Houston Astros pitcher Jim Bouton and manager Harry Walker display the ball that set a new season strikeout record for the National League. This was in September, 1969. Bouton struck out Tony Perez of the Cincinnati Reds with the ball. It was the Astros' 1123rd strikeout of the season. DATE OF IMAGE: 1969 PRINT DATE: 1970 ORIGINAL or REPRINT: Original - Printed from the original negative in the time period in which it was shot TEAM: Houston Astros SUBJECTS: Jim Bouton, Harry Walker APPROXIMATE SIZE: 8"x10" MARKS / STAMPING: Original paper caption remains affixed. NUMBER OF PHOTOS: 1 COMMENTS / CONDITION: This is one of a large accumulation of vintage sports photographs, slides and negatives that we will be listing over the coming months. Wear on these, if any, is mostly confined to minor corner and edge wear, but see scans for further details including condition. We do not deal in stock images or modern reprints, and all scans shown are of the actual vintage photograph, slide or negative being sold. If you have any questions about a particular piece, please ask before the auction ends. BIO: James Alan Bouton (Bulldog) was born in 1939 in Newark, NJ and went to college at Western Michigan University. He played major league baseball from 1962 to 1978 as pitcher for the New York Yankees, Seattle Pilots, Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves, appeared in the 1963 and 1964 World Series, and was selected in 1963 as an All-Star. Bouton transformed himself from a fireballer to a knuckleballer midway through his career. After he retired he even made a brief comeback with the 1978 Braves when he was in his late 30s. Though a reasonably successful major-leaguer early in his career, Bouton is better remembered today for his bestselling memoir Ball Four, a diary of his 1969 season. Perhaps the biggest controversy involving Bouton and his book, which was published in 1970, was his description of the habitual use of amphetamines by many major league players. Overall, in addition to the controversy surrounding amphetamines, the book was seen by some members of the baseball establisment as a blight on the game because it depicted "the nation's heroes" acting human and doing immoral -- but still entirely normal -- things like drinking, swearing and chasing women. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn even tried to get Bouton to sign a written apology and claim that the book's events were faked and entirely concocted by Schecter. Bouton, true to his nickname of "Bulldog", refused to cave into pressure from Kuhn and others, and stood by his story. A follow-up volume, I'm Glad You Didn't Take It Personally, was issued in 1971, and was dedicated by Bouton to his detractors. Bouton would go on to write several other books, both fiction and non-fiction, and become a fan favorite. The baseball establishment always seemed to distance itself from Bouton, although he was finally invited back to an old-timers day at Yankee Stadium in 1998. After his initial 1970 retirement and before his 1978 baseball comeback, Bouton was an occasional actor, appearing in the 1973 film The Long Goodbye, and starring in a short-lived 1976 sitcom version of Ball Four (which he also co-wrote). Bouton was also a sportscaster for several New York City based TV stations in the 1970s, and was the inventor of Big League Chew, a shredded bubble-gum product designed to replace chewing tobacco. Harry William Walker (Harry The Hat) was born in Pascagoula, MS and died in 1999 in Birmingham, AL. He played major league baseball from 1940 to 1955 as outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds, appeared in the 1942, 1943 and 1946 World Series, and was selected in 1943 and 1947 as an All-Star. "Harry the Hat" got his nickname from his habit during at-bats of continually adjusting his cap between pitches — there were no batting helmets in his day. After prepping as a skipper in the Cardinals’ minor league system beginning in 1951, Walker was called up from Rochester in the AAA International League on May 28, 1955, to replace Eddie Stanky as Cardinals’ manager. However, the change backfired: the Cards plummeted two places in the standings under Walker, losing 67 of 118 games. Harry was replaced by Fred Hutchinson at the end of the 1955 season, and it would be another decade before he would again manage in the majors. During that exile, he returned to the Cardinal farm system to manage (1956-58; 1963-64), and served four years (1959-62) as a St. Louis coach. Finally, after piloting the Jacksonville Suns to the 1964 International League pennant, Walker was hired by the Pittsburgh Pirates as manager, replacing Danny Murtaugh, who stepped down for health reasons. Although the Pirates did not win a pennant during Walker’s first two seasons, he made an immediate impact. His skills as a batting coach transformed the Pirates into the National League’s top offensive team, and the team battled for the pennant until the closing days of the 1965 and 1966 seasons – each season finishing third behind the champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the runner-up San Francisco Giants. But when the 1967 Pirates stumbled to a disappointing .500 mark in mid-season, Walker was let go on July 18 in favor of his predecessor, Murtaugh. Eleven months later, on June 18, 1968, fortune reversed itself. The Houston Astros dismissed skipper Grady Hatton and hired “the Hat,” still well-known from his stint as manager of the Texas League Houston Buffaloes during the late 1950s. After back-to-back 79-83 marks in 1970 and 1971, Walker was sacked August 26, 1972, in favor of Leo Durocher. After his firing, Walker returned to the Cardinals, teaching hitting to their young minor league players. Harry Walker was profiled quite flatteringly in Jim Bouton's memoir of the 1969 season, Ball Four. In the book, Walker is seen as a knowledgeable manager who has good advice for his charges. Although many of the players complain that Walker talks too much, Bouton is careful to point out that Walker always makes a good point and has good advice. This is notable because Bouton was unafraid to show his earlier manager, Joe Schultz, in a much less flattering light. Bouton even tells a humorous story of how Walker himself would follow the advice he always gave when he played in an old timer's game. The players jokingly would yell tips that Walker always said, such as "hit the ball up the middle." Walker would then proceed to single up the middle, then break up the double play, prompting Doug Rader to remark, "Son of a bitch. Every year Harry gets a hit up the middle and breaks up the double play." SKU: SPP01474
Item: SPP01474
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