‘Toughest SOB I’ve Ever Known’

I’d say within the business, Jim was a legend to everybody except himself. I have known him for 35 years, I guess, and he was a wonderful friend. Also, the toughest SOB I’ve ever known.

Look at what he went through: He had a pig valve in his heart for 20 years, he lost the sight in both of his eyes and got some of it back in one, his wife was in a coma for a year and he never missed a deadline. He was a real strong man, although you’d never know it by just meeting him.

He impressed everybody but himself. He was very, very well read. I was in Florida for spring training one year and he was there with the Dodgers. His in-laws lived close to Vero Beach and he invited me over to their house on St. Patrick’s Day for corned beef and cabbage. After dinner, we played one of those board games with trivia questions. Jim knew the third aria from “The Merchant of Venice.” He knew how many donkeys Genghis Khan had when he charged.

I never got so sick of one man in my life. He beat us mercilessly. I was going to get mad at him, but I decided to have another slice of corned beef.