Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #86481 in Books
• Published on: 1990-07-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 465 pages

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

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 Back Cover
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

When Ball Four was first published in 1970, it hit the sports world like a lightning bolt. Commissioners, executives, players and sportswriters were thrown into a state of shock. Stunned. Scandalized. The controversy was front–page news.
Sportswriters called Bouton a Judas, a Benedict Arnold and a "social leper." Commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force the author to sign a statement saying that the book wasn′t true. One team actually burned a copy of Ball Four in protest.And Bouton is still not invited to Oldtimers′ Day at Yankee Stadium.
Fans, however, loved Ball Four and serious critics called it an important document. It was also very popular among people who didn′t ordinarily follow baseball, because Ball Four is not strictly a book about baseball, but one about people who happen to be baseball players. And it′s hilariously funny.
For the twentieth–anniversary edition of this historic book, Bouton has written a new epilogue, detailing his career as an inventor, his battles with the Wrigley Company over bubble gum, his take on the Pete Rose controversy, and how baseball looks two decades after he changed its public image forever.

Customer Reviews

The Greatest Baseball Book Ever Written
As far as I'm concerned, Ball Four is easily the best baseball book out there. I've read about 45 baseball books and nothing compares to Bouton's masterpiece. I've read this book four times and it still hasn't gotten old yet. I'm sure I'll read it at least ten more times and I doubt that I will ever get tired of it.

What makes Ball Four better than any other baseball book is that it allows its readers to see the game from a player's perspective. Never has a book given such an up-close, in-the-locker-room look at baseball. Of course, Bouton himself is brilliant. I love his sarcasm and his biting wit. Ball Four might have been a pretty good book even if it had been written by a poor writer; Bouton, though, is an excellent storyteller and his attitude is what shapes the book. If you consider yourself a fan of the game, you will buy Ball Four immediately. It has given me great joy time and time again.

Gets funnier every time you read it
I must admit, the first time I read it I didn't understand the baseball speak and therefore took me a while to get into it, but as I got more into the game via Channel 5 etc the better the book got! I've read it 4 times now (normally at the beginning of each baseball season) and it just gets funnier and funnier. Bouton's wit is superb. I can pick this book up anytime, anyday, go to a random page and I know I will laugh out loud.

Bouton's memoirs read like a hilarious novel.
He writes honestly about what it is like to be the outsider. Which is why this book created such an uproar in 1970. Marginal relief pitchers can not give the public the low down on Mickey Mantle, or give the bird to Commissioner Kuhn.

Baseball needs someone today to give us the real story. I still come back to this book after 10 years. It is refreshing in its innocence. Would Sammy Sosa pop a greenie? Do the Montreal Expos go "beaver shooting" while in Toronto? Certainly there must be a manager today who tells his team to "Pound back the ol'Budweiser like Joe Schultz. Say that its so.

This book will be read by baseball fans in 2075--as much as Fred Talbot must hate to hear it.