Ball Four gets an e-vite
JIM BOUTON is still throwing high and tight. The former Yankee and author of “Ball Four,” the ultimate baseball insider who exposed the womanizing, rampant drug use and cheating life of baseball, is at it again, tweaking the establishment, hurling one-liners. The book, which chronicles his 1969 season, made Bouton a league-wide pariah, and got him banned from Yankee Old-timers Day for 28 years (until a plea from his son in 1998 brought about his return). These days he is discussing whether he could have written “Ball Four” while embedded amongst today’s current crop of players. Bouton is promoting the release of “Ball Four” as an ebook (by RosettaBooks as a Kindle exclusive) t hat’s currently available and complete with extensive additions penned since the memoirs’ first publication in 1970. Sports Illustrated liked Bouton’s tome enough to rank it third on its list of Top 100 Sports Books of all time. The release is meant to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Bouton’s first win as a Yankee pitcher on May 6, 1962 when he shut out the Washington Senators. But that’s material for another day. Bouton is sounding off on the differences between today’s players and those of yesteryear.
“I think the players were more interesting back then,” he says of the ’60s and ’70s, when most players didn’t go to college or make much money, and had no idea what a publicist was.
“When you got a guy from Brooklyn, you got Brooklyn,” Bouton says with a laugh. “When you got a guy from Alabama, you got
Alabama. And they were these characters and these cocky guys – and they were allstars in high school — so there were these cocky guys, unpolished, unfinished guys.”
Of today’s ballplayers, he says: “They’re all polished guys. You hear them in a postgame interview and they’re smooth and they’re cool and they just seem like more finished people.”
BO TO THE RESCUE
Bo knows disaster relief. More than two decades after he was one of the most famous athletes on the planet, through his NFL and MLB exploits ploits and, of course, his seminal “Bo Bo Knows” Nike commercials, Vincent Edward (Bo) Jackson is taking a page out of Lance Armstrong’s book.
And all for the greater good of Jackson’s home state — Alabama.
Starting April 24, the 1985 85 Heisman Trophy winner and two-sport star will climb aboard several custom Trek bicycles and embark on a five-day journey from northern Alabama to the Gulf Coast, with the purpose of raising money for the victims of last year’s tornados that ripped through the state.
“I kind of conjured up the idea about a month after the tornado hit last year, some time in late May. I just played around with it in my head until the fall,” Jackson tells The Score. “I asked my wife about it. She thought I was crazy.”
Since starting his “Bo Bikes ’ Bama” campaign, Jackson has received commitments from Ken Griffey Jr., Scottie Pippen and fellow Auburn star Cam Newton, among other celebrity athletes, to participate in the charity event. Armstrong has also pledged to ride the last leg with Jackson.
What about Brian Bosworth, the outspoke linebacker Jackson treated like a human pylon one Monday night? “If we can tear him away from those B-rate movies,” says Jackson with a laugh.
“I’m just trying to do my little part,” adds Jackson, who still has family living in Alabama, near his hometown of Bessemer. “It’s probably like a grain of sand on somebody’s beach, but at least I’m doing something.”
GOING INTO OVERTIME
Thanks to the Great Recession, employers are demanding more and more from their workers. Take Peter Scolari, who is playing not one but three roles in the ne new play from the producers of “L “Lombardi.”
The Scarsdale native, best known for his roles on “Bosom Buddies” a nd “Newhart,” plays Lakers owner Jerry Buss and NBA coaches P Pat Riley and Red Auerbach in “Magic/bird,” which began prev previews last week at Broadway’s Longacre Theater. The play, which stars Kevin Daniels and Tug Coker, examines the rivalry and friendship between NBA greats Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
“You have to balance each and make sure that you can deliver their messages and their style each and every night,” Scolari says. “That’s what’s so exciting for me.”
TWEET MUSIC
Sandy Alderson isn’t the only one in Metville who has a tweet tooth. It appears Johan Santana does, too. “I have been tweeting for a year now, and I really enjoy it,” he told The Score. “It gives me a way to connect to the fans. I don’t only talk about baseball. If I have a great fishing spot I will let them know, too.”
Santana, with over 80,000 followers, plans to be more engaging with fans this year. “I plan on answering questions when I can,” he added. “I really enjoy doing it.” Follow Santana at @johansantana.