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Ball Four: Twentieth Anniversary Edition Paperback – Download: Adobe Reader, July 12, 1990

by Jim Bouton (Author)

4.5 2,875 ratings

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Twentieth-anniversary edition of a baseball classic, with a new epilogue by Jim Bouton.

When first published in 1970, Ball Four stunned the sports world. The commissioner, executives, and players were shocked. Sportswriters called author Jim Bouton a traitor and "social leper." Baseball 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. Today, Jim Bouton is still not invited to Oldtimer's Days at Yankee Stadium. But his landmark book is still being read by people who don't ordinarily follow baseball.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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.

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

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Howell Book House; 20th Anniversary edition (July 12, 1990)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 465 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0020306652
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0020306658
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.25 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.06 x 8.26 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #650,271 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #524 in Baseball Biographies (Books)
- #1,299 in Baseball (Books)
- #19,314 in Memoirs (Books)

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4.5 2,875 ratings

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2,875 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book engaging and entertaining. They find it insightful and interesting, with humorous stories about players and the inner workings of professional sports. Readers appreciate the author's deep spirit and humanity, describing the book as inspiring and moving. They consider it a great value for money, with genuine and truthful characterization. The updates are appreciated by customers, especially the incremental updates that are worth re-reading.

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Readability Insight Humor Spirit Value for money Authenticity Update frequency Writing style

232 customers mention "Readability"232 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and enjoyable for baseball fans. They describe it as an entertaining and detailed look at MLB history. Readers appreciate the humor, baseball stories, and updates provided in today's edition. Overall, they describe it as a quick, fun read and a timeless classic.

"...Bouton was a keen student of baseball history, and spends a fair bit of time talking about old players, and the guys he followed when he was a kid;..." Read more

"...the beaver shooting, but for lovers of baseball and sports it's a very good read, containing insight on the inner workings in pro sports, pitching..." Read more

"...It's better. It was then, it is now, simply the best Baseball Book ever. But it is now more than that. It's history...." Read more

"...A Great Book!" Read more

163 customers mention "Insight"159 positive4 negative

Customers find the book insightful and poignant. They enjoy the stories of players and their lives. The book provides personal insights into professional sports and stirs up good memories. Readers describe it as educational and eye-opening.

"...every page of the book and its supplements -- funny, titillating, insightful, of historical interest, or just plain mind-boggling...." Read more

"...of baseball and sports it's a very good read, containing insight on the inner workings in pro sports, pitching and anecdotes on some famous players...." Read more

"...The book is fascinating and funny. And Real. I began t o understand what it most be like to be on the road, bored, for so many months a year...." Read more

"...But this book isn't a heavy-handed, moralistic indictment of Major League baseball. Instead, it's gloriously goofy and hilariously funny!..." Read more

86 customers mention "Humor"82 positive4 negative

Customers enjoy the book's humor. They find it humorous and humane, with a narrative that makes them laugh. The book shows the funnier side of baseball that most people don't get to see.

"...amazing on nearly every page of the book and its supplements -- funny, titillating, insightful, of historical interest, or just plain mind-boggling...." Read more

"...The book is fascinating and funny. And Real. I began t o understand what it most be like to be on the road, bored, for so many months a year...." Read more

"...puts it--"with Charlie uncovered." In itself, this is a funny, somewhat crude anecdote; it's Bouton's additional comment that raises it..." Read more

"...Rather, expect four or five days of solid chuckles and a good feeling when you finish." Read more

16 customers mention "Spirit"16 positive0 negative

Customers find the book inspiring and moving. They say it includes both the bright and dark sides of their lives, with a personal perspective on friendship, family, and humanity. The book is described as an engaging read that touches both the head and heart, with moments of joy and sadness. Readers mention the book is about people, philosophy, and relationships.

"...Not a baseball book in my mind, but a book about people, philosophy, relationships, struggle, heartache, celebration, defeat, purpose, and learning..." Read more

"...attitudes, what happens in non-game time with a team, and relationships between players...." Read more

"...The book is still great, funny and brings back great memories. It was interesting to read all the " after Ball Four" parts...." Read more

"...The book is both humorous and humane, at times moving quickly and observantly between the mundane and the profound...." Read more

16 customers mention "Value for money"16 positive0 negative

Customers find the book a good value for money. They say it's worth the price, and the seller is excellent.

"...Ego, money, myths, gossip, banalities. It's all there...." Read more

"...Don't hesitate, it is worth every penny." Read more

"...I remember hearing about Ball Four when I was a child. It was well worth it even though I was late...." Read more

"...Do not put it aside. It is worth it." Read more

15 customers mention "Authenticity"15 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's authenticity. They find it honest, genuine, and truthful. The author has a unique voice that readers enjoy. They feel the book exposes silliness, inanities, and triteness without being overly salacious or naive.

"...The book is fascinating and funny. And Real. I began t o understand what it most be like to be on the road, bored, for so many months a year...." Read more

"...As a writer, Bouton has a genuine, unique "voice," which I suspect owes very little to his editor...." Read more

"...It's not in a gotcha kind of way. It's honest, raw, uncomfortable, funny, educational and most importantly entertaining...." Read more

"...It is funny, insightful, and, most importantly, true." Read more

12 customers mention "Update frequency"12 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's frequent updates. They find the 10/20/30 year updates and incremental updates poignant and worth re-reading. The book never gets old and doesn't lose anything over the years.

"...I enjoyed the humor, baseball stories, and the updates provided in today's version...." Read more

"...not only includes the entire Ball Four book, but also updates through the 1990's, culminating in Bouton's return to Yankee Stadium for an Old-Timers..." Read more

"...This edition also included updates from many years after it was published and it thrilled me and yes, I cried along with him...." Read more

"...It appears that this book started it all. Nicely updated as well...." Read more

51 customers mention "Writing style"35 positive16 negative

Customers have different views on the writing style. Some find it well-written and engaging, with quotable phrases. Others find it difficult to read without losing attention, with tedious details and unnecessary minutiae.

"...books that hit their targets so directly, or that are so eminently quotable...." Read more

"...With that, the book also does an excellent job of detailing what it was like as a major leaguer in the 60s and 70s, and how this guy, a pitcher,..." Read more

"...As a cautionary note, there's plenty of bad language and lewd behavior (the book is realistic)." Read more

"...Both are well written by good people who tell some fun stories that don't put others in a bad, horrible light." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

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Jason A. Miller
As Relevant As Ever.
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2015
Verified Purchase

I discovered a copy of "Ball Four" in my high school library over 25 years ago, and found it to be laugh-out-loud funny. Jim Bouton, in the twilight of his baseball career, and suffering from a sore arm (this was in the days before sports medicine came along and prolonged careers), reinvented himself as a knuckleball pitcher and hooked on with the lowly expansion Seattle Mariners. His observations on locker room life and on the easy availability of hot young women to professional athletes, was an inspiration to me at age 14. Ever since then, I've picked up a copy of the book every few years (and I have at least three copies by now) and always find something new to enjoy or quote or admire.

Other reviewers on this site refer to "Ball Four" as "dated". I could not disagree more. Even though the book was largely written in 1969, it still has a lot to tell us about modern-day society, labor-management relationships, the role of sports in society, and politics. Bouton, as a 30-year-old ballplayer, was unusually observant, and, as he writes from 1969 -- the same year that "Mad Men" is up on TV now, as I write this review -- spokevery perceptively about the kinds of societal change that most of us enjoy watching Don Draper struggle with. Also, as an avowed left-winger, Bouton provides a perspective different to the majority of other baseball figures.

Reading "Ball Four", you can choose to just enjoy the more raunchy or R-rated material while ignoring the more social or political material. Or you can read up on the very early years of baseball's labor wars, and get your history lesson on the likes of Bowie Kuhn and Marvin Miller. Or, if you enjoyed the movie "Office Space", there's tons of material here about the short-sightedness of the management, which involved at least 7 increasingly muffled layers of supervision between the owners and the players of a single team. Bouton was a keen student of baseball history, and spends a fair bit of time talking about old players, and the guys he followed when he was a kid; he has the misfortune in 1969 to be coached by Sal Maglie, one of Bouton's childhood heroes but a truly inept pitching coach (as they say, never meet your heroes!)). But, not only that, Bouton figured into the very dawn of today's statistical-oriented baseball analytics --he realized that relief pitchers should be judged by inherited runners scored and baserunners-per-inning ratios, rather than purely by wins and losses. He was immensely valuable as a relief pitcher in 1969 -- his Strat-O-Matic card proves that -- but the Pilots ignored him and under-utilized him, because they weren't paying attention to the right information.

So, read "Ball Four" -- and its several updates, issued in 1980, 1990, and 2000. There's something amazing on nearly every page of the book and its supplements -- funny, titillating, insightful, of historical interest, or just plain mind-boggling. There are very few other baseball books that hit their targets so directly, or that are so eminently quotable. The book will be 50 years old soon, but it will never, ever, go out of date.

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Ezra F Reviews
Nice Read
Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2022
Verified Purchase
At its time of publication, Ball Four stirred the calm waters of baseball. Jim Bouton revealed the past times and shenanigans that pro players got up to on the road and at ball parks, which the owners weren't entirely happy getting out in the public eye, and Bouton was persona non grata with some players and managers who didn't appreciate the book he wrote. Reading it today it doesn't seem to groundbreaking, aside from the beaver shooting, but for lovers of baseball and sports it's a very good read, containing insight on the inner workings in pro sports, pitching and anecdotes on some famous players. A few things that I had issue with were the absence of Bouton mentioning his wife at the time Bobbie, who stayed home and raised his kids, and the lack of gratitude to her sacrifices. His second wife, Paula gets a whole epilogue and many words of praise, while Bobbie is only mentioned in passing when Bouton's daughter Laurie is tragically fatally injured in a car crash. Another thing I didn't like was that alongside the many epilogues in the book, Bouton doesn't provide any closure on how his team did at the end of the season he has just described in great detail. But despite these gripes it's a very good book.

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Barry Pearl
Let's Hope There Are A Few Pitches Left.
Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2000
Verified Purchase
After Thirty years I reread this book and it is not the book I remembered. It's better. It was then, it is now, simply the best Baseball Book ever.
But it is now more than that. It's history.
When the Original edition of Ball Four came out it was considered scandalous and an unflattering expose on Baseball. Now it's history. American history. And the continuing autobiography of a man who is so much more than just a ballplayer.
Jim Bouton reveals what baseball was like in the 1960's: Players getting less than $10,000 a year in salary, General Managers lying to players and tricking them into low salaries. It is just hard to believe all that was baseball then.
Ball Four is famous, or infamous for giving great insight into several players. Yet in retrospect, not much is really told about the individual players. Mickey Mantle drank a lot and didn't sigh autographs; Roger Maris didn't always hustle. This is small stuff compared with what is told today. Still this is the stuff that started it all.
But the best part are the epilogues, written in 1980, 1990 and 2000, because they add a new perspective to the book. The author points out that maybe if more time was spent dealing with Mantle's drinking problem and less time spent hiding it and blasting Bouton maybe the Mick would be here today.
The book is fascinating and funny. And Real. I began t o understand what it most be like to be on the road, bored, for so many months a year. I began to understand why they did what they did.
Mr. Bouton deflates the image of the baseball player: They drank, took greenies (speed) and looked at girls in the stands. Shocking news! But he also deflates the images of coaches and managers. A player that floats in and out of the book is a rookie to the new Seattle Pilots. He talent is not overlooked by the players but it is overlooked by management is sent down to the minors and then traded to Kansas City. His name is Lou Pinella. A similar story is told about Mike Marshall.
Jim Bouton discusses his return to Yankee Stadium for old-timers day and the events surrounding it. In the end, that is what affected me the most. Having read the book thirty years ago, I thought it would be interesting to read the epilogues first. Their you learn the heart-breaking news that the Boutons lost their daughter, Laurie, in an accident in 1997. It changed everything, even the original Ball Four section. Mr. Bouton was devoted to Baseball, but he was devoted to family. In Ball Four we are introduced to Laurie at age three when she comes to a doubleheader with Mrs. Bouton and their two other children. Then, she is ironically nicknamed "The Unsinkable Molly Brown." Yet it is her spirit that gets Bouton invited back to the Old Timers Day at Shea. Mel Stottlemyre is mentioned in the original 1969 part of the book. Yet it is his conversation with Bouton, about losing his son in 1981, that will remain with me. You can't read it without tearing up.
I guess we like to think that baseball is everything to those who play it. Ball Four was the first to show what it was really like to get go through a season. In his Final Pitch Mr. Bouton shows what it takes to get through life. I hope he has a few more chapters in him. I'm sure Laurie would hope so too.

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Jeffrey Sandoz
Excellent Baseball Book that still holds up!
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2024
Verified Purchase
A lot of people hated this book when it came out because it supposedly outed baseball players and coaches as being just like everyone else, not always the angels that people are sometimes thought to be. With that, the book also does an excellent job of detailing what it was like as a major leaguer in the 60s and 70s, and how this guy, a pitcher, was trying to hang onto his dream of staying in the big leagues. A Great Book!

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Matthew
Great insight into an undervalued player
Reviewed in Canada on July 29, 2024
Verified Purchase

Enjoyed reading it and is great at looking into a lesser known part of baseball history

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JLTRAVA
Ball four
Reviewed in Mexico on May 10, 2023
Verified Purchase
Great book by Jim Bouton. Wonderful description of the struggle of a human being on a cruel world, i.e., baseball's major league. His passion for the sport completely overcame his fears and setbacks. In the end it is an example of extraordinary human behavior. ( I also felt a knot in my heart at Laurie's death).

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Ro.vio
Très bien
Reviewed in France on November 29, 2019
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Lecture intéressante et divertissante, même pour les moins passionnés de baseball.

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Amazon Customer
Great sport insider
Reviewed in Australia on August 18, 2023
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A must read for all baseball fans

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Niall
A great read, written by one of the good guys.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 1, 2014
Verified Purchase
So much to like in what is probably one of the best baseball books ever written.

The closest equivalent for a UK audience would be Eamon Dunphy's mid-70s masterpiece `Only a Game'. They were both written by professional sportsmen in an era before big money came into their sports, whose best days were behind them and at a time when the mantra `what happens in the dressing room, stays in the dressing room' was still king.

Bouton is insightful and a great storyteller. While some of the stuff he and his fellow players got up to in the 60's now looks infantile and more than a little sexist, it was of its time and should be seen through that prism. Though the original diary-style 1968-9 musings were great, what really made this book a pleasure for me were the epilogues written ten, twenty, thirty and now nearly fifty years after the original. They showed a decent, liberal man who stayed true to himself and his beliefs, who gradually accepted a life outside of the sport and who ultimately found peace, even after the truly heart-wrenching death of his daughter, Laurie. Having been born in the same year as her, Bouton's writing was particularly meaningful to this reader.

Oh, and I absolutely love the way also that he speaks for so many of us grouchy older sports fans as he mocks the OTT celebrations so commonplace in modern competition. My two favourite lines were: ` In my day, a player would hit the ball, toss his bat aside, jog around the bases, tip his cap, and sit down. A homer was a homer - not a religious experience' and `God does not care about somebody throwing a ball past a stick. Unless He's working on a knuckleball'.

A great read.

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Ball Four: Twentieth Anniversary Edition Paperback – Download: Adobe Reader, July 12, 1990

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Top reviews from the United States

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5.0 out of 5 stars As Relevant As Ever.

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice Read

5.0 out of 5 stars Let's Hope There Are A Few Pitches Left.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Baseball Book that still holds up!

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars Great insight into an undervalued player

5.0 out of 5 stars Ball four

5.0 out of 5 stars Très bien

5.0 out of 5 stars Great sport insider

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read, written by one of the good guys.

As Relevant As Ever.

Nice Read

Let's Hope There Are A Few Pitches Left.

Excellent Baseball Book that still holds up!

Great insight into an undervalued player

Ball four

Très bien

Great sport insider

A great read, written by one of the good guys.