 |
 |
James Alan Bouton
New York Yankees
Pitcher
Born: March 8, 1939, Newark, NJ
Signed: Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent, December 4, 1958
Major League Teams: New York Yankees 1962-1968; Seattle Pilots 1969; Houston Astros 1969-1970; Atlanta Braves 1978
Died: July 10, 2019, Great Barrington, MA (age 80)
Known primarily now as the author of the best-selling book Ball Four, Jim Bouton was a pitching phenom for the Yankees in the early 1960s, helping them to three World Series appearances. An All-Star and a 21-game winner in 1963, Bouton repeated that success in 1964 with an 18 win season and by winning both of the games he started in the 1964 World Series against the Cardinals (#134 and #137). In those two seasons, 1963 and 1964, Bouton went 39-20 with a 2.78 ERA, 23 complete games and 10 shutouts. He struck out 273 over 520 2/3 innings pitched. He was on the other end of a memorable pitching duel against the Dodgers and Don Drysdale (#260) in Game 3 of the 1963 World Series, a game in which the Yankees lost, 1-0.
Bouton's heavy use in those early years led to chronic arm ailments. By the mid-1960s, he was frequently hurt and his role shifted from star starting pitcher to occasional reliever. He was sold to the expansion Pilots in June 1968, and his 1969 season with the club was the inspiration for his best-selling book. He retired from baseball for the first time following parts of two seasons with the Astros, but in 1978 he made a brief comeback appearing in five games for the Braves.Bouton was also one of the inventors of "Big League Chew," and the founder of Big League Cards, producing custom baseball cards throughout the 1980s. As a recipient of my own Big League Cards card, perhaps my greatest Christmas present from the early 1980s, I'm personally grateful to Bouton for forming this company.
Building the Set
December 26, 2019 from Cincinnati, OH - Card #34
My Mom did a little surrogate Christmas shopping for my Aunt Louise and Uncle Terry, both lifelong Yankees fans. They were kind enough to give Doug four more cards for our set the day after Christmas - all related to the Yankees, and the first Yankees cards we've added.
As Pedro Ramos (#13) and this Bouton card are the first two Yankees players featured in the set, they were logical first additions from what's sure to be a difficult task of tracking down all Yankees cards.
The Card
This is Bouton's third solo Topps card and the last card of his issued while he was still at the top of his game. The cartoon on the back is clever as Bouton is shown shooting down two birds, cardinals, representing his two World Series wins. Sportswriter Maury Allen is credited with giving Bouton his "Bulldog" nickname. Bouton, at card #25, is one of 72 players featured within the 1965 Topps Embossed insert set and one of four Yankees in the set. He's also in the harder to find 1965 Topps Transfers insert set.
Yankees Team Set
1965 Season
Coming off his World Series heroics and pitching with a sore arm, Bouton slumped to a record of 4-15 with a 4.82 ERA over 30 games and 25 starts. The Yankees slumped too, enduring their first losing season since 1925.
|
|
|
|
|
First Mainstream Card: 1962 Topps #592 (with Dan Pfister, Bo Belinsky, Joe Bonikowski and Dave Stenhouse)
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7): 1962-1968
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2018 Topps Archives Fan Favorites Autographs #FFA-JB
93 - Bouton non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/31/19.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year. Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.
Prior Card: #29 Felix Mantilla - Boston Red Sox
Next Card: #31 Mike White - Houston Astros
No comments:
Post a Comment