunning, a native of Covington, Kentucky, was elected from northern Kentucky to the House in 1986 and served six terms before winning a Senate seat in 1998 and serving two terms, retiring at the end of 2010.