I remember when Jimmy Piersall used to make regular call-ins to Chicago sports radio. He was invariably hilarious.

would he have preferred a real he man like rock hudson?

besides, wasn't perkins a switch hitter? those hollywood guys never get it right!

the miscast Anthony Perkins as Piersall and the talented Karl Malden as his overbearing father

Miscast or not, Perkins is pretty good in the film. Talented or not, Malden does an awful lot of scenery-chewing. To be fair, Malden's role was impossibly written, just a big mushy collection of bad-fathering cliches ...

“They had a fag playing me,” he wailed.

A Federal Army General?

\Mel Brooks alert!

Old people and their wacky AIDS jokes!

“They had a fag playing me,” he wailed.

A Federal Army General?

I think he meant a cigarette.

Yes, Perkins was bisexual, having married a woman and fathered two sons before he died of AIDS in 1992, but according to at least one source, Perkins claimed to be exclusively gay until his late 30s, so depending on when Piersall made his comments, referring to Perkins as a homosexual may have been factually correct. The language he used was, of course, politically incorrect but typical for ballplayers of his generation.

My favorite Piersall story is when he when he visited Harry Caray in the broadcast booth and asked Caray what he was drinking these days. "Just grapefruit juice", Caray replied sadly, "doctors orders. How about you, Jimmy?" Piersall replied, "Me too, Harry", and then after a short pause wistfully added, "What's this world coming to?"

Interesting article, but I loved this comment about his native town of Waterbury:

I was there five years ago. It's really a crime what they've done to that city. It makes me sick," Piersall said. "I said to the mayor, 'If I give you a $1,000 bucks, will you fix it up?' He told me 'Don't bother. It'll only get dirty again.'"

They may need to update that minimum wage scale in Waterbury, Conn.

Perkins claimed to be exclusively gay until his late 30s,

Reportedly, until he met Victoria Principal...

Reportedly, until he met Victoria Principal

or when he met Principal Victoria...played by Count Victor Grezhinski.

is it politically correct to call someone (forgetting) crazy if they've spent time in a mental institution ?

The last interview with Jimmy I remember he was asked about Cub minor leaguer, at the time, and future hall-of-famer Mark Prior. He said that then little-known Carlos Zambrano would be better.

Everyone laughed.

Everyone laughed.

Mark Prior was better - his arm just fell apart.