Ball Four Turns 40

Jim Bouton’s “Ball Four” was a groundbreaking, shocking, and controversial book when it debuted in the summer of 1970. The book became a classic that changed how sports books were written, selling between 5 and 6 million copies. 40 years later, Bouton and former teammates spin hilarious stories from behind baseball’s cloistered clubhouses, giving a rare glimpse inside Major League baseball in the 1960s. The book’s cultural impact is examined by filmmaker and former pro baseball player Ron Shelton (“Bull Durham”), author Jean Hastings Ardell, and David Kipen, former director of literature for the NEA.