Often cited as the first “tell-all” book by an athlete, it was really so much more - a coming-of-age journey, of sorts, described by an insider who thought of himself as an outsider. I’d call Shecter and say, ‘Is this interesting?’ And he’d say: ‘Are you kidding? Keep going!’” Every once in a while, I would transfer the notes to audio and send in my tapes. “I didn’t know the value of it,” he added. Turning the notes into a book, he said, was the best thing he ever did. Their children are grown and live elsewhere.īouton nodded. A cloud might roll by, straight through the screened-in porch, and there are no other homes in sight. They have been married for 35 years and have lived here for more than 20, among the foxes and black bears, surrounded by pine trees. It is good for Bouton to have company, said his wife, Paula Kurman, who has a doctorate in interpersonal communications from Columbia. But if it doesn’t quite dance the way it did for the Seattle Pilots, it remains Bouton’s pitch - slower now, but authentically him. That’s not ideal, exactly the best knuckleballs often zig and zag away from the mitt. In a 15-minute game of catch, his knuckler hit the glove every time. His hat does not fall off anymore, as it did in his Yankees days, back when he threw hard and beat St.

He built a concrete-block backstop in a sunlit corner of the yard, and he hits the strike zone most of the time. This is the grip he showed Johnny Carson four decades ago on the set of “The Tonight Show,” and the grip he displayed for a recent visitor in his backyard, high up in the Berkshires.īouton still throws a couple of times a week.

Jim Bouton, 78, uses his ring finger, too. Most pitchers use two, but for him that makes the pitch wobbly, impossible to control. The old knuckleballer grips his favorite pitch with three fingernails.

Books by jim bouton