http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/...ied/ar-BBBA6SN
Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher and former Republican U. S. Congressman and Senator (from Kentucky) Jim Bunning has died at age 85. He suffered a stroke last fall, and had been in the hospital since then.
As a pitcher, he won 224 games from 1955 to 1971 (mostly with the Tigers and Phillies, but also with the Pirates and Dodgers); won 100 games in each league (the first pitcher in the modern era (since 1900) to do so); and also is one of five pitchers (along with Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Nolan Ryan, and Hideo Nomo) to throw a no-hitter in each league (a no-hitter for the Tigers in 1958, and a perfect game for the Phillies in 1964, which was also the first perfect game in the National League since 1880).
At the time of his retirement he had the second-highest career strikeout total in major-league history (behind only Walter Johnson). (He currently ranks 17th all-time.) He was one of a handful of pitchers to strike three batters out in an inning on nine pitches. He won 20 games in a season only one time (1957), but won 19 games in four other years. He was a leader in the founding of the baseball players' union, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1996.
He served 12 years in the House (1987-1999) and 12 years in the Senate (1999-2011). He opposed the use of steroids by any professional athlete, and favored severe punishment of any player using them, including a lifetime ban for a third offense, as well as (for baseball players) ineligibility for the Hall of Fame.
