Former Barons, Red Sox baseball player Jimmy Piersall returns to Birmingham

Malden; or, Life in the Hollywood.

But in 1951, Piersall was a 21-year-old stud, focused on getting to the majors for good. He was so popular, even neighboring Bessemer held “Jimmy Piersall Night.” “I was full of life and I got’em going,” he said. “I didn’t do a lot of clowning that year. I was having too great a season.”

Harold Blach Jr., the son of the clothing store magnate who offered the free suits as home run bounty, developed a friendship with Piersall that remains intact today. “He was a fun, carefree guy, happy-go-lucky, and we loved palling around,” Blach said. “We’d go out for a Coca-Cola or a beer after games and hang out.” They’d hang out at the Miami Club on Old Highway 280 and an after-hours spot at Five Points South, where you could get soft drinks and miniatures.

“I saw the movie ("Fear Strikes Out") about him when it came out and it wasn’t an accurate representation of Jimmy at all,” Blach said. “Maybe he had some problems, but he was a regular guy and I enjoyed being around him. We could talk about anything.”

A year later, Piersall was shipped back to Birmingham in late June. He was a different person. “I was mentally and physically exhausted,” Piersall explained. Red Sox manager Lou “Boudreau was a jerk. I was an all-star center fielder, but he wanted to make a shortstop out of me.”