Don Cooper wrote in message ...

Bouton's book was so controversial when it came out. It seems rather
tame now. He has revised it over the years, as well.

Thanks for the reminder. I should read that again.

Don

The fact that Bouton's book was indeed so controversial when first
published (1970?) and yet seems so tame now is definitely part of what
makes it so utterly hilarious. It's incredible how square and uptight
the baseball community was back then. If you didn't have a military
crew-cut you were some sort of hippy freak in baseball. I seem to
recall that Bouton used to get his own room when they played out of
town because of his opposition to the Vietnam war. The team managers
thought he was a communist. And if you really want to get a better
picture of just how much of a ****storm that book created, look for a
used copy of his long out-of-print follow up book titled "I'm Glad You
Didn't Take It Personally". It details all of the death threats he
received and other related insanity that happened the first year after
Ball Four was published. The latest (30th anniversary) edition has a
lengthy follow up on the last ten years. Did you know that Bouton was
not allowed to set foot in the Yankee stadium for over 25 years as a
result of Ball Four? Oh man, don't even get me started. Damn, what a
great book! Everyone should read it. A true American classic.
http://www.jimbouton.com/ballfour.html