The Tell-All Hurler: Jim Bouton and "Ball Four"

Mitchell J. Nathanson, Villanova

Abstract

This chapter examines whether the information released within Bouton's "Ball Four" constituted legally protectable infomation and whether Major League Baseball (MLB) could have sought legal recourse as a result of the release of the book. This chapter concludes that while the "secrets" revealed by Bouton most likely did not constitute trade secrets, they may nevertheless still have been protectable under a lesser classification of commercial information. As such, MLB may have been able to pursue a case against Bouton for a possible breach of his fiduciary duty of loyalty to his employer.