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Ball Four by Jim Bouton
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Ball Four

by Jim Bouton

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510129,382 (4.17)16
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Read this book when I was much younger. Deepened my love of baseball which lasted many years (until too much exposure to the Chicago Cubs). ( )
  phyllis2779 | Jul 14, 2009 |
Good book and a classic, Enjoyable read. Bouton immediately makes you sympathetic. His liberal politics and easy going manner were even more of an attraction for me. This book has everthing you'll want to know about baseball players and their habits, extracurricular activities, work ethics and attitude etc. Lots of odd balls playing and managing in baseball. This is 1969-70 so the material is not quite as raunchy as say The Bad Guys Won by Jeff Pearlman. ( )
  hildr8 | Jun 7, 2009 |
HC
  waxalibris | Dec 13, 2008 |
This is the classic baseball "behind-the-scenes" book. Bouton is a thoughtful, insightful writer and incredibly funny. Plus this diary is an artifact of the gone and almost forgotten Seattle Pilots. I read the most recent edition which is almost twice as long with Bouton's updates on his career and life. But it's all the more fun, because Bouton is a character I want to know more about and the further you read into the book the more you feel, as Bouton puts it, like family. ( )
  Othemts | Nov 5, 2008 |
An absolutely fantastic book! It is a raw account of the great American pastime. It is funny. It is engaging. It shows baseball as it is, worts and all.

Highly recommended. I wish I could give it six stars. ( )
  w_bishop | Feb 9, 2008 |
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Series (with order)
Canonical Title
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Awards and honors
Epigraph
Dedication
FOR BOBBIE Thanks, coach
First words
I signed my contract today to play for the Seattle Pilots at a salary of $22,000 and it was a letdown because I didn't have to bargain.
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Canonical titleBall Four
Original publication date1970
People/CharactersJim Bouton, Bowie Kuhn, Joe Schultz, Sal Maglie, Mickey Mantle, Ray Oyler (show all 9)
Important placesNew York, New York, USA, Houston, Texas, USA, Seattle, Washington, USA, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Awards and honorsCounterPunch's Top 100 [and a few more] Non-fiction Works of the 20th Century, ALA Best Books for Young Adults (1970), New York Times bestseller (General, 1970)
DedicationFOR BOBBIE Thanks, coach
First wordsI signed my contract today to play for the Seattle Pilots at a salary of $22,000 and it was a letdown because I didn't have to bargain.
Last words(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Book description

Amazon.com (ISBN 0020306652, Paperback)

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.

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:08 -0400)

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