Celebrating Ball Four

From Terry Cannon, executive director of the Baseball Reliquary, which hosted the Sept. 18 event honoring the 40thn anniversary of the literary classic:

Yesterday’s “Ball Four Turns Forty” program…was a marvelous and magical day.  An SRO crowd (approximately 175 attendees) witnessed two wonderful panel discussions and the world premiere screening of “The Seattle Pilots: Short Flight Into History.”

David Davis did a terrific job moderating both panels.  The morning panel included Bouton, Jean Hastings Ardell, David Kipen, and Ron Shelton.  The afternoon panel included Bouton, Tommy Davis, Greg Goossen, historian and collector Charles Kapner, and filmmakers Steve Cox and Brad Powers.

The afternoon panel participants were, from left to right, Steve Cox, Charles Kapner, Tommy Davis, Jim Bouton, Greg Goossen, Brad Powers, and moderator David Davis. Photos by Dan Ardell

Former Seattle Pilots teammates Tommy Davis and Jim Bouton share a laugh.

The festivities concluded with Bouton, Jean Hastings Ardell, Davis, and Greg Goossen signing books and memorabilia for the attendees.

Tom Hoffarth’s article on yesterday’s festivities, “Taking ‘Ball Four,’ 40 years later,” appeared the Los Angeles Daily News.

In addition, the Daily News has posted a photo gallery of images from yesterday’s event, which can be viewed here.

Gary Miller covered “Ball Four Turns Forty” for television station KCAL 9 in Los Angeles, and a short report appeared on the 10:30 Sports Central broadcast. Gary mentioned that a longer story on “Ball Four Turns Forty,” with excerpts from his interview with Jim Bouton, is tentatively scheduled to air on Friday, Sept. 24, between 6 and 6:30 pm, on KCAL 9’s “Think Blue Pre-Game Show,” before the Dodgers-Diamondbacks game.

We’d also like to call your attention to Jay Jaffe’s article, “Ball Four at Forty,” posted on Sept. 14 on the YES Network’s Pinstriped Bible site in New York.

Certainly one of the many highlights from yesterday’s festivities was the world premiere screening of the documentary “The Seattle Pilots: Short Flight Into History,” which was introduced by producers Steve Cox and Brad Powers.  The 84-minute DVD is a wonderful document of the Seattle Pilots’ one season on the planet, framed by the tumultuous era in which they played.  Many of the Pilots are interviewed, including Jim Bouton, Greg Goossen, Gary Bell, Steve Whitaker, the late Jim Pagliaroni, and others.  This would be a worthy addition to any baseball fan’s DVD collection.  For information on purchasing a copy, contact Steve Cox at steve@playballfilms.com.

Finally, for those who did not have the opportunity to attend yesterday’s program, there is still time to view the “Ball Four Turns Forty” exhibition at the Burbank Central Library.  The exhibition, which includes much background information on “Ball Four,” photo scans of some of Bouton’s original notes, and a selection of Seattle Pilots photographs and memorabilia, will run through Oct. 1 at the Burbank Central Library, 110 N. Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank, California.