Former Teammates Wish Mantle Well Bouton, Author Of ‘Ball Four,’ Speaks Up After Ex-Slugger Undergoes Transplant

When the book came out, Jim Bouton knew he was going to make enemies. And when “Ball Four” hit the stores in 1969, one of those most upset was Mickey Mantle, his former teammate with the New York Yankees.

The book, an inside, tell-all tale about what really goes on in major-league baseball, said that Mantle, one of the all-time greats, had hit a home run with a hangover.

“We didn’t talk for 25 years,” said Bouton, a resident of North Egremont, Mass., who now, at age 56, pitches for a team in the Albany Twilight League.

Wednesday, Bouton, who spent seven seasons with Mantle in New York, expressed his anxiety at what has happened to his ex-teammate.

Mantle, who spent most of his 18-year career with the Yankees drinking heavily, underwent a liver transplant at a Dallas hospital Thursday after suffering from progressive liver failure. He went into the hospital May 28 complaining of stomach pains, and doctors found an inoperable tumor blocking the bile duct on his liver.

“He is up against it,” Bouton said. “And we’re all going to be there one day, but we hope it’s later than sooner. My thoughts are with him and his family.”

After “Ball Four” was published, Mantle, like many Yankees, ignored Bouton. Last year, Bouton sent Mantle a letter after it became public knowledge that Mantle had undergone treatment at the Betty Ford Clinic after admitting to alcoholism.

Another reason Bouton sent the letter was to tell Mantle how sorry he was that Mantle’s 36-year-old son, Billy, had died after collapsing at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic.

“I wanted to tell Mickey that I admired his courage for going to the Betty Ford Clinic and I was rooting for him,” Bouton said. “And I also said I hoped he still didn’t have bad feelings about ‘Ball Four’ because I knew he did when it came out.

“I got a message on my answering machine about a week later from him,” he said. “He said that he appreciated my note and he wanted me to know he wasn’t angry about ‘Ball Four’ and that he was not the reason I had not been invited to Yankee old-timer games. That was very meaningful to me, and I still have that message on tape.”

Bill Stafford of Coxsackie, N.Y., and Walter “Rip” Coleman of Troy, N.Y., were also teammates of Mantle. Stafford, 55, pitched for the Yankees from 1960-65 and Coleman, 63, pitched from 1955-56.

Stafford didn’t want to talk about Mantle’s well-publicized social life.

“He is only a few years older than I am,” Stafford said. “Right now, to hear what has happened, it’s just very difficult to put into words. I feel for him; I feel for his family. All I can hope for is the best.”

Coleman said that when he played, it was almost routine for most players to go out and have a few drinks after games. He said he never saw Mantle play drunk.

As for having a hangover, “It (drinking) was absolutely not a problem when he played,” Coleman said. “Hell, we all played with a hangover at one time or another. Now, in baseball, you have guys that are druggies. When we played, you had alcoholism. I can’t say if Mickey drank more or less than the rest of us.

“I heard from other players that he drank heavily after he quit baseball. A lot of us, when we quit baseball, quit drinking.”

Coleman said no matter what the lifestyle, Mantle’s status as American hero will never change.

That was echoed by Dave LaPoint, who played for the Yankees in 1989-90 and met Mantle when the Hall of Famer would drop by the ballpark.

“He is one of the few (heroes) that is left,” said LaPoint, a resident of Glens Falls, N.Y., and the manager and general manager of the Adirondack Lumberjacks of the Northeast Independent League.

“When John Wayne died, what was left? Mickey Mantle was the only hero that was left. And, if there has ever been a hero for the state of New York, it’s Mick.”