Major League Baseball Player, Author, Actor. For ten seasons (1962 to 1970 and 1978), he was a pitcher with the New York Yankees, Seattle Pilots, Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves. Bouton penned the memorable read "Ball Four" (1970) which detailed his professional baseball career. Born James Alan Bouton, he was raised in the Chicago suburbs where he attended Bloom High School. Following graduation, he enrolled at Western Michigan University, where he played collegiate baseball. He was signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1958 and broke into the Major Leagues with them on April 22, 1962. He experienced a world championship season his rookie year (1962), as he pitched in 36 games, however he would not pitch during the 1962 World Series. The following year (1963), he contributed to the Yankees winning the American League Pennant, but New York was stopped by the Dodgers for the world championship. Individually, he produced a career high 21 wins and achieved all star status that season (1963). In 1964 in spite of the Yankees falling to the Cardinals in the World Series, Bouton distinguished himself with 2 wins (including a complete game) and a 1.56 ERA in 17 innings pitched. He was acquired by the Seattle Pilots during the Winter of 1968 and was on the Opening Day roster for their inaugural season (1969). He retired following the 1970 season and worked as a TV newscaster in New York for a period. He got into acting and landed a role in the film "The Long Goodbye" (1973). As popularity from his book "Ball Four" grew, he was given his own TV series of the same title in 1976. With an urge to pitch once again, Bouton worked his way back to the Major Leagues one more time with a stint on the Atlanta Braves in 1978. In 304 career regular season games, he compiled a 62 win, 63 loss record with a lifetime 3.57 ERA in 1,238 innings pitched. His follow-up to "Ball Four" titled "I'm Glad You Didn't Take It Personally" was published in 1971. Bouton who suffered a stroke in 2012, died of complications from Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy.