Michael Bouton’s passionate and elegant open letter to the Yankees is published in the New York Times on Father’s Day, asking the franchise to reconsider its long-time snub of his dad, Jim, the team’s former 21-game winner and controversial author of Ball Four, a book that angered the baseball establishment for revealing the game’s less glamorous side. Thanks to his son’s efforts, Jim Bouton’s banishment from Yankee Stadium will end next month when the right-hander is invited to return to the Bronx ballpark for the first time in nearly thirty years to participate in the team’s Old-Timers’ Day.

On June 21, 1998 — Michael Bouton’s passionate and elegant open letter to the Yankees is published in the New York Times on Father’s Day, asking the franchise to reconsider its long-time snub of his dad, Jim, the team’s former 21-game winner and controversial author of Ball Four, a book that angered the baseball establishment for revealing the game’s less glamorous side. Thanks to his son’s efforts, Jim Bouton’s banishment from Yankee Stadium will end next month when the right-hander is invited to return to the Bronx ballpark for the first time in nearly thirty years to participate in the team’s Old-Timers’ Day.

Sources:
National Pastime

Support us!
Own this Day and Be Part of Baseball History