- Paperback: 504 pages
- Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; 20th Anniversary Edition edition (12 July 1990)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0020306652
- ISBN-13: 978-0020306658
- Product Dimensions: 14.5 x 2.7 x 21 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
76,695 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2 in Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > American Sports > Baseball > Coaching
- #6 in Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > American Sports > Baseball > Essays & Writings
- See Complete Table of Contents
Ball Four (RosettaBooks Sports Classics)
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Product Description
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
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
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
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
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. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As far as I'm concerned, Ball Four is easily the best baseball book out there. I've read about 45 baseball books and nothing compares to Bouton's masterpiece. I've read this book four times and it still hasn't gotten old yet. I'm sure I'll read it at least ten more times and I doubt that I will ever get tired of it.
What makes Ball Four better than any other baseball book is that it allows its readers to see the game from a player's perspective. Never has a book given such an up-close, in-the-locker-room look at baseball. Of course, Bouton himself is brilliant. I love his sarcasm and his biting wit. Ball Four might have been a pretty good book even if it had been written by a poor writer; Bouton, though, is an excellent storyteller and his attitude is what shapes the book. If you consider yourself a fan of the game, you will buy Ball Four immediately. It has given me great joy time and time again.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I must admit, the first time I read it I didn't understand the baseball speak and therefore took me a while to get into it, but as I got more into the game via Channel 5 etc the better the book got! I've read it 4 times now (normally at the beginning of each baseball season) and it just gets funnier and funnier. Bouton's wit is superb. I can pick this book up anytime, anyday, go to a random page and I know I will laugh out loud.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
He writes honestly about what it is like to be the outsider. Which is why this book created such an uproar in 1970. Marginal relief pitchers can not give the public the low down on Mickey Mantle, or give the bird to Commissioner Kuhn.
Baseball needs someone today to give us the real story. I still come back to this book after 10 years. It is refreshing in its innocence. Would Sammy Sosa pop a greenie? Do the Montreal Expos go "beaver shooting" while in Toronto? Certainly there must be a manager today who tells his team to "Pound back the ol'Budweiser like Joe Schultz. Say that its so.
This book will be read by baseball fans in 2075--as much as Fred Talbot must hate to hear it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Essential, for many reasons
Christy Mathewson's 1912 book 'Pitching in a Pinch' was baseball's first 'inside view' of the game in which - and without attracting any criticism - Mathewson openly discussed the... Read more
Published on 30 April 2008 by Nigel Collier
It's evolved into almost a history book
The amazing thing about reading Ball Four now, almost 30 years after it was first published, is how the game of baseball has changed. Read more
Published on 12 July 1999
The Cutting Edge Now Blunted
Perhaps Jim Bouton himself says it best: "The books that have come after mine make BALL FOUR, as an expose, read like THE BOBBSEY TWINS GO TO THE SEASHORE. Read more
Published on 5 July 1999
Timeline: Farrell > Bouton > Shropshire
If you want a comparison of how life for Major Leaguer's has changed over the years, then try the following.
First, read James T Farrell's "My Baseball Diary". Read more
Published on 19 Jun 1999
This the greatest baseball book in the history of the game.
This book is, quite simply, teriffic. It is one of the funniest works ever written, and I throughly enjoy every time I read it. Kudos to Jim Bouton.
Published on 31 May 1999
Excellent
It was Elston Howard.
Published on 19 Feb 1999
Baseball's 1970 version of the national enquirer
I was a young kid when this book caused quite a stir among baseball players and fans. That was reason enough to buy it and read it. Read more
Published on 13 Feb 1999
The second funniest baseball book ever written!
I was glad this anniversary edition was released! I had "loaned" my first copy of "Ball Four" to my cousin back in the '70s and never got it back! Read more
Published on 20 Jan 1999
Funny inside observations on the game of baseball
I loved this book. Jim Bouton is a funny man and his witty observations on behind-the-scenes baseball are fantastic. It's definitely a baseball classic. Read more
Published on 8 Dec 1998
Best baseball book ever
I enjoyed reading Ball Four so much that I contacted Jim Bouton and conducted an interview with him. Take a look at my website.
Published on 19 Oct 1998
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