But they are only human, with remarkable skills and contributions to be appreciated. They were and are great at what they do - hitting and catching and throwing and shooting and rebounding and kicking a ball on a diamond, a field, a court, a pitch. I read it when I was 14, and, although I’ve never gone back to re-read or study it, it changed my view of the so-called heroes that played and play sports at a high level. And I’ll forever be grateful for the courage and honesty it took for him to write his monumental book, “Ball Four,” a memoir that, as it was described at its publishing back in 1970, “tore the cover off of baseball.” He died at the age of 80 on Wednesday, transitioning to the great clubhouse in the sky, to whatever comes next. Bouton, maybe more than any other person, moved and influenced an entire generation as to how it perceived professional baseball and, really, every other pro sport.
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