Page 14-Wednesday, May 17, 1978-The Michigan Daily

Ex-hurle r
returns to
baseball

By The Associated Press
Jim Bouton, the 39-year-old former
major league pitcher who wrote a best-
selling book that drew the ire of
baseball's establishment, got another
chance yesterday in his bid for a
comeback.
No longer armed with a blazing fast-
ball that once made him a 20-game
winner with the New York Yankees,
Bouton hopes the fluttering knuckleball
will earn him another spot in the big
leagues.
IT WILL BE a modest beginning for
this comeback attempt-this time with
the Savannah Braves of the Class AA
Southern League, a farm club of the

Atlanta Braves.
The parent club announced yesterday
that it had signed Bouton to a minor
league contract, based primarily on
his showing in an exhibition game last
week at Richmond when he limited
Atlanta to five hits and one earned run
in a six-inning stint. He fanned seven
Braves.
BOUTON WILL report to Savannah
in Chattanooga tonight and he will be
the starting pitcher Friday night when
Savannah entertains Nashville.
Last week's effort against Atlanta
was the first time he had faced major
league opposition since 1970.
"Bouton's performance in that game

was a determining factor in his signing
and we'll just pitch him in Savannah
and evaluate the job he does there,"
said Paul Snyder, Atlanta's minor
league administrator.
Bouton called last week's exhibition
test against the Braves "the most
pressure I've ever pitched under. It was
more pressure than a World Series
even."
UE SAYS HIS age should have
nothing to do with his comeback try.
"You don't pitch with your birth cer-
tificate," he said. "If you can gamble
with a20-year-old kid with a fastball,
you can gamble with a 39-year-old with
a knuckleball."


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