"Ball Four" is one of those great books that gets a lot of credit, but it probably deserves even more.
Bouton is so honest (not just about his teams, and teammates, but also about himself) you feel like you know him after reading the book. In my edition, in one of the update sections, he even suggests that the reader is sort of like family if they have read to that point. And you do feel for him and his relationships, especially with his family.
Reading the book now, in the 2010s, it almost seems odd that they book was controversial at one time. I can understand the books by Canseco, Rose, and McCarthy being controversial, but Bouton's doesn't feel that way to me.
Then again, I wasn't around when the book originally came out.
Reading about the Pilots during their year is great fun on its own. Reading about Jim's dealing with the Yankees, and shuffling between the majors and minors is fun too.
Jim Bouton is witty as heck. It is difficult to describe his humor, but it is original and unique.
I went to see Jim Bouton in 2010 when the Baseball Reliquary had an event with him and Pilot players at the Burbank library. I bought his latest copyf of Ball Four. What I found funny and odd is that he said he has read like 20 books in his life. Posted some pics in my blog at http://crzblue.mlblogs.com/2010/09/19/ball-four-turns-forty-event/
ReplyDeleteEmma