European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 30, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday june 30,1990 the stars and stripes Page 25 walk commentary not since the Bible hit paperback has one Book changed society. A Ball four did. Rob Staggenborg author Jim Bouton pitched on the pilots and astros that year. The tales he told of the debauchery that major league players were involved in during that season folded our modern Day View of professional athletes. They Are human. Inhumane m some cases. They re not plastic. They Are real. Bouton a tales revolved around More than the usual locker room craziness most ghost written sports books offer. A Ball four was perceptive. The budding investigative reporter in Bouton showed in a Ball  that a a trait sorely lacking in other sports books. Bouton who pitched for the new York Yankees from 1962 to �?T68, was not afraid to attack Mickey Mantle while the rest of the sport writ ing world was. The author reported that Mantle snubbed autograph seekers a charge that ignited sports writers. A i did no to like it when i saw Mantle Brush aside Young autograph seekers i suggested that he might have had an even More spectacular career if he had6? is Beu Ion take Fth personally by a a a to glad you did to everybody talks about what Mantle did for the game. All Mantle did for the game was become a great player and hit a lot of Home runs. I think he did those things not for the game but for himself. The kind of thing you do for the game is sign autographs and show up at places you re not paid to show up at a he wrote m  Strong words. Mantle was great. The legend. The Mick. Where does this Bouton come off attacking a National hero for crying out loud Bouton never said we  have heroes. He made our heroes real people with real problems. This took awhile to catch on with the Public but 20 years after we did no to squirm at the Margo Adams Wade Boggs thing. The Steve Garvey fathers Day extravaganza just gave us a Good chuckle. What Bouton said was that no sport and no Man Are sacred. Baseball is a joke. The game is not. The baseball establishment is. Bouton knew this All along. The stories unfolded in a Ball four Quot arc hard hitting irreverent and comical in a unique twisted Way. Like pilots Catcher Jim Pagliaroni a telling his teammates to a act sexually excited a upon the teams arrival Back Home after a Long Road trip so their wives  suspect a thing. Like climbing up to a hotel roof at 3 . To spot sexual activities in an adjoining Tower. Like Doug Rader driving a Golf Ball inside the full locker room. A trader swears he did no to do it when people were in there. That a a Bunch of crap. Just ask the other 24 Guys who were diving for cover a Bouton said by phone last week from his new Jersey office. Like players popping a  amphetamines to play better. Greenier arc kids stuff compared to the concoctions that Are around today. Condemning the Book is not the answer. We should thank Jim Bouton for preparing us with his foresight. Without a Ball four a we would continue to place Blind allegiance in baseball heroes. Now we be come to accept and expect their shortcomings. I done to know if Bouton planned it that Way. But it works even 20 years later. The stars and stripes Bouton not Kuckling under 20 years later by Rob Staggenborg staff writer Jim Bouton the former knuckle Ball Pitcher thinks people Haven to really caught on with a Ball  a the thing with Alvin dark and the autograph a Bouton said by Telephone last week from his new Jersey office. A i think people got the wrong idea. There was no Hurt by that. Here i was hanging Over the dugout my brother holding my Ankles so i  fall. I asked dark for an autograph and he said a take a hike  a so my brother pulls me up and asks me a did you talk to Alvin dark a i said yeah he said a take a hike  for us the autograph Wasny to important. I did no to mean to put Alvin dark Down. What was More exciting to us a two kids a was that we got to talk to Alvin  the dark incident remains one of Bouton a few regrets. A Ball four celebrated its 20th anniversary on the bookshelves this month. The Book was a revolutionary often irreverent look at major league baseball in 1969 that became Bouton a signature and made his sub Par pitching performances a moot Point. Irreverent. That a putting it lightly. Call it what you like a Bawdy risque investigative kiss and Tell grotesque of no redeeming value pointless funny i of gotta admit it was  but Cven tick a a years a every once in a while when i see the Book on the table or something ill open t up and get a Good laugh a said Bouton who co wrote the Best seller with new. I Uther Leonard Shecter in 1969, while Bouton pitched for the Seattle pilots and Houston astros. Bouton suffered through a rollercoaster career before a Ball four hit the stores. He pitched in new York Yankee pms types from 1962 to �?T68, was sent off of Seattle in 1969, bounced Over to a our sign a time for the no West race in we 69 and retired on aug. 20,1970. He Iti a Short lived comeback with the Atlanta braves in 1978. Jato wrote a a in a glad you did no to 15�11 personally in 1971 a a Book on Ihu Bulc reaction to a Ball four a Coly for monetary gain. A it was writ ten for one purpose Only. When you have a Best Selling Book the incentive to write another Book is Money. It did no to make much a he said. A Ball four remains Bouton a claim to Fame. Critics blasted the Book for its inside information. Baseball players called it treason. Jealousy Bouton said. A a it a land of funny. Sportswriters hated the Book but other writers who May have covered baseball incidentally liked the Book a lot. The sportswriters said i had Access to things they did no to therefore i had no business writing a Ball  a a what a amazing Here is that you done to know How Many sportswriters Are friends with the players. They asked for autographs for their kids they got free tickets to the ballgame from them. Sportswriters were just fans who wrote for a newspaper.�?�. Bouton is still Quick with the quips. Twenty years May have passed but the one liners Are still As pointed As Ever. An expletive Here a spiced adjective there. No harm done. These Days Bouton Mills about new Jersey scooping up patents. His greatest invention is big league Chew. Yeah the gum that looks like tobacco but really i snot tobacco holds a Patent in the name of one j. Bouton. Toss in big league cards a a business venture that puts an Ordinary Joe on his own Ball card Complete with personal stats. A great icebreaker a Bouton chides. Next up in the Bouton quest for a Patent ice Cream with autographed baseball Bat Sticks. A you can Trade them with  a  a Ball four a Bouton a friends seemed As thin As his won loss record 62-63. In the Book Bouton hammered Mickey Mantle a yeah that Mickey Mantle a for not signing autographs and his penchant for tipping the Beer class too often. He told Ribald tales of players sleeping with each others wives. Then there s the one about Doug  aloud a birthday cake that year. Don t Ashe tales go on. More than 350 pages of them a each twisted demented in its own funny Way. Jim Bouton Here with the astros in 1970, liked it when his a Ball four hit boo stand. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn was not amused. The excerpted release of the Book in look Magazine in the Spring of 1970 prompted the commissioner to Call Bouton and players association lawyer Marvin Miller into Kuhn a new York office. The meeting was supposed to be hush hush. Bouton managed to leak the information to a few reporters and before he knew it the press corps showed up on Kuhn a Doorstep. Two hippies joined the fracas carrying pro Bouton placards that said a Jim Bouton must not be repressed and a Kuhn Stop repression and ha-rsssfnent/1 Bouton a i flashed the kids the peace sign and smiled at everybody  Bouton a no Kuhn fan. A a former Oakland owner Charlie Finley was right about Bowie Kuhn a Bouton said. A Bowie was a National joke. Here a a Man who says free Agency was bad for baseball. Said it would rum the game. It did the opposite. Free Agency made baseball. His expertise did no to carry Over As a Book reviewer  Call Bouton anti establishment a reliever without a cause. A the baseball establishment said a Ball four was bad for baseball a he said. A the baseball establishment mistakes itself for the game of baseball. They re not the same. In the Book i never once knocked the game of baseball. I love baseball the dedication to the game the respect for the game. What i ddn t like was the Way these businessmen cheated us out of our Money. A Ball four was not an attack on the game of  Bouton Hasni to abandoned the game. As the Ace right hander for the Little ferry . Giants a Semi pro team Bouton is 2-2, with an Era a under 2.00. 1 lost a couple of close  plans Are under Way to re release a Ball four for the second time since the original release. Bouton released the Book on its 10th anniversary with an extra chapter a Ball five a which contained a everything that happened to me after a Ball  a the 1990 release he said will have another chapter fittingly titled a Ball  Why a to make Money. I really want to have a copy of the Book to give to friends to let them know what in be been up to. People still ask for  tossing All semblance of humbleness aside Bouton enjoys the cult classic stamp the Book has gained. A the Book holds up even today for Young kids who have to do a Book report. Its easy to read not too Many big words. Its about people sex and sports. A i never wrote the Book with the idea that this Book needed to be written. Every season i come Back and Tell everyone about the crazy things that happened. They asked me Why in be never written a Book about  Twenty years is a Long while but the scars a Ball four left on the baseball establishment remain today. M a a done to paint me As the Good Guy Bouton said. A i am not a forgiven Man