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The beloved baseball classic now available in paperback, with an
updated epilogue by Jim Bouton When Ball Four was first published
in 1970, it ignited a firestorm of controversy. Bouton was called a
Judas, a Benedict Arnold, and a "social leper" for having violated
the "sanctity of the clubhouse." Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn
attempted to force Bouton to sign a statement saying that the book
wasn't true. Ballplayers, most of whom hadn't read the book,
denounced it. The San Diego Padres burned a copy in the clubhouse.
It was even banned by a few libraries. Almost everyone else,
however, loved Ball Four, and serious critics called it an
important document. Fans liked discovering that the athletes they
worshiped were real people. Historians understood the value of the
book's depth and honesty. Besides changing the public image of
athletes, the book played a role in the economic revolution in
professional sports. In 1975, Ball Four was accepted as legal
evidence against the owners at the arbitration hearing that led to
free agency in baseball, and by extension, in other sports. Today
Ball Four has taken on another role-as a time capsule of life in
the sixties. "It is not just a diary of Bouton's 1969 season with
the Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros," says sportswriter Jim
Caple. "It's a vibrant, funny, telling history of an era that seems
even further away than three decades. To call it simply a 'tell-all
book' is like describing The Grapes of Wrath as a book about
harvesting peaches in California."
The beloved baseball classic now available in paperback, with a 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. For the updated edition of this historic book,
Bouton wrote a new epilogue detailing his perspective on how
baseball has changed since the last edition was released.
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