HondaReport.com - Mr. Baseball + Pupule on Jim Bouton

He's back. Greg Chang, the original Mr. Baseball (Ka Leo O Hawaii, circa 1985) explains his fascination with Jim Bouton, one of baseball's most legendary player-authors.

No, Greg Chang has not boycotted hondareport.com. Far from it, since he participates with old, old friends in a private message board here. (This option is open to all visitors of HRC, btw.)

But Mr. Baseball has been corralled, sorta, and there is much to discuss today. Plenty has happened since the last segment, when Barry Bonds was the topic of discussion. Today, we have all kinds of things to talk about while waiting for our meals at reliable ol' Taiyo Ramen.

Pupule: You, or your brother, actually, discovered a store in Honolulu that offers DVD recorders at a price cheaper than you can get online. Is this possible?

Mr. Baseball: I suspect not. My brother saw an ad in the Friday paper for a higher-end Sony deck that has a SRP of about $800. The sale price was about $475-500, which is VERY inexpensive and can only be matched by larger Internet retailers. Maybe it was a display model that they just wanted to get rid of but, alas, we were 15 minutes too late coming out of Jamba Juice.

I'm hoping that this deck is, indeed, priced low because my brother will probably buy it and give me the Sony deck he's using now. I will gladly accept all hand-me-down toys (I currently use a Gen-3 iPod that a friend gave to me cause he got a bigger and better one).

Pupule: I'm impressed. You know a lotta stuff about tech. Me? I just opened the DVD recorder my brother gave me last year. Still haven't recorded anything yet, but I'm gonna have to. There's too much good stuff that I've saved on my DVR like 'Dog Whisperer' and Anthony Bordain's 'No Reservations' that are taking up too much space.

Let me ask you about something else that occurred to me earlier when we hung out at Jamba. I was on eBay and you mentioned that the only throwback jersey you would be interested in is Jim Bouton, who wrote the classic 'Ball Four' in the '70s and played for the Seattle Pilots (among others) way back in the day. Did the $277 price tag I found (online) for his old jersey scare you off? What is it about Jim Bouton that compelled you as a baseball fan?

Mr. Baseball: NBC is promoting a new "reality" program titled "Biggest Loser." I blame the terrorists for this... Oh, what's the topic? Sports jerseys.

I follow pretty much only MLB and my fandom doesn't extend itself to products and merchandise. If I were, say, in my early twenties then yeah maybe I'd be into that look and stuff. But all I need are a few websites and podcasts for news and information, and the occasional book to compliment. No cards, no fantasy leagues, no throwback jerseys and no Barry Bonds home run balls from eBay.

Jim Bouton is one of my heroes. I believe his influence has extended to even today's Internet savvy fans, who are old enough to be his grandchildren. In "Ball Four," Bouton revealed a side of professional baseball that was gritty, angry, and hilarious, all at once. It's hard to describe in a sentence but it probably remains my all-time favorite baseball book, and I know it's the same for a lot of other baseball fans.

Pupule: First of all, let me commend Taiyo Ramen for setting the TV on an English-speaking channel for the first time that I can remember. Second, after hearing you talk about Bouton all these years, I'm surprised I never picked up the book. I mean, in his time, nobody admitted (normally) popping pills before games and stuff like that, not in baseball. The Oakland Raiders were notorious for popping green (or blue?) pills before games, but that's another story.

But from one part-Pake to another, I gotta ask: How much would you be willing to spend for a Jim Bouton / Seattle Pilots throwback jersey? I'm guessing your limit will be $25.

Mr. Baseball: $20-25, I suppose. Thing is, WHEN would I wear this? Wearing sports apparel, to me, is like going out to the mall in a graduation gown. OK, it's NOT like that but still... My attitude is an old-fut one.

How many of those jerseys you gonna wear? I don't think I could name five (5) of those basketball/football players you mentioned.

Pupule: I wear all of them. Well, some are fresh and just got in, so I gotta break those in. The idea for me is to wear gear that takes me back to when these great players were in action. I don't spend more than $25 for the basketball throwbacks, or I try not to. The only jersey I refuse to wear in public right now is my Dr. J / Virginia Squires home jersey. That one is precious and I'm afraid of getting a ketchup stain on it. And I broke my spending limit (by far) to get it. But aside from that, everything gets worn.

I know for you, wearing a baseball jersey to work won't please the boss. For me, people seem to accept it since all I do is cover sports. I just never got into the throwbacks until the past year. I guess I have my brother to blame for that. He's the one who got me going by giving me that Jesse Sapolu / Hawaii throwback jersey almost 2 years ago.