RIP Jim Bouton 1939-2019
 

Major respect. He, along with Bill Lee are the reason I fell in love with baseball. Because the game could have such characters

He was also a part of the Portland Mavericks. The documentary on Netflix, The Battered Bastards of Baseball is really fun. He seemed to really love the game.

Ah shit-fuck. This one hurts. Ball Four was a big part of my growing-up - I read that book more times than I can count.

yeah, I mentioned on FB that I'm going to re read Ball Four tonight for the 19th time.

Didn't realize he was behind Big League Chew...

He also attempted to save minor league baseball in Massachusetts:

Foul Ball by Jim Bouton.

He also wrote a fiction story about baseball (you could tell in some ways it was a self-insert, but it was still a good story)

Strike Zone by Jim Bouton

Currently, the audio version, the 20th anniversary edition (paperback), the Kindle edition and the regular mass market paperback are four of the nine top sellers in Baseball Biographies in Amazon right now, including the top three.
(edit and foul Ball is #13)

I loved Ball Four. I was such a baseball fan and a fan of characters when I was a kid.

Loved this guy.

Sorry to hear. RIP