Jim Bouton's Ball Four, recently selected by the New York Public Library as one of the "Books Of The Century," is being reissued in hardcover with a new, 50-page epilogue by the author.
In Ball Four: The Final Pitch, Bouton writes about the tragic death of his daughter, his reconciliation with Mickey Mantle, his son's Father's Day letter to the New York Times, his heartwarming return to Old Timers' Day at Yankee Stadium, his views on Major League Baseball, and his life today. In addition to the new epilogue, this beautiful collector's edition includes the original text, plus Bouton's 1980 and 1990 epilogues and a new Rogues' Gallery of 124 player photos.
Ball Four was first published in 1970 amid a storm of controversy. Bouton was called a Judas and a Benedict Arnold for having violated the "sanctity of the clubhouse." Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force Bouton to sign a statement saying the book wasn't true. Almost everyone else, however, loved the book and serious critics called it an important document. Besides being hilariously funny, Ball Four changed the image of athletes and played a role in the economic revolution in sports. In 1975 for example, Ball Four was accepted as legal evidence against the owners at the arbitration hearing that led to free agency in baseball and, by extension, other sports.
Today Ball Four has taken on another role - as a time capsule of life in the sixties.
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.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

Funny, Profane and Honest. Play Ball:

This was a provocative book when it was first published. Jim Bouton, who had been a star pitcher for the New York Yankees, was trying to mount a comeback by working on a knuckleball in the bullpen of the expansion team Seattle Pilots less than five years later. He was a world away from pitching in two World Series in two successive seasons with players like Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris as team mates.
His fastball could no longer shatter a pane of glass, but his astute observations about professional... more info

the first to expose how players used the groupies:

Jim Bouton is a very bright man who probably could have been a scientist if he didn't go into baseball. In the 1960s when he played nobody wrote colorful exposes of the behind the scenes and road trip life of major league ball players. Bouton was the first with this book. It ended many friendships with teammates and probably broke up his marriage. The book might seem tame by todays standard. Alcohol was the players drug in those days and no one was shooting up steroids back then. But the book was racy,... more info

important book:

even now, the contents of "ball four" are as equally as contrary to what you think about the order of things as say the first time you hear that hawaiians aren't happy about being american. what this book has to say about institutions make it as valuable an american document as "on the road".
the only real debate i think that could be made over this assertion is who took more speed; kerouac or bouton?
the answer is kerouac.
leaving only one other question:
who took more speed;... more info

Ball Four was a HIt:

Ball Four is a journal of Jim Bouton's days in baseball. It is light hearted and pokes fun at himself and tells it like it was in the 1960's. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the behind the scenes and what happens in the locker room.

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