Former NY Yankees pitcher, and occasional CDMSBL pitcher, Jim Bouton, 78, is struggling with a form of a brain disease, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, which is linked to dementia.
New York Times reporter Tyler Kepner wrote a moving story about Bouton's experience for the Sunday paper. You can access it here: https://nyti.ms/2twCrp5.
Bouton began pitching for the Yanks at 23, in 1962. At 24, he went 21-7 with a 2.57 ERA with the team that featured Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Roger Maris, and went to the World Series against the Sandy Koufax-led Dodgers. The Yanks were swept in the Series. In his one Series' game, Bouton pitched well, going 9 innings, allowing only 4 hits in a 1-0 loss to Don Drysdale. The following year, Bouton went 18-13, with a 3.02 ERA over 271 innings, and won two games in the World Series against the Cardinals. The Cards won that series, 4 games to 3.
Bouton, who was only 6-feet, 170 pounds, threw a hard fastball and was nicknamed "Bulldog" for the way he threw himself into every pitch. He tossed the ball so hard that his hat would fly off when he pitched.
Bouton went 4-15 for the Yanks in '65, pitching only 151 innings, after averaging close to 235 innings the previous three years. That was the year he hurt his throwing shoulder, and while he hung on a best he could, he retired, or thought he did, in 1968.
But that winter, he began fiddling around with the knuckler. The following spring, he made a comeback as a knuckleball pitcher and, soon after, as a writer.
Bouton tried to throw a major league knuckler and he lasted two seasons, with the expansion Seattle Pilots and Houston Colt '45s. He, and editor Leonard Schecter, turned that experience into a lively and very funny book about his attempt to come back, called "Ball Four." It became the best-selling sports book of all time. (It's in our libraries. If you haven't read it, I'd recommend it. You'll howl.)
Jim couldn't pull himself entirely from the game, and over the years, while living in Western Massachusetts he played in various leagues in this area. including our own. He played in CDMSBL first in the '90s, when we used metal bats. Often, when someone would homer off him, the batter would ask Jim to autograph the ball. He would and then he'd add an asterisk with the line: "Hit with a metal bat."
In 2012, Jim had a stroke, which immobilized him for two weeks. He fought against it, worked his way back partly by carrying weights around the house, and one day had a chance encounter with Jim Edelman, now the manager of the 55+ Twins, but then a player on my Peppers. Bouton asked Jim if Jim thought his manager (me) would let him pitch a few innings, as a way of showing himself how far he'd come back. Jim said he thought I might. He was right.
In May, 2013 Jim Bouton, then 73, pitched three innings against the Damn Yankees, the team that had won the title the year before. Jim actually got knocked around, though he wasn't helped by errors on our part, and the game ended after five innings in a mercy-rule decision. I asked our catcher, Pete Zamora, what Bouton's knuckle ball was like. "His knuckler floated," Pete said, "but it didn't knuckle."
No matter. Jim stayed tied to the game. And he's still tied to it. In the Times article, there's a fine photo of him in his yard, throwing a pitch against a concrete wall he built there. He has another high wall in his basement where he throws in the winter. I interviewed him about 18 years ago for an article and I asked him about his basement wall. "Oh, it's great," he said. "Down here, I'm 20-and-0."
I admire, no end, the fact that Jim continues to fight against being beaten.
I saw Bouton in Great Barrington several months ago having lunch. We chatted for a few minutes and he looked excellent. However, I sensed he was having a bit of a challenge recalling particulars about the book I know he's been working on for several years. He had told me a while back it's about his childhood growing up in N.J. I also recall that he told me a few years ago that he and Mickey Mantle made peace not long before Mantle died. It's a small world sometimes.
For those of us who were fortunate enough to play with Jim Bouton, he showed us all that the little kid that dreamed of pitching in the World Series may be more significant than the public figure who actually did. He was very gracious to indulge us and show us that the journey is more important than the destination. I would say that he enjoyed playing with us almost as much as we enjoyed playing with him. Thanks for your comments, Mike.
In 1962, at age 12, my mom took me to my first MLB game - at Yankee Stadium. Low and behold, Jim Bouton was the pitcher that day and the Yanks beat the Washington Senators despite a booming HR by Senators lefty-hitter Hal King. It was either a 2-1 or 3-2 game. Roger Maris homered for the Yanks. It was a birthday present in mid-May.
Because of that experience, I couldn't get the book "Ball Four'' soon enough after it was released. It ran the gamut of emotions. Bouton's recall of instructing Mick to look at "the beaver'' in the stands was especially funny.
I have looked through every nook and cranny of the house for the book, but can't find it.
Yes, any baseball fan would hope for JB to ward off this disease. It's a privilege when any former major league plays with us - here or in Fla./Ariz. Beating Bill Lee 6-2 a few years back made my amateur career. And he was so gracious after the game.
Former Tigers' All-Star Ron LeFlore belted three line-drive doubles against us then invited us to tailgate with him for an hour after the game. There are many others, I'm sure, but guys like Bouton, Lee, LeFlore and so many others are why we get hooked on the game in the first place.
Here's to hoping Mr. Bouton fends off this terrible disease and writes another 3-4 books.
Horrible news. I had the opportunity to play with Jim in the Twilight League in the mid to late 90"s. He went 4-2 with us throwing his nasty knuckleball at 58 years old against guys mostly in their 20's. Truly impressive. Jim is a class act all around. He went with our team to play in the State Tournament that year and took the whole team out to dinner, graciously picking up the tab. I dropped a fly ball in Center Field one game he was pitching and he beraded me afterwords. I felt 2 inches tall and somehow at the same time motivated and honored that he yelled at me LOL. That moment still lives in my head and I don't think I've dropped a fly ball since that day. He thanked us for inviting him every time he came to the field. It was obvious he shared the love for the game we all have no matter what the age. Just wanted to share some of my great memories of a great person.
