Ball Four - by Jim Bouton

About the Book

When Ball four was first published in 1970, it hit the sports world like a lightning bolt. Commissioners, executives, and players were shocked. Sportswriters called author Jim Bouton a traitor and social leper. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force him to declare the book untrue. Fans, however, loved the book, and serious critics called it an important social document. Bouton's landmark book is still being read by people who don't ordinarily follow baseball. For this edition, Bouton has written a new epilogue, detailing his perspective on how baseball has changed since the last edition was released.

Book Synopsis

50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
New York Public Library Book of the Century Selection
Time Magazine "100 Greatest Non-Fiction Books" Selection
New Foreword from Jim Bouton's Wife, Paula Kurman

When Ball Four was first published in 1970, it hit the sports world like a lightning bolt. Commissioners, executives, and players were shocked. Sportswriters called author Jim Bouton a traitor and "social leper." Commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force him to declare the book untrue. Fans, however, loved the book. And serious critics called it an important social document. Following his death, Bouton's landmark book has remained popular, and his legacy lives on through its many readers, including those who don't ordinarily follow baseball.

The 50th Anniversary of his historic book includes a touching and personal new forward by his wife, Paula Kurman.

Review Quotes

"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

"An irreverent, best-selling book that angered baseball's hierarchy and changed the way journalists and fans viewed the sports world."
--The Washington Post

"...vibrant, funny...To call it simply a 'tell-all book' is like describing The Grapes of Wrath as a book about harvesting..."
--Jim Caple

"A great book, wildly entertaining, worth reading every two or three years."
--Rob Neyer

About the Author

After his career as a major league pitcher, Jim Bouton was a writer, businessman, motivational speaker, and ace pitcher for a semipro baseball team near his home in Teaneck, New Jersey. He passed away in July 2019.