Type of bind: Hardcover
Label: World Publishing
Manufacturer: World Publishing
Page Count: 407
Printing Date: 1970
Publishing house: World Publishing
Sale Popularity Level: 363396
Studio: World Publishing
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
Books about sports stars can be dated in two ways. BBF (Before Ball Four) and ABF (After Ball Four). Before this book came out, sports stars were mythologized in print and the books had a cardboard-style sameness to them. According to the BBF books baseball stars such as Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams did nothing but pull for their team and engage in some occasional boyish antics. In other words, heroes through and through.
The reality was quite different, Babe Ruth was an incorrigible woman chaser, heavy drinker and was verbally cruel to people. There is the classic story of a group of baseball writers playing a game of cards on a train taking the Yankees on a road trip. A naked woman followed by an equally naked Ruth ran past them. One writer remarked, "It is a good thing I didn't see that because otherwise I would have to write about it." Mickey Mantle was a heavy drinker; he often played so heavily hung over that he had trouble keeping his eyes open. Williams was not a team player, he was at times an indifferent fielder and he refused to enlarge the strike zone by even an inch in order to drive in a run that would tie or win a game. There is a classic story that he once hit a home run that got his team back in the game. However, rather than accepting the accolades of his teammates, he sat in the dugout cussing himself for swinging at a pitch that was a ball.
Bouton's book changed all that. He described the players as human, with all their faults. In the early sixties Bouton had one of the best fastballs in the game, his pitching helped propel the Yankees to the American league pennant and some argued that in 1964, he was the best pitcher in baseball. However, in 1965 he hurt his arm and could no longer throw the heat. In 1969, he made a semi-comeback throwing the knuckleball for the expansion Seattle Pilots. Even on a marginal team he was at best a marginal player. This book is a combination of his actions with the Pilots as well as a reflection of his time with the Yankees. Therefore, it is easy to detect a strain of bitterness at the loss of the glory days of the 1964 Yankees. Nevertheless, while many people have decried the book, no one has ever come forward to disprove his statements about the escapades of the players. Many drank heavily and took drugs, most were sexually promiscuous, and at times they were contemptuous of the fans.
Since "Ball Four" came out, the books about sports stars have been more honest. This, in my opinion, is good for the fans, the games and even the players. The nation has become much more knowledgeable and realistic in how it views heroes. It would have been impossible to continue the artificial presentations of the people who so fascinate us when they play for pay.
Find other books like this one:
