Ball Four: The Final Pitch

Bouton, Jim

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1582613109 ISBN 13: 9781582613109

Publisher: Sports Pub, 2000

When Ball Four was first published in 1970, it ignited a firestorm of controversy that raged far beyond the boundaries of baseball. From players and team executives to journalists and broadcasters, everyone had a mostly negative opinion about Jim Bouton's nearly 500- page expose. The former Yankee pitching star was labeled a Judas, a Benedict Arnold and a social leper. Then Commissioner Bowie Kuhn attempted to force Bouton to sign a statement that the stories he told weren't true. The San Diego Padres burned a copy of Ball Four in protest of its release. However, the majority of the fans who bought tickets to watch their diamond heroes loved Ball Four. Even the people who didn't ordinarily follow baseball devoured the hilariously funny and revealing book. In fact, during its 30-year life, Ball Four has sold more than five million copies worldwide. For the millennium edition of this historic book, Bouton has written a highly entertaining epilogue, reflecting upon his life at the age of 60, the traumatic death of his daughter, and the heart-warming 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 which will forever be a journalistic classic.

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

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.