"Probably the best thing that ever happened to me was going nuts. Whoever heard of Jimmy Piersall, until that happened?" - Jimmy Piersall
That was early on in his major league career, way before the '65 Anaheim Angels. I met his son -- well, at least one of them, I don't know how many he had --- in passing, when I lived in CA. The son was great and unassuming. There was a film about him, Sr., not Jr.:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050383/