He and a former teammate developed Big League Chew, a bubble gum alternative to chewing tobacco. He finished his 10-year career with a 62-63 record and 3.57 ERA.īouton was a television sportscaster in New York City with WABC and WCBS, wrote other books and starred in a 1976 CBS sitcom based on “Ball Four” that lasted only five episodes. Bouton also recounts much of his earlier baseball career, spent mainly with the New York Yankees.

He worked on “Ball Four” in 1969, a season spent with the expansion Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros, his fastball replaced by a knuckleball as he tried to prolong his career.īouton also pitched for Houston in 1970, and made a comeback with the Atlanta Braves in 1978, going 1-3 at age 39. Bouton started his major league career in 1962 with the Yankees, where his tenacity earned him the nickname Bulldog. Louis Cardinals.īouton injured his right arm in 1965, going 4-15 that season, and saw limited action the next three seasons with New York. Of the thousands of words Jim Bouton used to describe his 28-year exile from the Yankees between the time of the publication of his controversial book, Ball Four, and his first Old-Timers. The Yankees lost the World Series both years, with Bouton losing his lone start in 1963 in New York’s loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and winning twice the following year in the Yankees’ loss to the St.

Throwing so hard that his cap flew off his head, Bouton was 21-8 with six shutouts in 1963 - his second season in the majors - and went 18-13 with four more shutouts in 1964.

Jim bouton yankees