Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.3570924
EAN num: 9780812827712
ISBN number: 0812827716
Label: Stein & Day Pub
Manufacturer: Stein & Day Pub
Page Count: 457
Printing Date: 1981-03
Publishing house: Stein & Day Pub
Sale Popularity Level: 1003002
Studio: Stein & Day Pub
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
When the book "Ball Four" very first came out in 1970, it created a major sensation. For it was the very first sports book that presented athletes in any light other than as the shining, pristine hero. There had been a tradition in baseball that books "written" by athletes were not to ever mention the dubious escapades of the players. "Ball Four" tore off that veneer, exposing some very questionable activity. What was amazing was that no one ever really disputed what Bouton was saying, only that he had no right to say it. In my opinion, in writing this book, Bouton did baseball and the country a great service.
In "Ball Four", Bouton openly talks about Mickey Mantle's alcohol problems. The fact is that Mickey died an early death from liver disease that was a consequence of his heavy drinking. His life after baseball was largely a miserable one after he retired. In one of his last statements, Mickey said "Play like me, don't live like me." The recent and repeated scandals over extensive steroid use in major league baseball clearly demonstrate that the people who run the game still don't understand the situation. Bouton himself openly talks about getting better performance through chemicals. On page 45, he writes "Baseball players will take anything. If you had a pill that would guarantee a pitcher 20 wins but might take 5 years off his life, he'd take it."
Before I read this book, I had read many sports books, both fiction and non-fiction. Unfortunately, once I read it, I understood that many of those labeled as non-fiction should have been labeled as fiction. Reading it did not turn me off on baseball; that was done by the subsequent nonsense and denials about drug use and gambling in the game. One wonders if we would even have heard about them if it were not for the "writings" of Jim Bouton.
Rated by buyers -
this book is an account of jim bouton's 1969 season with the seattle pilots/houston astros. when i began reading it, i couldn't put it down! an insightful behind the scenes look often told with great humor.
Find other books like this one:
