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March 8
⚾ Ball Four - Jim Bouton changes everything March 8
March 8, BALL FOUR
Jim Bouton was born on March 8, 1939 best known for his transformation from a fastballer to a knuckleballer and for writing Ball Four, one of the most influential baseball books ever published.
After signing out of Western Michigan University, Bouton joined the New York Yankees in 1962. He had immediate success, winning 21 games in 1963 and 18 in 1964 while excelling in the World Series both years. However, arm issues diminished his fastball by the mid-1960s, and he reinvented himself as a knuckleball pitcher. He resurfaced in 1969 with the Seattle Pilots and later the Houston Astros before retiring. In 1978, he made a brief comeback with the Atlanta Braves at age 39, pitching surprisingly well in five starts.
Bouton's Ball Four, published in 1970, was a groundbreaking, behind-the-scenes account of baseball life. Written as a diary of his 1969 season, it revealed players’ use of amphetamines, womanizing, and the economic exploitation of players by owners. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to pressure Bouton into recanting, but he refused. The book enraged baseball’s establishment but became a bestseller, widely credited with changing how athletes and sports were covered.
Bouton followed with I'm Glad You Didn’t Take It Personally in 1971 and wrote several other books. He also worked as a sportscaster, acted in The Long Goodbye, and co-invented Big League Chew gum. Though baseball largely ostracized him for decades, the Yankees welcomed him back for Old-Timers’ Day in 1998 after a plea from his son.
Listen to Jim talk about Ball Four and his career!
PS - If you never read it I highly suggest it!
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Trivia:
Bouton was blackballed after writing Ball Four and he came back to pitch for one season for the Atlanta Braves in 1978. It was a maverick owner that brought him back, some would say to antagonize Bowie Kuhn. Who was the franchise owner?
Hint: The answer is below
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Born: This Day In Baseball March 8, 1909 in Evansville, IN, Ervin "Pete" Fox rose from the sandlots of Evansville, Indiana. A spark plug at the top of the Tiger lineup in the mid-1930s, he was a daring baserunner and a career .298 hitter in 13 seasons.
March 8, 1930 -- Babe Ruth signs a two-year contract with the New York Yankees for $160,000. At $80,000 per year, he becomes the highest-paid player of all time. The team's general manager Ed Barrow predicts at the time that, "No one will ever be paid more.
Born: Sunday, March 08, 1942 in Wampum, PA, Dick Allen.
"Allen was scary at the plate. When he came up there, he had your attention. I want to forget a couple of line drives he hit off me, but I can’t because they almost killed me." — Mickey Lolich on Dick Allen.
Born: This Day In Baseball March 8, 1953 in Anderson, SC, As a successor to Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski in left field for the Boston Red Sox, Jim Rice emerged as the AL's most feared slugger in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
March 8, 1966, the Veterans Committee waives one of its election rules and selects manager Casey Stengel as the newest member of the Hall of Fame. Stengel had managed the New York Mets for much of the 1965 season before falling and breaking his hip. The injury ended the elderly Stengel’s career. Given his age, the Veterans Committee decides to make him immediately eligible for the Hall of Fame.
March 8 , 1969 -- After Donn Clendenon "retires" and refuses to report to spring training, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn rules that Montreal can keep both Rusty Staub and Clendenon, insisting that Houston will have to settle for further compensation rather than voiding the trade.
March 8, 1999, former New York Yankees great Joe DiMaggio dies after a much-publicized battle with lung cancer.
March 8, 2011 -- Major League Baseball names Dodgers Assistant General Manager Kim Ng, the highest-ranking woman in the major leagues, as senior Vice-President of baseball operations. She will report to former Dodgers manager Joe Torre, who was named Executive Vice-President last month.
Quote of the day:
". . . 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
MILESTONES
Birthday Boys!
We have a dozen! Bill Salkeld, Bob Grim, Carl Furillo, Dick Allen, George Gerberman, Jim Bouton, Jim Rice, Juan Jimenez, Marv Breeding, Pete Fox, Ray Mueller and Willard Hunter
Passings.
Bill Nicholson, Dale Coogan, Joe DiMaggio, John Vukovich and Norm Sherry
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Trivia Answer: Ted Turner, on November 17, 1976, the Braves signed another big-money free agent, San Francisco Giants outfielder Gary Matthews. Unfortunately for Turner, he had made a comment to Giants’ owner Bob Lurie about recruiting Matthews during the 1976 World Series, which constituted tampering. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn fined Turner $10,000, suspended him for one year, and forced the Braves to forfeit their first pick in the January 1977 draft. Turner protested, saying, “I am a rookie in this business. I should be allowed a few errors.” It may have been the only time in his life that Turner, whose arrogance and oft-outrageous statements had earned him the unflattering nickname “The Mouth of the South,” admitted that he did not know everything. It did not end there, Turner appealed the decision and also inserted himself as the manager of the team on May 11, 1977. Which was shot down due to the Connie Mack rule after one game.
Bringing in Bouton, was a jab at Kuhn.
