In Memoriam: Jim Bouton (1939-2019)

"I learned Math from Baseball & Jim Bouton taught me How to Read"

Not entirely true, but there is a lot of truth there.

Prior to college I think I only finished maybe...  three books, "1984", "Wired" the Biography of Jim Belushi, and "Ball Four". All those novels we were supposed to read in High School (Hester Prynne, Silas Marner, Macbeth, Huck Finn, etc Who Knows What Else)  - I read exactly none of them.

But "Ball Four" it spoke to me.

"Ball Four" - Jim Bouton (1970 2nd Edition)

I have read the book three times once as a teenager. Again in my 20s or 30s, and most recently in my late 40s in preparation to see Bouton at the NYC SABR convention.

The SABR panel was incredible. That weekend it was publicly announced that Jim Bouton had a brain disease related to dementia. Regardless with the help of his wife Paula Kurman he was up to the task of discussing his life and Ball Four in a panel dedicated to Bouton and the book. A fan of the book and the man could asked for nothing more. Bouton was funny, touching, and informative. He was "Ball Four" personified.

He was also good enough to pose for pictures while signing books and other memorabilia.

 Jim Bouton (2017 Jul 01)

The Photo on the left page is one that I took at the event. The book is a 2nd edition

Ball Four (2nd Edition)

Here is Ball Four sans jacket.

That's it for now. Over the coming weeks I would like to mine the Phungo Museum for some other Bouton related content. Today, I would just like to recognize that he will always be a favorite author and I am glad I was introduced to his unique point of view early in my life and have been able to enjoy it to this day.

Memorials & Tributes
SABR (Mark Armour)

Sources and Link
Jim Bouton Index
SABR Bio (Mark Armour)
SABR47 NYC

ANNIVERSARY: 50 Years ago a strike ended!

But nobody knew about it.

 The only person on strike was Jim Bouton.

"Ball Four" - Jim Bouton pg 12

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the season Bouton chronicled in his iconic book "Ball Four". There is a preamble from the previous November prior to the excerpt above, however,  The day that Jim Bouton reported to spring training was February 26th.

I bring this up now as a heads up to anyone who wishes to follow along with the 50th anniversary of the book - It is time to crack open "Ball Four" and start enjoying the inaugural and only season of the Seattle Pilots.

As far as the strike, Bouton discusses on the following page how a younger player on the Pilots roster was holding out on going to spring training. Jim Bouton staged a personal strike as a show of support. The younger player turned out to be Lou Piniella

Links and Sources
Jim Bouton Index

Sunday Night Baseball: 1965 Topps #137 Bouton Wins Again

It would not be a stretch to say that I learned math from the back of baseball cards, nor would it be any further from the truth say that Jim Bouton taught me how to read.

Tonight the Yankees are visiting the Cubs on Sunday Night baseball, while this week the Phillies will host a rare series with the Mariners.

The player I have chosen to tie together these two series is Bouton.

1965 Topps #137 Bouton Wins Again

Bouton is remembered for two careers. The first was as a baseball player in the New York Yankees organization. His other career was as an author while employed by Seattle's first MLB tenant the Pilots.

1964 Yankees

The card above is from an eight card subset (#132-#139) in 1965 topps. Each of the first seven cards in the set represents a game in the series. Card #137 above speaks to game 6 which the Yankees won 8-3 behind Jim Bouton's strong pitching and a trio of Home Runs by Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and Joe Pepitone.

Flip

1965 Topps #137 Bouton Wins Again (b-side)

The B-side gives a detailed box score which includes fielding stats but ignores RBIs (early SABRmaticians no doubt). In addition to the box the card text provides a concise synopsis of the games events.

After 1964 Game 6 the Yankees would not win another World Series game until 1977.


Ball Four
Jim Bouton is going to one of the guest speakers at this years SABR convention in New York City. In Preparation for the event I have just begun reading "Ball Four" for what I believe is the 3rd time. I first encountered the book when I was in my early teens. I re-read the book as an adult, probably in my 30s and now approaching my milestone 50th birthday I am giving the work a third pass.

I will always enjoy the anti-establishment humor of "Ball Four" and am looking forward to this reading.

I anticipate this will be my most enjoyable session with the book. Through my rediscovery of baseball cards I have become more familiar with the players and stories from the "Ball Four" era, hopefully this re-read will generate some fun posts.

May 7 1969
In his entry for May 7th Jim Bouton mentions a disagreement he had with manager Joe Schultz over his role on the team. Schultz (as well as pitching coach Sal Maglie) wants Bouton to mix in more fastballs and curves with his knuckler. Bouton counters that Phil Niekro throws mostly knuckleballs. The ensuing argument devolves into a petty negotiation over Niekro's pitch selection. 

That day Seattle lost 5-4 to Boston in a game that did not involve Bouton. Red Sox Shortstop Rico Petrocelli had a Home Run for the victors.  

not so Phun Phact
The pitcher who lost to Bouton in game 6 of the 1964 World Series was former Phillies southpaw Curt Simmons

Jim Bouton Index
1964 Topps (Fred C Harris)
1991 SI Greats of the Game Autograph
Seattle Pilots 40th Anniversary Reunion (2009)
50th anniversary of Ball Four (2019)

Sources and Links
Game Dated Cards
VittlesWords
Cardboard Connection
baseball-ref

VittlesWords

This is an index of our postings related to Books and Authors

1968 Topps #562 Jim Bouton

Eliot Asinof "Eight Men Out" (1962)
Jim Bouton "Ball Four"
Bill Conlin "Batting Cleanup" Signing 1997 07 xx
Stefan Fatsis Signing 2008 07 22
Stefan Fatsis (Word Freak Review by Nachos Grande) 
Rob Fitts (Masanori Murakami bio signing) 2015 06 27
Charlaine Harris signing 2010 05 25
Tim McCarver signing 2008 08 21

Tell Your Statistics to Shut Up

1999 Sports Illustrated Greats of the Game Autograph Jim Bouton (nno)


I am not sure which character says it but "Tell Your Statistics to Shut Up" is a memorable line from "Ball Four" -  The Jim Bouton chronical of his 1969 season. 

With that explanation, I would like to add another feature to Phungo - Looking at some Stats, mostly with the help of the incredible Baseball-Reference.com.  For Practical purposes I think I will refer to this feature as SUS for Shut Up Stats.

Today I want to look at 2 of the big Off-Seasons signings and the impacts on those two Teams Attendace.  Specifically I am talking about Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols.

Rank	Team	Up/Down	Home Att Dif	Avg Dif
1	MIA	UP	387,479	11,742
2	DET	UP	271,903	9,376
3	WSN	UP	204,449	7,302
4	TEX	UP	177,351	6,821
5	TOR	UP	172,473	5,947
6	STL	UP	149,240	5,527
7	KCR	UP	134,391	4,800
8	ARI	UP	147,178	4,748
9	BAL	UP	131,788	4,393
10	ATL	UP	110,656	4,098
11	CIN	UP	122,050	4,068
12	PIT	UP	87,947	2,932
13	LAD	UP	88,460	2,854
14	CHC	UP	58,096	2,152
15	TBR	UP	46,511	1,550
16	MIL	UP	50,366	1,526
17	SEA	UP	32,764	1,311
18	OAK	UP	12,270	423
19	COL	UP	7,582	230
20	SDP	UP	4,322	127
21	BOS	UP	2,735	83
22	SFG	DOWN	-5,987	-187
23	PHI	DOWN	-17,489	-564
24	NYM	DOWN	-32,556	-1,050
25	NYY	DOWN	-45,250	-1,460
26	CLE	DOWN	-55,446	-1,733
27	CHW	DOWN	-61,361	-1,805
28	HOU	DOWN	-87,129	-2,723
29	LAA	DOWN	-101,318	-3,377
30	MIN	DOWN	-125,593	-4,331
	total	UP	1,867,882	2,064

Interesting stuff on the movement of our two sluggers.  Both Detroit and the Angels have had mediocre seasons - with the Angels surging a bit recently.  However it is Prince Fielder's team that had the Attendance jump while Pujols team has had one of the worst attendence declines in the league. 

The Angels have had 30 Home dates so far this season.  If you prorate Albert Pujols $12MM 2012 salary for those 30 games that means the Angels are paying him roughly 75K a game to draw 3377 less fans. 

Of course there are lots of other factors in attendance - Tean Play, Weather, Weekend/Weeknight games, The Dodgers Success, as well as the Stanley Cup Champs, Lakers and even Clippers.

Other Observations
- ChiTown - Cubs stink attendance up, ChiSox in First Place attendance down
- Least Coast Bias - Both Mets and Yankees down 1000+/Game - Phils also down, Boston up slightly.  ChesBay area O's and Nats both Up Though.
- The Spurned - The two teams that lost Pujols and Fielder both are Up - impressive for the Brew Crew who also went thru the Braun PR Hit.  Of course the Cardinals are coming off a World Championship.  The other World Series Participant Texas is up as well.

Source: Baseball-Reference.com - Year to Year Attendance Page
Stats Captured on 2012 06 12 for games played through 2012 06 11

STS Profile - Jim Bouton

1999 Sports Illustrated Greats of the Game Autograph Jim Bouton (nno)

Jim Bouton was easily identifed by Zman40 of Autographed Cards. Bouton's playing career would be considered more very good then superstar level, certainly what he is remembered for today is "Ball Four"

Most of us have read "Ball Four" or are at least familiar with the book. Jim Bouton's official web page is actually www.ballfour.com - If your interested in a Jim Bouton Autograph they are $10 on a baseball or an 8x10 from the site, or you can order one of his books and have it signed for $10-$30 depending on the book.

For the Collector
This particular card went for $5.32 on ebay and pops up frequently in ebay auctions. I am really fond of the 99 Fleer SI autograph series there are 80 baseball players in the set including several Hall of Famers. The Photos are all drawn from Sports Illustrated Covers and there is a set of Football Autographs as well. Many of these Autos can be had for under $10 and all of them are on-card.

The Bouton 99 SI auto has sold 4 times on ebay in the last few weeks all for under $6 shipped. The lowest was $4.34. An 03 Sweet Spot Classic Bouton Auto went for $13.49 which was the highest of any Jim Bouton Auto Card sold.

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Bonus

Only two folks picked up the bonus. I am a bad fan and have not gotten around to reading "Tales from the Phillies Dugout" - in my defense, it hasn't been in the Phungo Library real long. Paul's Random Stuff correctly picked "Men at Work" which is probably on my re-read list by now, and Nachos Grande picked "Word Freak" which the two of us discussed the merits of in a recent book review post of his. I have read all three Stephan Fatsis books and enjoyed them very much.

As far as the other books folks have selected, I have not read "Clearing the Bases". I picked up the book at a Signing, and am glad to have Mike Schmidt's auto in my collection, but reading the book as not been urgent. I consider the Lebowski book coffee table reading, and while I may have read the whole thing just by paging through it - I am definitely glad it is in the collection, the recipe of a White Trash Russian is worth the price of admission alone.

Spot the Sig! Standings after 7 Innings
Autographed Cards - Royals: Big Two-Run Triple from Alex Gordon gives AC 3 runs scored. and a Man on 3rd.
Nachos Grande - Reds: 2 runs scored. Bases Loaded.
Paul's Random Stuff - Mets: 2 run scored. Men at 1st and 3rd.
Card Buzz - Angels: Vlad Guerrero hits a long fly off the top of the wall for a Triple!
one run scored. Man on 3nd.
Play at the Plate - Rangers: one run scored. Man on 1st.

Night Owl - Dodgers: Bases Loaded.The Wax Ripper - Yankees: Men on first and 2nd.
In Search of Pat the Bat - PHILLIES: Man on FirstThought and Sox - Boston Red Sox: Man on FirstCardboard Junkie - Braves: Man on First

Beardy - Orioles: On Deck
Indians Baseball Cards Always - Indians: On Deck
Padrographs - Padres: On Deck
Nr-MT - Yankees: On Deck
You are welcome to join the game at anytime. If you need more Spot the Sig! details click here.

And as I mentioned yesterday stop back tomorrow for a very important announcement regarding Spot the Sig!

Sources and Links
Jim Bouton Index

2009 09 27 - Philly Show, Valley Forge PA

Both Sports Cards Info and Stale Gum have posted video on the Philly Show - both were entertaining and informative with some great cards. Here at Phungo we shall remain low tech and camera shy and bring you a show report with good old fashion scans.

I had a great time at the show and the roughly 3 1/2 hours I alloted myself clearly was not enough. I spent almost my entire trip in the cheapo vintage bins. Pardon the presentation, I am lazy tonight and have left the cards in their sleeves.


1959 Topps #338 George Anderson

Better known as Sparky Anderson, And yes Sparky wore a Phillies uniform during his playing days. I spent more on other cards and may have found deeper bargains then this one, but this one was likely my purchase of the day.

For the Colletor:
I believe there are only Two Topps Sparky Anderson cards the above 59 and his 1960 card #34. This card is in pretty good shape, though off-center and went for $2.50. Nice price for a rookie card of a Hall of Famer - albeit an HOF manager. The low completed auction on eBay for the 59 Sparky Anderson card ended at $6.64 (incl shipping) with many of the cards going for $10 and up topping out at just over $70.

1961 Topps #132 Frank Howard Rookie Star (RC)

Frank Howard played before my time, but I saw him on the field several times as a coach and he certainly is a big man. There was no doubt that he looked like the type of guy that could hit 30 homers and 100 RBIs in a season. Nice RC to pull out of the dollar bin.

I also came across several vintage Bowman cards in the dollar bin including this beat up Jackie Jensen card.

1954 Bowman #2 Jackie Jensen

If your not aware of who Jensen is, reach back into the baseball card blog annals to Ben Henry's post on 9 cards to Jump Start a collection and you will realize why you can't let this card go for a dollar. It should also be noted that Jensen made Jayson Stark of ESPN's all-underrated Red Sox top three strictly on the recommendation of Peter Gammons.


Another Red Sox great that I found in the buck bin was this 1975 Carlton Fisk

1975 Topps Mini #80 Carlton Fisk

A 75 Carlton Fisk might not be a steal for a buck, but look closer - this baby is a Mini. Can't turn down a 75 Topps Mini Hall of Famer.

2008 Topps Gold Campaign 08 #C08-MR Mitt Romney

Just taking a break from all the vintage. This is the last card I needed to complete the Campaign 08 series. For this small set, I didn't care whether the card was a gold card or base. 1 of each candidate was enough for me. It is likely the weakest of the 08 Topps Insert sets, but it is the first I completed - whoohoo. This likely came out of the 3 for a dollar bin and I still payed to much for it.

Back to the good Old Vintage


1958 Topps #115 Jim Bunning
1965 Topps #30 Jim Bouton
1960 Topps #555 Nellie Fox Sport Magazine 1960 All-Star

It was Sunday and check who we found in the half off bin - Two Vintage Hall of Famers and Jim Bouton. What the hell is a 2nd year card of Jim Bunning doing in the half off bin, and this is after already being knocked down to $6? 50+ Year old HOF card for three bucks - that's going in the Phungo collection baby.

I am basically a baseball collector, but football season is upon us and the Vikings are off to a quick start so.....

1974 Topps #129 Fran Tarkenton All-Pro

This is one of my favorite cards from my childhood and it was great to recover it and get the card back into a proper home witin my collection. The 1974 Topps Football is one of my favorites - The All-Pro cards don't have the goal posts but I really like the look of them.

1961 Topps #312 1960 World Series Game #7 Mazeroski's Homer Wins It!

The ultimate David slays Goliath World Series. The New York Yankees outscored the Pittsburgh Pirates 55-27 in the 1960 World Series. But none of that mattered as the Bucos won the 4 tight games while losing the three blowouts.

I look at this card and think of the Pirates winding down their umpteenth consecutive losing season, and the Bronx Bombers preparing to enter another Post-Season as the tournament top seed and favorite.....And then I think that if the Pirates could knock off the Yankees today, Now that would be David Taking Down Goliath.

For the Collector:
As you can tell I was mostly in the vintage bins. I can tell you that Chris over at Stale Gum was able to pick up a Hobby Box of Goodwin Champions for $68 (compare $82 Dave and Adam's Card World). I spoke with another colletor at the show that mentioned that the new Topps Ticket to Stardom was going for $75 ($85 DAC).

The one item I passed on was a 1936 Diamond Stars #27 Pie Traynor. The card was slabbed in 1-Poor condition and ran $20. I considered it just to have a Hall Of Fame player out of this 70 year old set.

Back in the 70s when Mike Schmidt and Brooks Robinson were still active Traynor was the Third Basemen on the Topps 1976 All-Time All-Star team. Now he is in danger of falling into the forgotten Hall of Famer category.

Seattle Pilots Reunion

1970 Topps #111 Mike Hegan
1969 Topps #17 Mike Marshall

A few weeks back the Seattle Mariners marked the 40th anniversary of the Seattle Pilots sole major league season in the Pacific Northwest by hosting a reunion of the 1969 team. The 69 Seattle Pilots may have only played one season but Jim Bouton's chronicle of the team, "Ball Four", has made them part of Baseball Immortality. Bouton was on MLB network recently and I briefly mentioned the event a few weeks ago.

Oddly the Pilots while only having played one season are actually part of two Topps releases 1969 and 1970. According to Wikipedia the Pilots didn't move to Milwaukee until late in spring training of 1970, thus the 70 Topps Pilots cards.

It has been a few years since I have read "Ball Four" but as I remember Mike Marshall was a pretty prominent character. I think I remember Mike Hegan from the book, but I am not positive, I think he was the guy involved in a shouting match with a fan while boarding the team bus.

By September 8th of 69 Bouton had been traded from Seattle to the Houston Astros. On the 9/8 entry Bouton discusses the hammering of opposing pitcher Mike Corkins in his Major League debut, San Diego Padre Nate Colbert, and the ridiculous price of room service (3.06 for a strawberry sundae - for the wife , and 3 scoops of chocolate for Jim)

Sources and Links
Jim Bouton Index

Jim Bouton is a Big Mouth.

"The Great American Baseball Card Flipping Trading and Bubble Gum Book" Page 100 - Jim Bouton (Click to Enlarge)


"Jim Bouton is a Big Mouth."

That is the sole line that is devoted to Jim Bouton's 1964 card on page 100 of "The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book"

Oddly for whatever reason the text to the right of Bouton's card is dedicated to Eddie Lebaron, Who is not featured in the book at all.

I am not positive what exactly prompted authors Brendan C Boyd and Fred C Harris to make this comment about Jim Bouton, but it is likely due to Jim Bouton's own book "Ball Four".

Tonight MLB Network will be broadcasting an interview with Bouton on their Studio 42 Program hosted by Bob Costas. If you have had enough of the Yankees and Red Sox this weekend, I suggest you tune in, I am sure the show will not be dull.

And if you are a baseball card blogger and don't have a copy of TGABCFTaBGB it is definitely worth finding. It is baseball card snark 30+ years before blogging.

Sources and Links
Jim Bouton Index