“Ball Four” was quite a sensation. In it, Bouton described how baseball players (specifically the Mickey Mantle-era NY Yankees) really act. It was pretty scandalous...and a page-turner.
Seems like he was a decent pitcher too.
Yes, as I recall, Bouton won 21 games in ‘64, the last great year of those Mantle/Ford/Richardson etc. teams. The Yankees fell apart in ‘65 and took a decade to recover. Great book that was enjoyable to read. RIP Jim.
“Ball Four” helped open up writing about political campaigns and reporters, becoming the inspiration for Timothy Crouse’s “The Boys on the Bus.” After that, Teddy White’s “Making of the President” series of political campaign books began to look more and more like dull official narrative histories.
He came out of retirement at age 40 and won one game throwing the knuckleball with the Braves.
His book became a short-lived CBS sitcom.
Jane Leavys book on Mickey Mantle was brutal - a real hero buster - but I guess everyone knew