Posted by Os Davis in baseball, books, films, video | 11 Comments
Happy 40th, Ball Four!
How this event passed so low under the media radar is beyond BuckBokai – unless it can simply be attributed to the reality that *nobody reads books anymore* – but the 40th anniversary of the release of “Ball Four” was celebrated in Burbank yesterday with a show put on by nonprofit historical group The Baseball Reliquary.
Author/former Major League pitcher Jim Bouton was at the Burbank Central Library for “Ball Four Turns Forty,” along with Greg Goossen and hundreds of devotees to the Seattle Pilots and Bouton’s work. Just in case talking the greatest baseball book ever written and the greatest one-season MLB franchise of all-time weren’t enough, the premiere screening of the documentary The Seattle Pilots: Short Flight into History also ran.
(Stepping in personally, this enthusiast’s take on “Ball Four” may be found here. Suffice to say that, without this landmark book, it’s likely neither aspect of BuckBokai would exist.)
Unfortunately, Bouton hasn’t updated his official website since the Mitchell Commission Report (no exaggeration) and California ‘papers were utterly slack in reportage – save for a good bit with lots of Joe Schultz in the San Bernardino Sun and an okay article in the Los Angeles Times – before and after the event, so the great quotage and fun will probably be left forever the sole property of those lucky enough to attend. You can order the DVD of the documentary here.
In celebration, Buck Bokai offers nearly 15 minutes worth of trailer from “Short Flight,” plus an excerpt from the film and a take on Ball Four’s impact on baseball from ESPN’s Sports Center: The 70s. Now go out there, smoke ‘em inside and then come back in and pound the Budweiser.