Ball Four begins “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. One player hitching up his pants, saying, “I add 20 points to my average if I know how bitchin’ I look out there.”Ībove all, here was a proud man wrestling with failure. 'Its a vibrant, funny, telling history of an era that seems even further away than three decades. Players shouting “Ding-dong!” when a catcher took a foul ball to his protective cup. Ball Four : The Final Pitch 'It is not just a diary of Boutons 1969 season with the Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros,' says sportswriter Jim Caple. Pound that ol’ Budweiser into you and go get ‘em tomorrow.”Īnd here was a fresh side to the grand old game - fun. Here were veteran managers saying the stupidest things - “Attaway to stomp ‘em. Here were “heroic” New York Yankees prowling a hotel roof to “shoot beaver” by peeping into windows. The nonsense included stories every sportswriter was sworn not to tell. The commissioner, executives, and players were shocked. When first published in 1970, Ball Four stunned the sports world. I’d call Shecter and say, ‘Is this interesting?’ And he’d say: ‘Are you kidding? Keep going!’” Ball Four: Twentieth Anniversary Edition Jim Bouton 4.04 18,807 ratings899 reviews Twentieth-anniversary edition of a baseball classic, with a new epilogue by Jim Bouton. Every once in a while, I would transfer the notes to audio and send in my tapes. “I didn’t know the value of it,” Bouton recalled.
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