Jim Bunning, Hall of Fame pitcher who served as U.S. senator, dies at 85 - family

Record ID: 876008

  • Title: Jim Bunning, Hall of Fame pitcher who served as U.S. senator, dies at 85 - family
  • Date: 27th May 2017
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES (FILE) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) CHAMBER OF THE U.S. SENATE SENATOR JIM BUNNING, A REPUBLICAN OF KENTUCKY, SPEAKING CHAMBER BUNNING SPEAKING CHAMBER
  • Embargoed: 10th June 2017 20:30
  • Keywords: senator Hall of Fame pitcher Bunning
  • Location: WASHINGTON, D.C./ PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES
  • City: WASHINGTON, D.C./ PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Government/Politics,Sport
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016IM65PH
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Jim Bunning, who showed much of the same combativeness as a U.S. congressman as he had done during his Hall of Fame career as a hard-throwing pitcher in baseball's major leagues, died at the age of 85, his son said on Saturday (May 27).
    Bunning, who became the first Hall of Famer to serve in the U.S. Congress, represented Kentucky in the U.S. Senate and a Cincinnati-area district in the House of Representatives.
    A foe of abortion and gay marriage and a backer of tax cuts, gun rights and the Iraq war, the conservative Republican served in the House from 1987 to 1998, when he was first elected to the Senate.
    After two terms, Bunning announced he would not seek re-election in 2010 due to difficulty raising funds. His erratic behavior by that point had made him something of an embarrassment for Republican colleagues.
    Bunning remained combative in his final year in office, single-handedly holding up an emergency appropriations bill for several days as a one-man protest against federal spending.
    In a baseball career that covered much of the 1950s and 1960s, Bunning pitched no-hitters for both the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies, becoming the first pitcher to hurl such gems in each major league.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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