Jim Bunning

Did You Know?

• The Jim Bunning Foundation gave less than 25 percent of its proceeds to charity; from 1996, it took in $504,000 while paying Bunning $180,000 in salary for a reported one hour per week.
• Bunning died at St. Elizabeth Hospice in Edgewood, Kentucky, on May 26, 2017, aged 85, following a stroke suffered in October 2016.
• In 2005, Bunning received the United States Sports Academy's Eagle Award for significant contributions to international sport.

Education and family

Bunning was born in Southgate, Kentucky, to Gladys and Louis Aloysius Bunning. He graduated from St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati in 1949 and earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Xavier University in 1953. The Bunning family was Roman Catholic. He married Mary Catherine Theis in 1952; they had five daughters and four sons. One son, David Bunning, became a federal judge. As of 2013, Jim and Mary Catherine had 35 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Professional baseball career

Bunning signed a professional contract with the Detroit Tigers after pitching for Xavier as a freshman, though he continued attending classes. He debuted in the major leagues on July 20, 1955, with the Tigers. His breakout season came in 1957, when he led the American League in wins (20) and innings pitched (267 1/3) and started the All-Star Game. On July 20, 1958, he threw his first no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox.

On August 2, 1959, he struck out three batters on nine pitches in the ninth inning, becoming the fifth American League pitcher and tenth in MLB history to accomplish an immaculate inning. After the 1963 season, the Tigers traded Bunning and Gus Triandos to the Philadelphia Phillies for Don Demeter and Jack Hamilton. On June 21, 1964, in the first game of a Father's Day doubleheader at Shea Stadium against the New York Mets, Bunning pitched the seventh perfect game in MLB history and the first in the National League since 1880.

Phillies second baseman Tony Taylor preserved the perfect game with a diving catch and throw from the knees in the fifth inning. Bunning also hit a double and drove in two runs. He retired shortstop Charley Smith on a pop-out and struck out pinch-hitters George Altman and John Stephenson to complete the game.

Players union involvement

From the mid-1960s until his retirement, Bunning was active in the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) and played a major role in transforming it into one of the country's most successful labor unions. At the time, the starting salary was about $47,000 in current dollars ($6,000 in 1965), and the average salary was about $112,000 ($14,000 in 1965). Many players had to work in the off season, and the owners offered a substandard pension plan.

Bunning served as the pension representative for American League players and a member of the union's executive board. In 1965, he joined with Robin Roberts to hire a full-time executive director; they agreed on Marvin Miller, then an economist with the United Steelworkers. Under Miller's direction, the MLBPA negotiated its first collective bargaining agreement in 1968, leading to improved salaries, benefits, and working conditions. By the time Bunning retired, the minimum and average salaries had nearly doubled.

Over time, the union eliminated the reserve clause and Major League Baseball's exemption from antitrust laws, allowing players to veto trades and declare free agency. After retiring, Bunning represented players individually as a sports agent, eventually representing as many as 30 players at one time.

Political career

Bunning was raised in a Democratic household but joined the Republican Party while attending Xavier University. He served two years on the non-partisan city council of Fort Thomas, Kentucky, starting in 1977, then won a seat in the Kentucky Senate and was elected minority leader as a freshman. He was the Republican candidate for governor of Kentucky in 1983, losing to Democrat Martha Layne Collins. In 1986, he won the Republican nomination in Kentucky's 4th congressional district after ten-term incumbent Gene Snyder retired, and was reelected five more times. Bunning was one of the Senate's most conservative members and was ranked the second-most conservative U.S. senator by National Journal in March 2007. He sponsored the Bunning-Bereuter-Blumenauer Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004.