Jim Bouton Sighting

[calvindog]

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.

[Rob D.]

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.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Yeah, surrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre.

[bigtrain]

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.

[Kawika]

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.

[bbcard1]

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.

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by bbcard1

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.