
Ball Four
The Final Pitch
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Narrated by:
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Jim Bouton
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By:
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Jim Bouton
Ball Four: The Final Pitch is the original book plus all the updates, unlike the 20th Anniversary Edition paperback.
When Ball Four was published in 1970, it created a firestorm. Bouton was called a Judas, a Benedict Arnold and a “social leper” for having violated the “sanctity of the clubhouse.” Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force Bouton to sign a statement saying the book wasn’t true. Ballplayers, most of whom hadn’t read it, denounced the book. It was even banned by a few libraries.
Almost everyone else, however, loved Ball Four. Fans liked discovering that athletes were real people--often wildly funny people. Many readers said it gave them strength to get through a difficult period in their lives. Serious critics called it an important document.
David Halberstam, who won a Pulitzer for his reporting on Vietnam, wrote a piece in Harper’s that said of Bouton: “He has written… a book deep in the American vein, so deep in fact that it is by no means a sports book.”
In 1999 Ball Four was selected by the New York Public Library as one of the “Books of the Century.” And Time magazine chose it as one of the "100 Greatest Non-Fiction" books.
Besides changing the image of athletes, the book played a role in the economic revolution in pro sports. In 1975, Ball Four was accepted as legal evidence against the owners at the arbitration hearing, which lead to free agency in baseball and, by extension, to other sports.
Today Ball Four has taken on another role--as a time capsule of life in the 60s. "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 four decades. To call it simply a "tell all book" is like describing The Grapes of Wrath as a book about harvesting peaches in California."
©1970, 1981, 1990 Jim Bouton (P)2012 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
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All-time great book.
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For baseball fans of all ages!
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A great story!
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Classic and meaningful
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Great Story
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Would you consider the audio edition of Ball Four to be better than the print version?
Yes & then some .What did you like best about this story?
Almost Everything - The Only Thing That I Did Not Enjoy Is Something That You Will Have To Listen To The Book To Understand .What about Jim Bouton’s performance did you like?
GREAT !He will get So Tickled at times reading/remembering that You just have to laugh along with Him .
There are other times You will feel other emotions as well.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The Part That I Did Not EnjoyAny additional comments?
Great Book - Great NarrationTickled
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A Human Story
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Laughter, sadness, thought provoking
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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes I recommend this book, especially to baseball fans. I read this book when I was young in the early 70's, and now enjoying it once again with the perspective of time made it a wonderful treat to listen to.Any additional comments?
Normally, I don't care for an author reading their own material, but this book turns out to be the exception. Bouton does a mavelous job of narrating his own work.Wow, wonderful old memories rekindled!
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Ball Four revisted
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