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. Bouton’s revealing look at baseball off the field made for eye-opening and entertaining reading, but he paid a big price for the best-seller when former teammates, other players and executives across the big leagues ostracized him for exposing their secrets. Published in 1970, “Ball Four” detailed Yankees great Mickey Mantle’s carousing, and the use of stimulants in the major leagues. He fought a brain disease linked to dementia and was in hospice care. He was 80.īouton’s family said he died Wednesday at the home he shared with wife Paula Kurman. Jim Bouton, the former New York Yankees pitcher who shocked and angered the conservative baseball world with the tell-all book “Ball Four,” has died.
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