Catching up with … Jim Bouton former 20-game winner with the Yankees: ex-big leaguer recalls his days as a young baseball star in New York and his times after writing controversial book "Ball Four" - Interview

Baseball Digest, Feb, 2003 by Ed Lucas, Paul Post

THIRTY YEARS AGO JIM BOUTON had one of the best seasons of any pitcher in either league, hurling six shutouts en route to a 21-7 record that helped the Yankees reach the World Series for the fourth straight time.

"Bulldog," as he was called, started Game 3 where he hooked up in a classic pitchers' duel against Dodgers Hall of Famer Don Drysdale, losing 1-0 with the only run scored in the first inning. The following October, Bouton beat the Cardinals twice in World Series action after posting a fine 18-13 regular season record.

Mostly because of a sore arm, his fortunes paralleled the Yankees' the next few years as the team sank in the A.L. standings, and he never again put together a winning season. To many people, Bouton is best remembered for his book "Ball Four" that stunned baseball in 1970 by giving a previously undisclosed look at behind-the-scenes major league life, with everything from drinking stories to clubhouse fights.

At 63, he's only several years removed from a lengthy semi-pro pitching career made possible by a knuckleball that he developed with the expansion Seattle Pilots in 1969. His work with that pitch was among "Ball Four's" primary subplots, and a photo of his fingertip grip served as the book's cover.

Now living in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, Bouton has finally stopped pitching, but he still has plenty to say, as a motivational speaker and writer who's about to release his fourth book. Bouton was vilified by fans, players and most important, the Yankees, after "Ball Four" came out, all of whom thought he'd betrayed a sacred locker room trust. He wasn't invited back to Old-Timers games until 1998 when his son, Michael, wrote an open letter published in the New York Times, saying it was time for the Yankees let bygones be bygones.

Bouton has since taken part in several of these ceremonies and it was against this backdrop, in the "House That Ruth Built," that he painted a picture about life as a young Yankee prospect. "My first memory is walking out on the field the day before Opening Day in 1962 and seeing the stands and standing on the mound," he said. "It was about eight o'clock in the morning for a two o'clock workout. Just trying to soak up all the feelings, just trying to wonder what it was like when people came in the next day."

Bouton earned $7,000 during his 1962 rookie season, signing a contract on the clubhouse table literally minutes before taking the field.

Yankee official Roy Hamey said, "Don't bother reading it, they all say the same thing. Just sign here."

"I would have signed for anything," Bouton recalled with a laugh. "I was in my uniform already. Fine, just let me out on the field."

"I never thought I'd make it to the big leagues, so when I got there I was sort of walking around with a silly grin on my face saying, `Holy mackerel! Look at this!"

"That first year, I was 7-7, but I was one of the main pitchers down the stretch. In fact, if it hadn't rained in San Francisco for three days, I think I was going to start Game 7 of the World Series. Whitey Ford hurt his arm and couldn't pitch. Then it mined and Ralph Terry got enough rest and he pitched," he said.

The Yankees won, of course, when Bobby Richardson speared Willie McCovey's line drive with two outs and runners on second and third in the bottom of the ninth inning, to preserve a 1-0 victory. It turned out to be the only ring Bouton won, because New York fell to the Dodgers and Cardinals, respectively, the next two Octobers.

Racking up 21 wins was pretty heady stuff for a 24-year-old, second-year pitcher in 1963. At that stage in his career, he was getting hitters out with a dominating fastball, one that had long since abandoned him by 1969, when developing his knuckler as a Pilot.

"After I won 21 games, I said, `This isn't that hard actually. I can do this every year for maybe 10, 15 years. To tell you the truth I thought I was going to be in the Hall of Fame. I really thought that," Bouton said. "You feel so strong, so powerful walking down the street. You know you can throw a ball harder than any man in the world, or certainly the top five. Sandy Koufax knocked all of us out of the box on that one, so we would think, `I'm the second or third hardest thrower in the game."

Koufax won the Cy Young Award unanimously in 1963, and that's before the award had two separate winners, one from each league, an indication of just how dominant the Dodger southpaw really was. Ford likely would have gotten the award if winners were announced in both leagues, having led the A.L. in wins (24), winning percentage (24-7, .774) and innings pitched (269) along with 189 strikeouts, just 13 behind Camilo Pascual's 202 that topped the junior circuit.

Bouton, arguably, could have finished second or third in the voting. He and Pascual tied for second in wins (21) and "Bulldog's" .750 winning percentage and six shutouts were each second best, while opposing players batted just .212 against him, the third best mark in the league. Pascual had a slightly better ERA (2.46) to Bouton's 2.53 and also tied Terry for most complete games (18).