|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jim Bouten, Ball Four (1970) This book got author Bouton permanently blacklisted from Old Timers Day at Yankees Stadium. Its release in 1970 unfurled the curtains of Major League Baseball, exposing the sport's dirtiest secrets: the scandals, the sex lives and the underhanded dealing of the 1969 New York Yankees. Bouton spent seven months throwing a knuckleball for the team and this 500-page monster details the struggles of players and the rigor of the game. But the message reading most clearly from the author's exploits is how Americans are gripped by baseball: how again and again each summer we are enchanted, almost addicted, by the lure of the game. This work presents the subtleties of the game from the mind of a player, covering contract negotiations, injury and what it's like to be on the road with a team for the long season. Bouton started out as a minor leaguer, trying a new pitching style (the knuckleball) which found, for this player, only fleeting success in the majors. He finished the season without injury, and in this work he details the struggles of his teammates and the rigor of the game. MORE: Amazon (reviews and book synopsis) Author’s web page ESPN review and interview with the author |
|
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||