‘Ball Four’ author and expitcher Jim Bouton was 80
ExYankees pitcher Jim Bouton was a 20game winner, won two World Series games, spent 10 years in the big leagues — and made a bigger impact with a pen in his hand than a baseball.
The author of the groundbreaking tellall “Ball Four” died Wednesday following a bout with a brain disease linked to dementia, according to friends of the family. The Newark, N.J., native was in the Massachusetts home he shared with his wife, Paula Kurman, after weeks of hospice care. He was 80.
Bouton, who debuted in 1962, threw so hard early in his career that his cap routinely flew off his head as he released the ball. By the time he reached the expansion Seattle Pilots in 1969, the sorearmed Bouton became a knuckleballer.
Bouton spent that season collecting quotes, notes and anecdotes about life in the big leagues for his acclaimed book “Ball Four.” He exposed the carousing of Yankees outfielder Mickey Mantle, the use of stimulants in locker rooms, and the foul mouth of Pilots manager Joe Schultz.
The book caused most of his old teammates to ostracize him, and he was blackballed from Yankees events for nearly 50 years until the team made amends last season by inviting Bouton to the annual OldTimers’ Day event, where he was given an emotional standing ovation.
Bouton had a lifetime record of 6263, with an ERA of 3.57. But for two seasons, on the last of the great 1960s Yankees teams, he was a topflight pitcher.
In 1963, he went 217 with six shutouts and lost a 10 World Series decision to the Dodgers’ Don Drysdale. A year later, Bouton’s record was 1813 with a 3.02 ERA and he won two World Series starts against the Cardinals.
Then he developed a sore arm in 1965 that derailed a promising career. Bouton’s career ended after the 1970 season with the Astros, although he had a fivegame cameo with the Braves in 1978.
Postbaseball, Bouton became a sportscaster in New York with WABCTV and then WCBSTV on the evening news, enjoying ratings success at both stops.