(CNN) Jim Bouton, whose controversial book "Ball Four" exposed the personal lives of his baseball teammates, died Wednesday after a bout with vascular dementia, his wife, Paula Kurman, said. He was 80.

Media reports said Bouton died at his home in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

"Ball Four," which came out in 1970, had a dramatic effect on baseball by revealing the late-night adventures of players like New York Yankees star Mickey Mantle and the use of illegal drugs.

The diary of his 1969 season with the Seattle Pilots and the Houston Astros also included anecdotes from his time with the Yankees during the first seven seasons of his career.

"The motive for doing this was not to make money or write something that was going to last a long time," Bouton told the Los Angeles Times in 2010. "Basically, I just wanted to share the fun of baseball."

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