Jim Bunning

Jim Bunning

James Paul David "Jim" Bunning (born October 23, 1931) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher and politician.

During a 17-year baseball career, he pitched from 1955 to 1971, most notably with the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1959, the right-hander struck out the side throwing just nine pitches as a reliever in the top of the ninth inning of Detroit's 5-4 loss to Boston at Briggs Stadium. Sammy White, Jim Mahoney and Ike Delock were the victims of his immaculate inning. When he retired, he had the second-highest total of career strikeouts in Major League history; he is currently 17th. Bunning pitched the seventh perfect game in Major League Baseball history on June 21, 1964, against the New York Mets. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.

After retiring from baseball, Bunning returned to his native northern Kentucky and was subsequently elected to the city council, and then the state senate, in which he served as minority leader. In 1986, Bunning was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 4th congressional district, and served in the House from 1987 to 1999. He was elected to the United States Senate from Kentucky in 1998 and served there from 1999 as the Republican junior U.S. Senator. In July 2009, he announced that he would not run for re-election in 2010, citing difficulty in raising campaign funds. Bunning gave his farewell speech to the Senate on December 9, 2010, and was succeeded by current Senator Rand Paul on January 3, 2011.