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Weathervane Newsletter Summer 2002
Jim Bouton Pitches gem at Talkin' Northampton Baseball Banquet
Complementing its current exhibit, The Hurrah Game, Historic Northampton sponsored: Talkin' Northampton Baseball, an evening of good food and serious fun with baseball on May 24th. During dinner a panel of baseball celebrities, writers and enthusiasts talked and answered questions about baseball, baseball history and the colorful history of America's pastime in Northampton. Leading off the discussion was Jim Bouton, Yankee Pitcher, Network Sportscaster, actor, author of Ball Four, Strike Zone and others. Panel members were Andy Zimbalist Baseball writer and sports economist, John Bowman Co-Author of The American League: A History, The National League: A History, Diamonds in the Rough: The Untold History of Baseball and others, Brian Turner Co-Author of THE HURRAH GAME: Northampton Baseball 1823-1953, Ron Story, Baseball Historian, Jim Kaplan Sportswriter, author of Lefty Grove: The Untold Story, contributor to Sports Illustrated, and others: Mike Ryan, Co-author, It's Where you Play the Game, and Richard Garvey, Former Editor, The Springfield Union-News.
At Union Station, Bouton warmed up the crowd of about 80 people before the discussion turned to more serious baseball issues like the looming players' strike. Bouton, who lives in North Egremont, punctuated his pitching career in 1970 with his best selling book, Ball Four, which gained front-page headlines across the nation because its frank stories about life behind the scenes of major league baseball squashed what Bouton called the "milk and cookies image" of professional baseball.
Echoing the theme of Historic Northampton's exhibit, Bouton made the point that there's much more to baseball than what major leagues can offer. Baseball's true home is the sandlot, he said. "The very essence of the American game is not found in major league ballparks but on school diamonds or anywhere kids play catch."
Contents Historic Northampton.