Baseball painting Jim Bouton pitcher MLB Atlanta Braves

Sports Artist John Robertson's painting of Jim Bouton Pitcher
for the Atlanta Braves.  Painting is 5 feet by 8 feet,
Acrylic on unstretched canvas.

Jim Bouton was a pitcher in the major leagues for a number of years playing for the New York Yankees, Seattle Pilots, Houston Astros and ended his career with the Atlanta Braves.  The longer he played in the Major Leagues he was able to extend his playing days developing the knuckleball.  As you see in the painting he is demonstrating how the knuckleball is held in the hand for throwing a pitch.

One of things he is best known for is his memoir of his playing years with the New York Yankees, Seattle Pilots and the Houston Astros.  He had played in the 1962 World Series and was in the 1963 MLB All-Star game.

The book "Ball Four" broke baseball's code of silence where the athletes did not speak about what went on in the background of baseball.   One of Bouton's important line in the book: "You spend your life gripping a baseball," Jim Bouton wrote, "and it turns out that it was the other way around all along."