Jim Bouton Sighting
 

I was just at Family Day at my kids' preschool on the upper east side of Manhattan and who did I walk past but Jim Bouton this morning! He looks great and has a granddaughter at the school. I couldn't bring myself to pester him as he was with his wife but, of course, I felt deep regret immediately after. He was a huge hero of mine as a kid and wrote, in my estimation, the greatest baseball memoir of all time.

When I was a sports copy editor at a newspaper in northern New Jersey for part of the 1990s, Bouton pitched in a semi-pro league. He would call the copy desk and ask for scores whenever there were big games on the schedule. I've always thought that kind of competitiveness was pretty admirable.

There aren't many former baseball players with whom I'd really value the chance to have dinner and talk, but he's definitely one of them.

Edited to add: Before one of our games at San Antonio in the Texas League, there was an old-timer's game that featured some pretty big-name players. The only guy whose autograph I asked for was Gary Bell, and that was solely because of Ball Four.

Yeah, surrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre.

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. ~Jim Bouton, Ball Four, 1970

Great stuff.

On the sidewalks of New York
 

It's a powerful magic kicking in when a big league hero flatfoots a guy who would cross-exam Al Capone without breaking a sweat.

Though not as good as "Ball Four" the Jesus Alou/Doug Radar part of "Glad to See You Didn't Take It Personally" made me laugh as hard as anything in my life.

Another great book. I've read all of Bouton's books and loved them. Still feeling remorse.

The Wrong Stuff by Bill Lee is very entertaining.

Ball Four was the first non-kids book that I read from cover to cover. Bought another copy a couple years ago and sometimes I'll pick it up and read something out of the middle and start laughing.

Sometimes when I get really mad, I say those two favorite curse words and everything seems so much better.

I'm a big Bouton fan and had the chance to meet him in Boston a few years ago when he was on a panel with Howard Zinn and Dave Zirin discussing the intersection of politics and sports. He was very friendly and down to earth.

In addition to "Ball Four" and "I'm Glad You Didn't Take It Personally," I also recommend Bouton's "Foul Ball." It's great.

bouton
 

Jeff,
i know what you mean about being in the presence of your hero.
i loved Bouton as a boy---just thinking about him makes memories of
Howard, Skowron,Blanchard, Lopez,Boyer,Kubek,Ramos,Coates come running through my mind. I haven't thought about a couple of those in aeons.

thanks for sharing, ole buddy.

best,
barry

Hey, if his grand daughter goes to that school there's a good chance you might see him there again. Carry a copy of "Ball Four" with you when you go there. You just might get it signed. That is too cool. I remember reading that book a couple of times. Absolutely one of the best baseball books I ever read. Ok, it's been a couple of decades so I'll probably have to dust off the book and read it again. Too funny.....

"This winter (1977) I'm working out every day, throwing against a wall. I'm 11-0 against the wall."

Fun Guy
 

Jim's a Jersey boy and has been very active in all kinds of things around the state. After he retired from pro baseball he continued to be active for many years in semi-pro baseball, but also developed baseball-related businesses like Big League Chew (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_League_Chew) and Big League Cards.

Jim and I had several nice chats when I used his company do do my son's birth announcement, which I stuck into and distributed in wax packs of 1983 Topps cards! :)

I sent Bouton an autograph request as a kid. He was kind enough to answer all of my questions and included a few extra cards in the return envelope. We had an ongoing correspondence for a few years. The Bouton I got to know through letters is definitely the exact same fellow who wrote those great books. Very down-to-earth, unassuming and would not for a minute consider himself better than anyone else. If you run into him again, I'm sure he'd be delighted to spend a few minutes in conversation.

I recall that Bouton was trying to sell his original "manuscript" of Ball Four two or three years ago. As he outlined in the book, it consisted of scribblings on loose paper, napkins and coasters. He wanted $1,000,000 for the grouping if I recall correctly. It's anyone's guess as to actual hammer price, but I would be surprised to see those notes fetch more than in the very low five-figure range. $25K would be a stretch, but you never know.

Update
 

I decided to channel some of my regret into action and Jim will be a guest on a national radio show I'll be doing on May 21 from noon-3 pm EST which can also be heard on the internet. I'll provide particulars as we get closer.

I met Bouton when he was the speaker at my alma mater. Nice guy.

Had him sign my First Edition Ball Four:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j245/datkatz/bout.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...atz/boutop.jpg

Be sure and ask him about his 1970s TV show...

http://s915.photobucket.com/albums/a...OURTICKETS.jpg

I'll have Jim Bouton on tomorrow at a little past 2 pm EST (hopefully). The show can be best heard at www.foxnewsradio.com. We have not gone over any topics at all so it will be done on the fly. Of course, I did re-read Ball Four over the past two weeks and will get as much baseball stuff in that I can before the kind baseball fans at Fox News give me the hook.

Be sure to ask where he stands on the PSA vs. SGC issue.

Edited to add I forgot where I was: the SGC vs. PSA issue.

Rob, you were for it before you were against it. You'll fit in just fine here.

I am highly offended. Expect a harshly worded rebuke from PETA!

One of the things to love about this board: conservative talk personalities who collect cards. :D

I would not call Jeff a conservative. He's far too socially liberal to be a Republican, and far too fiscally conservative to be a Democrat.

He's just Jeff.

I'm sorry, I assumed, and I assumed incorrectly.

Daryl, the show starts at noon EST and you'll find that I'm an equal-opportunity offender. I detest the left and the right.

For once Jeff and I are on the same page. I just detest one side a little less than the other.

One more minor detail...

This "talk personality" thing is just another hobby for Jeff. He does have a full time day job. :)

Thanks for the laugh of the day.

I know; I've lurked on the board long enough to figure that out. :)

Just tuned in have a great show Jeff.

JB up next.

Great show so far.

Yes, excellent show Jeff.

Good stuff, making this day go a little faster at work....

LOL, "Take a hike son" I too love that line..LOL

Even I listened for 15 minutes...the part about Rand "lunch counter" Paul.

Is that you John?

It was I, Jeff was dead on on the topic. Thought I would chime in...

Wasn't there a sign on the show to keep the Irish out? :)

That's awesome, though a quick discussion about Plankensteins would've been even better!

You can't build a fence high enough or stock a bar deep enough...besides all the cops and fireman are in our back pocket...LOL

I followed a real genius, made me second guess calling a radio show for the first time, but following the guy before me I became Stephen Hawking.