All's Fair

By Patrick Mondout

Baseball player Jim Bouton wrote one of the most important books in baseball history in 1970. It was not the first "tell all" book by a sports star, but it told far more than any previous attempt. The book has gone through a number of revisions and is remarkably still in print, but that doesn't mean that it would make a good sitcom.

Bouton created and wrote this series, which he also starred in! That shouldn't be too surprising when you realize the premise of the show is that a pitcher for the Washington Americans (Bouton) wants to write a series of articles about life off the field. Naturally his teammates and manager are leery.

This story was better told in book form and Ball Four, the TV sitcom was lifted for a reliever in October of 1976.

Trivia: Bouton was the creator of that Awesome80s favorite Big League Chew gum!

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