Jim Bouton was a legend. The former major league pitcher and author of “Ball Four” shook the baseball world to its core when his book was first released in 1970. In “Ball Four”, he laid bare the life of a baseball player, and he did not skimp on the details. The resulting firestorm of controversy led to Bouton being effectively blacklisted from baseball, but it opened up the door for more in-depth true to life coverage than we had seen in the past. Bouton passed away on Wednesday at the age of 80.
The New York Yankees organization is saddened to learn of the passing of former Yankee Jim Bouton. We send our condolences to his family and friends and will be holding a moment of silence in his memory before tomorrow night's game. pic.twitter.com/WZ29eXPnbz
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 11, 2019
Bouton had been in declining health throughout the decade. He suffered two strokes in 2012, and he had been in hospice care for the last several weeks for cerebral amyloid angiopathy, a brain disease linked to dementia.
The “Ball Four” author spent most of his MLB career as a pitcher for the New York Yankees. He was named an All-Star in 1963 and finished the year with a 21-7 record and a 2.53 ERA. The next season, he led the league with 37 starts and threw over 270 innings. Bouton was never the same pitcher after that season. He left the Yankees at the end of the 1968 season, and he wrote “Ball Four” while pitching for the Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros during the 1969 campaign. He retired from baseball after the Astros sent him down to the minors in 1970, but he did make a short comeback with the Atlanta Braves in 1978.
People are rightfully praising Jim Bouton's Ball Four, an absolute classic. But his book "FOUL BALL: My Life and Hard Times Trying to Save an Old Ballpark" is the best anti-public stadium funding book ever written. I love it so much. Rest in Peace, Bulldog https://t.co/CUTjz8ceB1
— Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) July 11, 2019
Bouton became famous as a result of “Ball Four”, which is one of the greatest books on baseball ever written. However, his legacy is more than that. Bouton also wrote one of the first books highlighting the grift of using public funds for sports stadiums in “Foul Ball”.
Every tribute to Jim Bouton, the pitcher who died yesterday at 80, of course included praise for his groundbreaking book “Ball Four.” But Bouton also was responsible for co-founding & commercializing Big League Chew. Not all fun. Substituting tobacco for shredded gum saved lives. pic.twitter.com/eG0bFQKtV1
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 11, 2019
He also helped popularize Big League Chew, providing youth players with a better alternative than using chewing tobacco to emulate their favorite players.
H/T MLB.com
