Ball Four

The Final Pitch

By: Jim Bouton

Narrated by: Jim Bouton

Length: 18 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Critic reviews

"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." ( The New York Times)

" Ball Four is out in a new e-book edition, available on Kindle. It also is available as an audio book, read by Bouton himself, through audible.com. The only thing better than reading Ball Four again might be listening to Bouton read it to you." (R. A. Dickey, columnist and senior writer for ESPN.com.)

Simply The Best

This goes into my personal Hall of Fame. I had read the book as a teenager with my brother and we chuckled together over it. So when Jim Fountain died recently I decided to give this a try again.

I was amazed at what I remembered and what I didn’t. I also recommended this to my son and he said this was easily his best audible book he had ever listen to.

What really set this a part wasThe author reading the book. All of his emotions came out as he remember his masterpiece.

The other thing that struck me was that

A brilliant time capsule.

What a ride. Having avoided this book for thirty years, because I didn't like the Yankees. yeah...well as I've gotten older I have learned to have an appreciation for players who were great. I decided to pick this book up and listen to it due to Jim being the reader as well as the author. I love that the emphasis on certain sentences really comes alive when the actual writer does the narration...and I was missing baseball. Man, this book was a fantastic time capsule. I was blown away by the change in Jim as a thirty year old boy man to a man in his 60's looking back and into the future. You will have feels in listening to this book especially in the later years. It is powerful and I'm bummed it took me this long to listen to this book, but equally happy I finally did. Do yourself a favor if you like biographies and listen to this one. I don't have too many famous people I would have loved to meet for a moment in time, I believe I would have liked to meet Jim. He seems like a guy that I would have enjoyed talking to for a while.

This is the best audiobook I have ever heard.

I felt like Jim was inviting me into his life, to live his struggles and triumphs with him. I laughed when he did, and I cried with him when he experienced tragedy.

This is so much more than just a diary of one season in his baseball life. It is beautiful.

And Jim, Laurie would have been proud, I think, to hear you speak about her this way. Anyone would.

Fabulous

Where does Ball Four rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I have listened to several hundred audio books and this was one of my all-time favorites. I loved listening to Jim read the story out loud. It was touching to hear him laugh at the funny memories and I cried along with him when he told the story of his daughter's death. Great book!

Which character – as performed by Jim Bouton – was your favorite?

Joe Shultz: ¨Pound those cookies into you, boys.¨

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. It was good to listen to a bit at a time.

Any additional comments?

If you're a baseball fan, you'll love it.

Very touching and heart felt

I was pleasantly surprised,Ball Four is funny and sensitive and made more effective with reading by Jim Bouton .
Highly recommended for anyone to listen.
Really rings true
Can’t judge a book by the cover.

Needs editing prior to release next time!

Too many instances of coughing, microphone bumping and other distractions. Doesn't anyone listen for these things prior to release?! A terrible disservice to Jim Bouton, who deserves better.

A Wonderful, Heartfelt Update

I read Jim Bouton’s Ball Four as a young teen right after it was released. The new material chronicles a man going through the stages of life - from his extended adolescence to a wise, insightful family man. It’s still hysterically funny, but at times heartbreaking, too. And the only narrator who could do this justice is Bouton himself - from the laughter through the tears. If you liked the original, you will love this final edition. God bless you, Bulldog!

Fabulous book

Loved that the writer himself narrarated the story. His own emotion had me laughing and crying. Very rare to have that kind of emotional investment and sensitivity on an audio book. Thank you Jim Bouton.

"I Laughed, I Cried ... "

If you could sum up Ball Four in three words, what would they be?

A Game Changer

What did you like best about this story?

I first read Ball Four as a kid when it first came out and caused such a stir. It changed the way I thought about sports, and the stories inspired me to look for the real stories behind the scenes and not the glossy, front-office-authorized fluff that passed for sports memoirs before Jim Bouton set the genre on its ear.

What about Jim Bouton’s performance did you like?

I have spent countless hours as a sports writer listening to athletes tell stories. My favorite hours have been spent at baseball training camp, listening to coaches and former players telling their stories. Jim Bouton reading his own book is as close as the casual listener can get to that experience. For a baseball fan, it's a true gift.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

My heart broke as Jim described the death of his daughter and the emotional return he made to Yankee Stadium that grew out of that deep family tragedy. It is gut-wrenching, it is deeply personal, and it is as raw and real as it gets.

Any additional comments?

Listen to this book, then go pound some Budweiser.

I laughed and I cried. awesome job.

fantastic narration and I laughed out loud as well as felt connected so much I cried. I will always recommend it.