July 11, 2019

Bouton Passes

MLB pitcher and author Jim Bouton died Wednesday. Tyler Kepner offers a personal remembrance:

Bouton would pitch for 10 seasons in the majors, with 64 wins and 64 losses including the World Series. He was, perhaps, the most influential average pitcher in major league history, because of the gift he gave to everyone who loved the game: the assurance that you, too, belong.

He wrote “Ball Four,” his diary of the 1969 season that showed the humor and humanity of big league players in a way no player ever had. He died on Wednesday at age 80, after a long struggle with vascular dementia.

NYTimes.com

My thoughts go out to his family and friends.

Bouton peaked early, his best seasons coming in 1963-1964 at seasonal ages 24-25. He pitched 520 in that time, which might have led to his early decline. A pitch count or an innings limit might have lengthened his career. He was pretty good at limiting walks, and had a decent K rate for the era.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *