Jim Bouton has passed away

Discuss all things Cardinals Baseball
Post Reply
Spider John
Hall Of Famer
Posts: 10619
Joined: May 18 06, 10:09 pm
Location: East of the middle of West Tennessee

Jim Bouton has passed away

Post by Spider John »

Jim Bouton, the former New York Yankees pitcher who shocked and angered the conservative baseball world with the tell-all book “Ball Four,” has died. He was 80.

Bouton’s family said he died Wednesday at the home he shared with wife Paula Kurman. He fought a brain disease linked to dementia and was in hospice care. Bouton also had two strokes in 2012.

Published in 1970, “Ball Four” detailed Yankees great Mickey Mantle’s carousing, and the use of stimulants in the major leagues. Bouton’s revealing look at baseball off the field made for eye-opening and entertaining reading, but he paid a big price for the best-seller when former teammates, other players and executives across the big leagues ostracized him for exposing their secrets.

Throwing so hard that his cap flew off his head, Bouton was 21-8 with six shutouts in 1963 — his second season in the majors — and went 18-13 with four more shutouts in 1964. The Yankees lost the World Series both years, with Bouton losing his lone start in 1963 in New York’s loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and winning twice the following year in the Yankees’ loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Bouton injured his right arm in 1965, going 4-15 that season, and saw limited action the next three seasons with New York. He worked on “Ball Four” in 1969, a season spent with the expansion Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros, his fastball replaced by a knuckleball as he tried to prolong his career.
http://www.vindy.com/news/2019/jul/11/j ... r-dies-at/


If you've never read Ball Four, you should be banned until you submit a book report to Sigh for grading. Not just a great baseball book, but a great book.

My favorite baseball quote comes from Ball Four.
“You see, you spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball, and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time.”

User avatar
st.lewis11
Hall Of Famer
Posts: 14732
Joined: June 14 06, 10:17 pm
Location: Small southern IL town, 40 min from STL

Re: Jim Bouton has passed away

Post by st.lewis11 »

Yep, I read the book when I was in high school, then again last year when I bought.

User avatar
Jocephus
99% conan clips
Posts: 63656
Joined: April 18 06, 5:14 pm

Re: Jim Bouton has passed away

Post by Jocephus »


Post Reply