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Jim Bouton

Ball Four Mass Market Paperback – January 1, 1971

by Jim Bouton (Author)

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Ball Four is a baseball classic, a number one bestseller when it was published; it still is in demand throughout the U.S. Now in a new updated hardcover edition, Ball Four will reach a whole new generation of avid baseball fans. In fact, Ball Four has been selected by the NY Public Library as one of the "Books of the Century." And David Halberstam writes: "a book deep in the American Vein, so deep in fact that is by no means a sports book." Bouton has written a baseball book about the reality of the game. Thirty years after its publication, it remains as wonderful to read as ever.

Print length

370 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Dell
Publication date

January 1, 1971
ISBN-10

0440004152
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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)

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24 ratings

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4.1 out of 5

24 global ratings

5 star		66%
4 star		10%
3 star		7%
2 star		6%
1 star		10%

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Hassan A. Ali

Arrived in good condition

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 27, 2019

Verified Purchase

Always wanted to read this book because as a boy, I saw Bouton pitch for the Yankees early sixties. He was one of my favorites (Jim "Bulldog" Bouton). I can still hear Mel Allen announcing his name as the starting pitcher.

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Bouton’s Knuckleball Dances!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 8, 2019

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Just finished a pretty revealing book for its time. Bouton’s knuckleball story is candid and fun back when baseball was controlled by the owners and management.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 29, 2018

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The book is in good condition.

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Joy

Trash!! Moldy, filthy!! Yes that should be free they should offer my money back

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 12, 2020

Verified Purchase

Filthy filthy dirty smelly very unhappy with this purchase for $31 ridiculous

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Satisfied

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 18, 2015

Verified Purchase

Awesome book, good condition

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 8, 2016

Ball Four (1970) is the baseball version of Jerry Kramer’s famous football diary of a couple years earlier, except that Bouton is a lot more forthcoming about the secrets of the clubhouse and the real antics of the players. He’s also more bitter. Whereas Kramer was still a star player on a championship caliber team (the Super Bowl winning Green Bay Packers) when he chronicled his season, Bouton is a veteran pitcher with a shot arm trying to survive by throwing the knuckleball.

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.

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Theo Ballgame

Baseball! The rest is details...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 8, 2017

I read this at 17 in '71 or '72 and it completely changed my view of baseball, in that I realized that the players were just people! Bouton's battles and victories are chronicled in an honest voice, and Bouton just keeps playing because he LOVES the game. As he says at the end, the baseball gripped HIM, not vice versa.It made me laugh out loud OFTEN, and when my son was 17, I had him read it. We STILL share lines from it..."...that's what happens when you can't hit the curveball..." to name just one. In the NY Times Top 100 books of the 20th century--for good reason. God Bless you, Jim, for re-awakening my love of baseball over 40 years ago!

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Ball Four Mass Market Paperback – January 1, 1971

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