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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

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

Stretch Time - Spot The Sig 7th inning

We are in the 7th inning of the Spot the Sig Contest and there is a very tight race with only three autos remaining. There is a Five way tie for first place, with several players all at 1 run. Card Buzz and Paul's Random Stuff have both managed to pick up two autos While Play at the Plate and Autograph Cards each have one. These four Sig Spotters are all on the leader board along with Nachos Grande. While he has not ID'd an auto Nachos Grande has diligently persevered with the Bonus questions and managed to manufacture a run and is in very good standing with the bases loaded.

Enough pre-game Here is this weeks auto:



The above auto is worth a Triple.

Bonus

This weeks bonus question is a new feature for Spot the Sig! This is the Phungo Book Club Bonus - Here are some of the selections from the Phungo Library (Click to Enlarge):


One of my favorite musicians, Warren Zevon, once said "We buy books because we believe we're buying the time to read them." I am not sure he was the original. A similar statement is also credited to German philosoher Arthur Schopenhauer.

Regardless this seems to be the case in the Phungo household - we have significantly more books then we could possibly find the time to read. This is why in the photo above one finds 18 books, however, I have only read ten of them. For the bonus your task is to pick out one of these books which I have read.

There is a ground rule for this weeks bonus. Each book can only be picked once. If you guess a book that has been previously picked by another contestant, your pick will be considered invalid. The Book Club Bonus will be worth a Single, all runners advance one base.


Spot the Sig! standings going into the 7th.

Nachos Grande - Reds: one run scored. Bases Loaded.
Paul's Random Stuff - Mets: one run scored. Men at 2nd and 3rd.
Autographed Cards - Royals: one run scored. Men at 2nd 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 First
Thought and Sox - Boston Red Sox: Man on First
Cardboard 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.