The pitcher Jim Bouton documented Ashford’s difficulties in Ball Four, his revelatory diary of the 1969 season: “Other umpires talk behind his back. Sometimes they’ll let him run out on the ...

Buy it here. 'Ball Four' by Jim Bouton (1970) This hilariously uncensored memoir by a fading athlete has next to nothing to do with music. But Bouton's struggle to survive in baseball while throwi ...