Being Bo Belinsky

The L.A. Times' Keith Thursby continues his walk down L.A. baseball's memory lane, this time with a feature on Bo Belinsky. Belinsky had a no hitter as a rookie in 1962, but then became far more notable for carousing and carrying on with sex kittens like Mamie Van Doren, Ann Margaret, Connie Stevens, and Tina Louise.

Upshot: it was pretty darn good to be Bo Belinsky for a while. But only a while, as his baseball career went down the drain and his life was derailed by alcoholism. Of course, whether I'd willingly trade my health and career for a tumble with a mid-60s era Ann Margaret is a close damn question, so I'm not here to throw any stones at Belinsky's legacy.

Anyway, I knew that there was a good biography about Belinsky out in the 70s, but random Googling reveals that Pat Jordan wrote a really good profile about him for SI back in the early 70s as well. I can't seem to find it. If anyone has it, I'd love to see it.

Update: Thanks to Chadillac for reminding me of the SI Vault. Here's the Pat Jordan story on Belinsky, which is a must-read. It's long, but you get passage after passage like this:

Belinsky turns suddenly, and the room is reflected in miniature in his dark glasses. "You know, I played 15 years of baseball and never made a dime off it. I wasn't that interested in success, that's why. I loved the game, Babe, not success. Do you think Seaver or Harrelson play the game because they love it? You bet they don't. They love what it brings them, Babe. I could never give up enough of myself for success. Len Shecter talked to me about a baseball book long before he ever sniffed out Jim Bouton . I told him I wasn't interested. I couldn't rat on guys I'd played with. That's not my style. I was the last of baseball's true sportsmen. I never stashed baseball. You know what I mean? Stash! Stash! Stash!"

Here is another brief "where are they now" update from 2000.