Jim Bouton, the former pitcher for the Yankees, Seattle Pilots, Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves, is a seminal figure in baseball history. Less so for his pitching than his writing, as he is the author of the indispensable “Ball Four,” which for my money is the greatest baseball book of all time.
Bouton’s keen eye and sharp wit turned what could’ve just been a simple tell-all book into a masterpiece, and he has been dispensing his wisdom on baseball and life for nearly 50 years. Now, however, he faces a struggle to simply communicate.