Jim Bouton Sighting

[ethicsprof]

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

[Fred]

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.....

[Rob D.]

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

[kkkkandp]

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!

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

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.

[calvindog]

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.

[David Atkatz]

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

Had him sign my First Edition Ball Four: