(NPR)

Former Major League pitcher Jim Bouton passed away recently. In addition to his baseball career, Bouton was a best–selling author, actor, activist, sportscaster and the creator of a bubble gum brand known as Big League Chew.

In his latest edition of Reading Baseball, Pete Peterson talks about the day he and Bouton were featured at an event in southern Illinois.

Reading Baseball is a series of essays and commentaries by Richard "Pete" Peterson, co–author with his son Stephen, of The Slide: Leyland, Bonds and the Star–Crossed Pittsburgh Pirates and the editor of The St. Louis Baseball Reader.