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Twentieth-anniversary edition of a baseball classic, with a new epilogue by Jim Bouton.
When first published in 1970, Ball Four stunned the sports world. The commissioner, executives, and players were shocked. Sportswriters called author Jim Bouton a traitor and ""social leper."" Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force him to declare the book untrue. Fans, however, loved the book. And serious critics called it an important social document. Today, Jim Bouton is still not invited to Oldtimer's Days at Yankee Stadium. But his landmark book is still being read by people who don'tordinarily follow baseball.
- Sales Rank: #35969 in Books
- Published on: 1990-07-12
- Ingredients: Example Ingredients
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.26" h x 1.06" w x 5.50" l, 1.10 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 465 pages
Amazon.com Review
As a player, former hurler Jim Bouton did nothing half-way; he threw so hard he'd lose his cap on almost every pitch. In the early '70s, he tossed off one of the funniest, most revealing, insider's takes on baseball life in Ball Four, his diary of the season he tried to pitch his way back from oblivion on the strength of a knuckler. The real curve, though, is Bouton's honesty. He carves humans out of heroes, and shines a light into the game's corners. A quarter century later, Bouton's unique baseball voice can still bring the heat.
Review
* A book deep in the American vein, so deep in fact it is by no means a sports book"" --David Halberstam
""Ball Four is a people book, not just a baseball book."" --Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times
From the Author
For the new edition of this historic book, Jim Bouton has written a highly entertaining epilogue, reflecting upon his life at the age of 60, the traumatic death of his daughter, and the heartwarming invitation from the Yankees to play in his first Old-Timers’ Day game since his exile from the club. Says the author about his ground-breaking book, "By establishing new boundaries, Ball Four changed sports reporting at least to the extent that, after the book, it was no longer possible to sell the milk and cookies image again. Besides, you can get sick on milk and cookies." Ball Four is a high-and-inside fastball that will forever be a journalistic classic.
Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
As Relevant As Ever.
By Jason A. Miller
I discovered a copy of "Ball Four" in my high school library over 25 years ago, and found it to be laugh-out-loud funny. Jim Bouton, in the twilight of his baseball career, and suffering from a sore arm (this was in the days before sports medicine came along and prolonged careers), reinvented himself as a knuckleball pitcher and hooked on with the lowly expansion Seattle Mariners. His observations on locker room life and on the easy availability of hot young women to professional athletes, was an inspiration to me at age 14. Ever since then, I've picked up a copy of the book every few years (and I have at least three copies by now) and always find something new to enjoy or quote or admire.
Other reviewers on this site refer to "Ball Four" as "dated". I could not disagree more. Even though the book was largely written in 1969, it still has a lot to tell us about modern-day society, labor-management relationships, the role of sports in society, and politics. Bouton, as a 30-year-old ballplayer, was unusually observant, and, as he writes from 1969 -- the same year that "Mad Men" is up on TV now, as I write this review -- spokevery perceptively about the kinds of societal change that most of us enjoy watching Don Draper struggle with. Also, as an avowed left-winger, Bouton provides a perspective different to the majority of other baseball figures.
Reading "Ball Four", you can choose to just enjoy the more raunchy or R-rated material while ignoring the more social or political material. Or you can read up on the very early years of baseball's labor wars, and get your history lesson on the likes of Bowie Kuhn and Marvin Miller. Or, if you enjoyed the movie "Office Space", there's tons of material here about the short-sightedness of the management, which involved at least 7 increasingly muffled layers of supervision between the owners and the players of a single team. Bouton was a keen student of baseball history, and spends a fair bit of time talking about old players, and the guys he followed when he was a kid; he has the misfortune in 1969 to be coached by Sal Maglie, one of Bouton's childhood heroes but a truly inept pitching coach (as they say, never meet your heroes!)). But, not only that, Bouton figured into the very dawn of today's statistical-oriented baseball analytics --he realized that relief pitchers should be judged by inherited runners scored and baserunners-per-inning ratios, rather than purely by wins and losses. He was immensely valuable as a relief pitcher in 1969 -- his Strat-O-Matic card proves that -- but the Pilots ignored him and under-utilized him, because they weren't paying attention to the right information.
So, read "Ball Four" -- and its several updates, issued in 1980, 1990, and 2000. There's something amazing on nearly every page of the book and its supplements -- funny, titillating, insightful, of historical interest, or just plain mind-boggling. There are very few other baseball books that hit their targets so directly, or that are so eminently quotable. The book will be 50 years old soon, but it will never, ever, go out of date.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Baseball book for those who like people, not just the sport
By John R. Rebillot
I first read this book back in the mid 70's when I wanted to learn a little bit about baseball because I wanted to be able to talk with co-workers about the game. I was not a baseball or sports fan at the time. To tell the truth, I'm still not. But I just got a retirement job as an usher at a minor league ballpark and decided that I needed to refresh some info. So, when this book popped up as a Kindle special daily deal, I got it again. It was even better after almost 40 years. What I loved about the book was that it made baseball players human beings and that made me curious about the game. Reading it again made me appreciate what the players went through back then, the difficulty of their lives (in spite of all of the so-called glamour) and how tenuous the baseball career can be. This edition also included updates from many years after it was published and it thrilled me and yes, I cried along with him. It is one of the best books that I have ever read.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
A wonderful memoir and a poignant update
By honest Abe
This is the third time I've read the book. The last time was about twenty years ago. Has the great expose faded in its intensity and boldness through the years? Yes I think it has. Are the stories as funny as I had remembered? Yes, despite the immature locker room busting chops and pranks, I still laughed out loud numerous times. But remember most of those guys were still young men. The locker room reminded me of my fraternity house: the same kind of humor-just not as good. So, it's a bit politically incorrect and sexist. Can anyone really say they didn't love Animal House when they first saw it?
Prank example: A faux legal letter is sent to pitcher Fred Talbot promising a paternity suit is in the works. Talbot, rereading it three times, buries his head. Teammate Tommy Davis says, after the prank is revealed, "I didn't think you Caucasians could get any whiter". Ray Oyler follows with, "You couldn't have pulled a needle out of his ass with a tractor."
Prank example: Joe Pepitone goes to the team trainer complaining about his penis, after he had placed a piece of popcorn underneath his foreskin. The doctor says, "I have never seen a venereal disease like this before in my life."
Best oral line: The Seattle Pilots moved up batting practice to accommodate a nationally televised game. The new time was 10:30. Catcher Jim Pagliaroni quips, "I'm not even done throwing up at that hour!"
Best written line: On a form that players had to fill out for the publicity department, one question asked "what is the most difficult thing about playing major league baseball?". Mike Hegan writes, explaining to your wife why SHE has to get a penicillin shot for your kidney infection."
Best bit: Dick Stuart(strange glove), habitually late for meetings, shows up late and mimics a red carpet academy award announcer..... "He's wearing a Stanley Blacker jacket with Adolfo shoes...
Best duo bit: Mimicking what it was like for Mickey Mantle, always played in great pain, when he would be asked by a coach how his legs were and if he could play. "I'm fine, I'll just scotch tape my lower leg to my upper leg"...
But it's far from all laughs. This book told of the culture of baseball as it was before 1970. This was a time when players worked in the off season-had to. They squabbled over a $2-3000 raise-often losing to the dictatorial GM. It was a time of exploitation and Bouton makes it clear why the baseball owners and especially former Commissioner Bowie Kuhn hated the book. He had committed heresy, not so much for blabbing about inept coaches or the tell-all nature of the book, but by talking about salaries and the reserve clause. Remember this is the year Marvin Miller is just beginning to work for players. Free agency still didn't exist except in the minds of free thinkers.
Today's players get about $600,000 minimum salary and about $220,000 a year pension after 10 years of service. Bouton's year in 1969 was a transition year from the Dark Ages to what may have gone too far in the other direction. It was a time of relative simplicity. Wins were what counted for a pitcher to get a raise. It was a time when the expression, "throw the ball, see the ball, hit the ball" was in vogue. No advanced stats, no defensive shifts, just simply play ball. Yet still players, Bouton included, felt grateful that they were able to play the game in the majors even if they barely made ends meet.
There are some interesting points made too about racial differences, the counter-culture, and even the Vietnam War. I found it interesting that Bouton opined that players try not to get too close to one another because they may be demoted or traded and it hurts too much: much the same as rotating troops every 9 months so that men would not form too close a bond when they saw fellow soldiers get killed in action.
But what really got my attention was the prevalence of "greenies" in baseball as early as the late 60's. I had thought it was a 70's thing. Don Michner is quoted as saying the entire Oriole and Detroit teams were users as well as 50% of the Pilots.
There was some gossip too: Elston Howard was duplicitous as per Bouton, and Maris and Yaz often dogged it.
Bouton may have whined a bit in the book, but it's an honest memoir and Bouton let's us know that players care for their own personal achievements first and team next. He frankly discusses how a borderline pitcher like himself is often ambivalent about a competitor's success even if he is a teammate. He often rooted for the team but with the condition that his competition got shelled first and then the team rallied to win. It is a tight rope that Bouton had to carefully maneuver.
He captures how baseball "grabs you" with this memory. He is on a plane with turbulence going to Houston for his first start for that team. he thinks to himself, "gee if this plane goes down, I hope that the papers at least have me down as the probable starter."
This is a fascinating look into the life of a big leaguer of those times. Finances and freedom have changed, but I'll bet the pranks and busting chops are still just as prevalent.
Updates: For those of you fortunate to have the updated version, I must say that I was moved to tears several times by the chapter called "The Last thirty Years". In this chapter we get to know the maturing Jim Bouton; it embodies the aging process of its author in a most meaningful way. As Jim tries to come to grips with life after a short comeback in 1978, he must deal with the reality of "it's time hang up the spikes" and all that that means. The longing to play ball even in small towns, to hang on to the memories, the dreams of a baseball life still gnaw at him. He is 57 and he is aging and trying to live with the worst kind of pain-the loss of a beautiful, loving daughter just beginning her third decade of life. This chapter is so poignant and raw it's almost to difficult to bear. The letter from step-sister Hollis to her recently deceased sister is just one of several moments to grip the reader. Then there is the magnificent father's Day gift from son Michael, whose open letter published by the NY Times to the Yankees entreating them to invite his father to the Old Timer's Game, leads to one of Jim Bouton's most satisfying days, even if it is only a temporary hiatus from his suffering and debilitating loss. I have no doubt that even seventeen years later, the anxiety and the depression still remain, although one hopes only occasionally and that Jim and Paula are enjoying their lives and their grandchildren. Thank you so much for letting us into your heart with such a heart wrenching chapter.
This is the third time I've read the book. The last time was about twenty years ago. Has the great expose faded in its intensity and boldness through the years? Yes I think it has. Are the stories as funny as I had remembered? Yes, despite the immature locker room busting chops and pranks, I still laughed out loud numerous times. But remember most of those guys were still young men. The locker room reminded me of my fraternity house: the same kind of humor-just not as good. So, it's a bit politically incorrect and sexist. Can anyone really say they didn't love Animal House when they first saw it?
Prank example: A faux legal letter is sent to pitcher Fred Talbot promising a paternity suit is in the works. Talbot, rereading it three times, buries his head. Teammate Tommy Davis says, after the prank is revealed, "I didn't think you Caucasians could get any whiter". Ray Oyler follows with, "You couldn't have pulled a needle out of his ass with a tractor."
Prank example: Joe Pepitone goes to the team trainer complaining about his penis, after he had placed a piece of popcorn underneath his foreskin. The doctor says, "I have never seen a venereal disease like this before in my life."
Best oral line: The Seattle Pilots moved up batting practice to accommodate a nationally televised game. The new time was 10:30. Catcher Jim Pagliaroni quips, "I'm not even done throwing up at that hour!"
Best written line: On a form that players had to fill out for the publicity department, one question asked "what is the most difficult thing about playing major league baseball?". Mike Hegan writes, explaining to your wife why SHE has to get a penicillin shot for your kidney infection."
Best bit: Dick Stuart(strange glove), habitually late for meetings, shows up late and mimics a red carpet academy award announcer..... "He's wearing a Stanley Blacker jacket with Adolfo shoes...
Best duo bit: Mimicking what it was like for Mickey Mantle, always played in great pain, when he would be asked by a coach how his legs were and if he could play. "I'm fine, I'll just scotch tape my lower leg to my upper leg"...
But it's far from all laughs. This book told of the culture of baseball as it was before 1970. This was a time when players worked in the off season-had to. They squabbled over a $2-3000 raise-often losing to the dictatorial GM. It was a time of exploitation and Bouton makes it clear why the baseball owners and especially former Commissioner Bowie Kuhn hated the book. He had committed heresy, not so much for blabbing about inept coaches or the tell-all nature of the book, but by talking about salaries and the reserve clause. Remember this is the year Marvin Miller is just beginning to work for players. Free agency still didn't exist except in the minds of free thinkers.
Today's players get about $600,000 minimum salary and about $220,000 a year pension after 10 years of service. Bouton's year in 1969 was a transition year from the Dark Ages to what may have gone too far in the other direction. It was a time of relative simplicity. Wins were what counted for a pitcher to get a raise. It was a time when the expression, "throw the ball, see the ball, hit the ball" was in vogue. No advanced stats, no defensive shifts, just simply play ball. Yet still players, Bouton included, felt grateful that they were able to play the game in the majors even if they barely made ends meet.
There are some interesting points made too about racial differences, the counter-culture, and even the Vietnam War. I found it interesting that Bouton opined that players try not to get too close to one another because they may be demoted or traded and it hurts too much: much the same as rotating troops every 9 months so that men would not form too close a bond when they saw fellow soldiers get killed in action.
But what really got my attention was the prevalence of "greenies" in baseball as early as the late 60's. I had thought it was a 70's thing. Don Michner is quoted as saying the entire Oriole and Detroit teams were users as well as 50% of the Pilots.
There was some gossip too: Elston Howard was duplicitous as per Bouton, and Maris and Yaz often dogged it.
Bouton may have whined a bit in the book, but it's an honest memoir and Bouton let's us know that players care for their own personal achievements first and team next. He frankly discusses how a borderline pitcher like himself is often ambivalent about a competitor's success even if he is a teammate. He often rooted for the team but with the condition that his competition got shelled first and then the team rallied to win. It is a tight rope that Bouton had to carefully maneuver.
He captures how baseball "grabs you" with this memory. He is on a plane with turbulence going to Houston for his first start for that team. he thinks to himself, "gee if this plane goes down, I hope that the papers at least have me down as the probable starter."
This is a fascinating look into the life of a big leaguer of those times. Finances and freedom have changed, but I'll bet the pranks and busting chops are still just as prevalent.
Updates: For those of you fortunate to have the updated version, I must say that I was moved to tears several times by the chapter called "The Last thirty Years". In this chapter we get to know the maturing Jim Bouton; it embodies the aging process of its author in a most meaningful way. As Jim tries to come to grips with life after a short comeback in 1978, he must deal with the reality of "it's time hang up the spikes" and all that that means. The longing to play ball even in small towns, to hang on to the memories, the dreams of a baseball life still gnaw at him. He is 57 and he is aging and trying to live with the worst kind of pain-the loss of a beautiful, loving daughter just beginning her third decade of life. This chapter is so poignant and raw it's almost to difficult to bear. The letter from step-sister Hollis to her recently deceased sister is just one of several moments to grip the reader. Then there is the magnificent father's Day gift from son Michael, whose open letter published by the NY Times to the Yankees entreating them to invite his father to the Old Timer's Game, leads to one of Jim Bouton's most satisfying days, even if it is only a temporary hiatus from his suffering and debilitating loss. I have no doubt that even seventeen years later, the anxiety and the depression still remain, although one hopes only occasionally and that Jim and Paula are enjoying their lives and their grandchildren. Thank you so much for letting us into your heart with such a heart wrenching chapter.
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