1963 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR
"As the 1962 baseball season approached, Jim Bouton was on the roster of an AA club, getting a "look" in training by Manager Ralph Houk. The manager obviously liked what he saw, because the young right-hander from Ridgewood, New Jersey, was added to the Yankee roster at the start of the season, and remained all year to make a growing contribution to the Yanks' pennant success.
Posting a 7-7 record and a 3.99 ERA, 24-year-old Jim yielded only 124 hits in the 133 innings he pitched in 36 games. There certainly are two contests in his freshman year that Bouton will never forget. One was his first major league start in which he threw a seven-hit shutout at the Washington Senators. The other game that Jim will recall to his children at some distant date will be the June 24th contest at Detroit ... the longest game in major league annals (seven hours). Jim came on in relief in the 16th inning and finished the 22-inning contest, pitching shutout ball over the last seven frames. He became the winning pitcher when Jack Reed hit his first homer with a man aboard in the 22nd.
Bouton spent the past winter in military service, being released during the training season. Just before Christmas, he got married. Normally in the off-season, Bouton is a student at Western Michigan University, one of several present Yankees still attending college.
Now, in his second full season, Jim has blossomed into a consistent winner and was the first right-hander on the Champs' staff to win 10 games. And Bouton had a 2.12 ERA when he captured his tenth win, lowest among American League starting pitchers."
-The New York Yankees Official 1963 Yearbook
James Alan Bouton (P) #56
Born March 8, 1939, in Newark, N.J., resides in Ridgewood, N.J. Height: 6-0, weight: 174. Bats right, throws right.
-The New York Yankees Official 1963 Yearbook
Signed by Yankee organization, November 11, 1958.
Pitched 7-hit shutout in first major league start, winning 8-0 over Washington, May 6, 1962.
Winning pitcher of longest game in American League (7 hours, 22 innings), final score 9-7, at Detroit, June 24, 1962.
Attends Western Michigan University in off-season.
-1963 New York Yankees Press-TV-Radio Guide
"One of the brightest young pitchers on the Yankee mound staff, judging from his rookie year performance of 1962, is 24-year-old Jim Bouton.
Showing unusual poise and savvy for a newcomer, Bouton finished with a 7-7 won-lost mark and a 3.99 ERA.
His outstanding performance, one that will be remembered by those who witnessed it, occurred last June 24 in Detroit. All Bouton did that afternoon was to shut out the Tigers on three hits over the last seven innings to receive credit for the victory in the longest game in baseball annals - seven hours. The final score of the 22-inning marathon was 9-7.
Bouton was signed by the Yankee organization in November of 1958 while a student at Western Michigan U. He still attends that school during the off-season.
After compiling a 13-7 record for Amarillo in 1961, Jim was invited to train with the Yanks in '62, his name not being on the Bombers' roster, however. He made quite an impression on Manager Ralph Houk, though, being retained when the championship season opened.
The promise of things to come by Bouton was displayed when, on May 6, in his first major league start, he blanked Washington 8-0, scattering seven hits."
-1963 Jay Publishing New York Yankees Yearbook
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