Sunday Reads

Obituary: Noted baseball player Jimmy Piersall, whose mental illness inspired a movie, has died at the age of 87:

The Red Sox demoted Piersall to the minors in June 1952, hoping he could gain control of his emotions, but his antics continued, and he entered a mental hospital in Massachusetts a month later. He remained hospitalized for six weeks, undergoing shock treatment and counseling for a nervous breakdown.

Piersall returned to the Red Sox in 1953 and seemed to have surmounted his emotional demons. But he often showboated in the summers to come, most memorably in June 1963, playing for the Mets, when, after hitting his 100th career home run, he circled the bases in their proper order but running backward. When his playing days ended, he encountered trouble with his bosses with his outspoken comments as a broadcaster and an instructor.

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