Timeline of Baseball and Ball Four Fall 2000 - The 30th Anniversary Edition of Ball Four to be released. October 2000 - The Chronicle of Baseball: A Century of Major League Action (forward by Jim Bouton) to be released. July 25, 1998 - Jim Bouton plays in his first Old-Timers Day game at Yankee Stadium. June 21, 1998 - Michael Bouton (son of Jim Bouton) writes a Father's Day column in the New York Times asking the Yankees to invite his dad back on Old-Timers Day. 1996 - Bouton was featured in The Sports 100, "The One Hundred Most Important People in American Sports History," published by Macmillan. This book, which covers 150 years, contains only 21 people from the world of baseball. May 20, 1995-July 13, 1996 - Ball Four is a featured title included in the exhibition Books of the Century at The New York Public Library's Center for the Humanities. 1994 - Strike Zone, a baseball novel by Eliot Asinof and Bouton, is published. 1990 - Twentieth Anniversary Edition of Ball Four is published. May 1990 - Former Dodger pitcher Andy Messersmith and Bouton came up with Masters Baseball, an eight-team league of recently retired All-Star caliber major league players. NBC televised one pilot game. 1980 - Tenth Anniversary Edition of Ball Four is published. 1979 - Bouton works as a sportscaster at WCBS-TV in New York. 1978 - Jim Bouton makes a comeback with the Atlanta Braves. During the comeback, Bouton and teammate Rob Nelson wanted something to chew besides tobacco, so they came up with an idea -- shredded bubble gum in a pouch -- and called it Big League Chew. November, 1976 - Ball Four, the TV show, is cancelled by CBS after five episodes. We wanted Ball Four, the TV show, to be like M.A.S.H., only in a locker room. Instead it turned out more like Gilligan's Island in baseball suits. October, 1976 - Ball Four, the TV show debuts on CBS television. (Review of TV show) July 1974 - Baseball the Beautiful: Decoding the Diamond (introduction by Jim Bouton) is published. 1973-75 - Bouton works as a sportscaster at WCBS-TV in New York. 1973 - Robert Altman directs Elliott Gould and Bouton in The Long Goodbye. 1972 - Bouton is elected as a delegate to the Democratic Convention in Miami. I was the vice-chairman of the New Jersey delegation which meant that I was in charge of going out for cheeseburgers during the floor debates. 1971 - I'm Glad You Didn't Take It Personally, a sort of sequel to Ball Four is published. 1970-73 - Bouton works as a sportscaster at WABC-TV in New York. 1970 - Baseball Commisioner Bowie Kuhn suggests that Bouton sign a statement claiming that Ball Four was a lie. Bouton declines. 1970 - Ball Four is published. 1969 - Jim Bouton writes Ball Four while playing for the expansion Seattle Pilots (now the Milwaukee Brewers) and the Houston Astros. 1964 - Bouton won 18 games and beat the Cardinals twice in the World Series. 1963 - Bouton won 21 games for the New York Yankees and made the all-star team.