NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION (A VARIATION TO A PREVIOUS CREATION): 1979 JIM BOUTON

Good day all!

Came across this nice image of former pitcher Jim Bouton and his 1978 Major League comeback and even though I already created a 1979 "not really missing in action" card six years ago here on the blog, thought I'd go ahead and create a second version for the fun of it:

 

Once a young stud with the New York Yankees in the early 1960’s, posting a 21-win season at the age of 24, followed by an 18-win campaign the next season, he soon developed arm trouble and found himself out of baseball in 1970 at the young age of 31 after a season and a half with the Houston Astros.
Fast-forward eight years to 1978, most notably after writing the now legendary baseball book “Ball Four”, and Bouton made it all the way back as a 39-year old knuckleball pitcher, appearing in five games, all starts, going 1-3 with a 4.97 earned run average in 29 innings of work.
Though the comeback was short, it was definitely sweet as I remember it really brought Bouton back into the spotlight, giving his book new life, just enough for a ten year old kid from Brooklyn a cool book to read from the library!

NICKNAMES OF THE 1970'S: "BULLDOG" JIM BOUTON

Time to post up a long overdue "nicknames of the 1970's" card for former pitcher Jim Bouton, aka "Bulldog", for now in a Seattle Pilots 1970 edition until I can find a nice shot of him with the Houston Astros that I haven't used before:

 

Bouton was coming off seven seasons with the New York Yankees when he was purchased by the new Pilots franchise in June of 1968.
While with the Yankees he had two great seasons in 1963 and 1964 before arm injuries kept him sporadic at best over the next four years.
As a Seattle Pilot, Bouton was used as a reliever, appearing in 57 games while going 2-1 with an earned run average of 3.91 before getting traded to the Houston Astros on August 24th of ‘69, where he appeared in 16 games before the season was done.
Of course, his somewhat brief tenure with the Pilots is forever immortalized in his landmark book “Ball Four”, with anecdote after anecdote of players, coaches and managers throughout his MLB career, and the Pilots had their fair share of characters.
For Bouton, he’d also pitch in 1970 before arm troubles ended his career, but not before making a surprising comeback at the age of 39 with the Atlanta Braves in 1978, appearing in what turned out to be the last five games of his career, all starts, as he went 1-3 with a 4.97 ERA.
All told, Bouton finished his career with a record of 62-63, with an ERA of 3.57 over 304 appearances, 144 of those starts, with 11 shutouts and six saves between 1962 and 1979.

GIMMIE A DO-OVER OF ONE OF MY OWN: 1970 JIM BOUTON

Waaaaay back in June of 2013, about a month after I started this blog, I created a "missing" 1970 card former pitcher Jim Bouton, using an action photo, something the 1970 set did NOT use.

So today, incredibly eight years later, I will re-do that card with a proper image:

 

Much more of a "realistic" 1970 card don't you think?

Here's my original post from back then...

"For a player who appeared in 73 games in 1969, totaling 122 innings pitched for two teams, it's surprising enough for Topps not to have a card for him the following year.
But when you then realize that we're talking about Jim Bouton, bad-boy ex-Yank and author of one of the all-time classic baseball books: "Ball Four", as well as being an established player who posted a 20+ win season for the Yanks in 1963, you have to wonder what was up with being left out of the card set.
Though his book wasn't "officially" released until June of 1970, it wasn't a secret as to what was in there, and Bouton certainly pissed off many in the Major League baseball world who found out about his tell-all tome.
Perhaps Topps could be included as those who had Bouton on their "persona-non-grata" list?
I can't really find anything on this, but I went ahead and created my own version of a "card that shoulda' been".
If I do go ahead and create more of these, I'll limit this to cards of players that had substantial playing time the season before, did NOT retire over the off-season, yet had no cards issued the following year.
Enjoy..."

 

MISSING IN ACTION- 1971 JIM BOUTON

I have to say, I have slept on a “missing” 1971 card for former pitcher and author Jim Bouton all these years, considering the man pretty much played a full season with the Houston Astros during the 1970 season. So here you go:

Bouton appeared in 29 games for the Astros in 1970, going 4-6 with an earned run average of 5.40 over 73.1 innings, with 49 strikeouts and a complete game thrown in.
Still only 31 years of age, it turned out to be the last action he’d see on a Big League mound before he made that incredible comeback eight years later with the Atlanta Braves in 1978 when he made five starts at the age of 39 as a knuckleballer.
It was a far cry from his MLB debut in 1962 when he posted seven wins fr the eventual World Champion New York Yankees, following that up with a 21-7 season in 1963 that saw him make his only All-Star team.
After another solid year in 1964 that saw him go 18-13 with a 3.02 ERA and four shutouts, his career stumbled with injuries, never winning more than four games in any season between 1965 and 1970, becoming an arm out of the bullpen by the time he played for the Seattle Pilots in their lone season of 1969.
Nevertheless, he finished with a career 62-63 record, with a 3.57 ERA over 304 appearances, 144 of those starts, with eleven shutouts and six saves along the way, along with a landmark book called “Ball Four” that is still essential reading for any sports fan.

1970 FANTASY JIM BOUTON

Been a long time coming, but I always wanted to draw up a 1970 card for Jim Bouton depicting him as a Seattle Pilot, though I did create a Houston Astros versions years ago since he finished the season with them in 1969. Nevertheless, here we go:

Bouton was coming off seven seasons with the New York Yankees when he was purchased by the new Pilots franchise in June of 1968.
While with the Yankees he had two great seasons in 1963 and 1964 before arm injuries kept him sporadic at best over the next four years.
As a Seattle Pilot, Bouton was used as a reliever, appearing in 57 games while going 2-1 with an earned run average of 3.91 before getting traded to the Houston Astros on August 24th of ‘69, where he appeared in 16 games before the season was done.
Of course, his somewhat brief tenure with the Pilots is forever immortalized in his landmark book “Ball Four”, with anecdote after anecdote of players, coaches and managers throughout his MLB career, and the Pilots had their fair share of characters.
For Bouton, he’d also pitch in 1970 before arm troubles ended his career, but not before making a surprising comeback at the age of 39 with the Atlanta Braves in 1978, appearing in what turned out to be the last five games of his career, all starts, as he went 1-3 with a 4.97 ERA.
All told, Bouton finished his career with a record of 62-63, with an ERA of 3.57 over 304 appearances, 144 of those starts, with 11 shutouts and six saves between 1962 and 1979.

MISSING IN ACTION- 1979 JIM BOUTON

I guess it’s about time I go ahead and create a fantasy 1979 card for former pitcher (and author) Jim Bouton, who made a remarkable Major League comeback after an eight-year hiatus, pitching for the Atlanta Braves in 1978, a short-lived comeback, but still an accomplishment:

Sadly the only image I could really find and use is one used often, so my creation here isn’t exactly the most “unique” specimen.
Once a young stud with the New York Yankees in the early 1960’s, posting a 21-win season at the age of 24, followed by an 18-win campaign the next season, he soon developed arm trouble and found himself out of baseball in 1970 at the young age of 31 after a season and a half with the Houston Astros.
Fast-forward eight years to 1978, most notably after writing the now legendary baseball book “Ball Four”, and Bouton made it all the way back as a 39-year old knuckleball pitcher, appearing in five games, all starts, going 1-3 with a 4.97 earned run average in 29 innings of work.
Though the comeback was short, it was definitely sweet as I remember it really brought Bouton back into the spotlight, giving his book new life, just enough for a ten year old kid from Brooklyn a cool book to read from the library!

"MISSING IN ACTION" FOR THE MAN WHO WROTE "BALL FOUR"- JIM BOUTON IN 1970

For a player who appeared in 73 games in 1969, totaling 122 innings pitched for two teams, it's surprising enough for Topps not to have a card for him the following year.
But when you then realize that we're talking about Jim Bouton, bad-boy ex-Yank and author of one of the all-time classic baseball books: "Ball Four", as well as being an established player who posted a 20+ win season for the Yanks in 1963, you have to wonder what was up with being left out of the card set.
Though his book wasn't "officially" released until June of 1970, it wasn't a secret as to what was in there, and Bouton certainly pissed off many in the Major League baseball world who found out about his tell-all tome.
Perhaps Topps could be included as those who had Bouton on their "persona-non-grata" list?
I can't really find anything on this, but I went ahead and created my own version of a "card that shoulda' been".
If I do go ahead and create more of these, I'll limit this to cards of players that had substantial playing time the season before, did NOT retire over the off-season, yet had no cards issued the following year.
Enjoy...