Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Ball Four Mass Market Paperback – January 1, 1971
| Jim Bouton (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
- Print length370 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherDell
- Publication dateJanuary 1, 1971
- ISBN-100440004152
The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?
Product details
- Publisher : Dell; Third Dell Printing edition (January 1, 1971)
- Language : English
- Mass Market Paperback : 370 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0440004152
- Item Weight : 7.2 ounces
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,656,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #52,368 in Memoirs (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviewed in the United States on December 12, 2020
-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 12, 2020
Reading Kramer’s Instant Replay, you would never think anything particularly interesting was happening in the world in 1967 other than the Packers’ run to a third straight NFL title. While Bouton doesn’t dwell much on external developments either, he at least acknowledges that some pretty serious issues are in play in 1969 America, from the Vietnam War to civil rights, and he drops some of his opinions into his narrative.
However, most of the book is about Bouton’s struggles with what seems incredibly myopic management and coaching. For example, the front office of the Seattle Pilots for which Bouton played most of the 1969 season insisted players refrain from signing autographs before games, oblivious to the effect such standoffishness might have on the few fans who bothered to show up for the team’s home games.
The seeds of the revolution that would sprout in the next decade that would grant players much greater freedom with the striking down of the reserve clause are already hinted at in the appallingly stupid penny pinching of baseball team management described by Bouton, penny pinching even the lordly New York Yankees for whom Bouton was briefly a star pitcher, were not immune to. There were literally contract squabbles about an extra $500 A YEAR in salary!
Bouton is an excellent and articulate chronicler who gives a very plausible view of the Major League clubhouse of the time. What was shocking in 1970, though, such as the Porky’s level voyeurism of “beaver shooting,” seems almost absurdly quaint today. There are also entertaining hints of things to come that Bouton couldn’t know the significance of, such as the offhand reference he makes to an exhibition season experiment that allowed “designated hitters” to hit for pitchers, a rule that would go into effect in the American League four years later and change the game. Young players briefly alluded to—Mike Marshall, Lou Piniella—would become much more prominent in years to come.
If you are a fan of baseball and baseball writing, Ball Four is a must-have.










