Ball Four at 40

This announcement comes via The Baseball Reliquary:

The Baseball Reliquary presents “Ball Four Turns Forty,” an exhibition celebrating one of the great books in American literature, Jim Bouton’s Ball Four, on the occasion of the 40^th anniversary of its publication. The exhibition, which opened on Aug. 9, runs through Oct. 1, 2010 in the lobby display cases of the Burbank Central Library, 110 N. Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank, Calif.

Former major league pitcher Jim Bouton’s greatest impact on the game came as the author of Ball Four, published in 1970, arguably the most influential baseball book ever written and one which forever changed the face of sportswriting and our conception of what it means to be a professional athlete.

A diary of Bouton’s attempt to resurrect his career as a knuckleball pitcher with the Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros in 1969 (before coming up with a sore arm in 1965, Bouton had considerable success with the New York Yankees, including two World Series victories over the St. Louis Cardinals), Ball Four was vilified by the baseball establishment for its candid depiction of the sex-obsessed lives of major league players, the pernicious conduct of ownership and management, and the intolerance to nonconformists such as the author himself (who was distrusted even by his teammates for his outspoken opposition to the Vietnam War and his strong pro-union stance in the locker room).

Fearful that Ball Four would damage baseball’s “image,” Commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to suppress it, which only ensured its commercial success.

Although its startling revelations overshadowed the book’s brilliance as one of the great sociological documents of the period, Ball Four has, in the decades since its publication, assumed its proper place in American literature. It was even anointed in 1995 by the New York Public Library as one of its “Books of the Century” — the only sports book so honored — along with such classics as The Great Gatsby, Gone With the Wind, In Cold Blood, and Catch-22.

Among the materials on view in the exhibition are several of the hardcover editions of Ball Four that have been published over the years, as well as photo scans of some of Bouton’s original notes for Ball Four, which were often written on whatever was handy at the moment: hotel stationery, scorecards, popcorn boxes, laundry receipts, cocktail napkins, menus, ticket stubs, travel itineraries, air sickness bags, even toilet paper.

Also on display is a selection of Seattle Pilots photographs and memorabilia. The expansion Pilots would become famous as the first major league baseball team to declare bankruptcy and the first club since the 1901 Milwaukee Brewers to last only a single season. Just days before the start of the 1970 season, the American League endorsed an agreement that allowed the Pilots to be sold to Milwaukee.

Although the Pilots played just one summer, they were immortalized in the pages of Ball Four and have attained a cult status over the years. “What is the attraction of the Seattle Pilots?” Bouton has asked. “I think the fact that they existed for only one year has made them special. Unclaimed by town or franchise, the Pilots are like the Flying Dutchmen, doomed to sail endlessly without a harbor. Or, as the decades pass, more like Brigadoon, the enchanted village that comes alive every hundred years.”

Library hours for the exhibition are Monday-Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday, 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; and closed Sunday. For further information, contact the Baseball Reliquary at 626-791-7647 or  terymar@earthlink.net.

The exhibition is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.

SPECIAL PROGRAM: In conjunction with the exhibition, “Ball Four Turns Forty,” the Baseball Reliquary will present a day-long event on Saturday, September 18, 2010, from 11:00 am-5:00 pm, at the Burbank Central Library Auditorium. The festivities will include two panel discussions on Ball Four and the Seattle Pilots; the Los Angeles premiere screening of the documentary film, The Seattle Pilots: Short Flight Into History; and a book signing with Jim Bouton, who will appear in person from his home in Massachusetts. A separate press release on this very important event will be sent as soon as all of the guest speakers and details are finalized.