Foul Ball: My Life and Hard Times Trying to Save an Old Ballpark

Like a lot of people, I read "Ball Four" when it first came out (a real eye-opener for an 11-year-old). While it was shocking to many folks at the time, it broke the mold for how a baseball book is written, and it says much that in nearly 40 years there hasn't been anything like it since. But "Foul Ball" comes pretty close. Instead of trying to save his career as a major league pitcher, this time Jim Bouton is trying to save a minor league ballpark. A lot of things have happened in Bouton's life since "Ball Four," and you get caught up on a lot of that. The main thrust is that his plan to save Wahconah Park and bring a new pro baseball team to Pittsfield, Massachusetts is met by terrific enthusiasm from everyone but the people who actually run Pittsfield: The government, the bankers, General Electric and the local newspaper. Those folks want to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to build a new ballpark on a site where GE may have dumped lots and lots of toxic chemicals (and coincidentally is owned by the same newspaper lobbying for the new stadium). Anyone with a sense of fair play will be infuriated by what happens to Bouton, his partners and the good people in Pittsfield...and there ARE good people there. Just none in the right places, apparently. Through it all, you'll smile at Bouton's observations and sense of humor in what becomes a Quixotic journey that anyone who has stood in the way of the powers that be will more than understand. "Ball Four" is a lot easier read, but "Foul Ball" is a deeper one, more challenging to the reader, but well worth reading. I highly recommend it. NOTE: There is an initial self-published printing of "Foul Ball" (a story in itself), but it does not contain Part II, which is integral to the full story.

Bouton does not quite duplicate his early successes, but he is a lively, witty, and informative writer, and makes the best of the material he has to work with. I'd like to see him tackle sometning new, like the current drug scene in baseball.

Jim Bouton's pitching days are past, but his love for baseball will never end. _Foul Ball_ tells the story of his efforts, in concert with a good friend, to save a historic minor league baseball park.Anyone who has ever read Bouton knows of his style: entertaining, self-deprecatory, perceptive and candid. This greatly broadens the appeal of what would otherwise be a book of fairly narrow interest. By the time I finished it, I was willing to collect signatures for a petition to save the place, so fully was I drawn into the story. If I ever pass through Massachusetts, I simply have to see Wahconah Park.But what makes the story so relevant to many far from Massachusetts is its description of the constant conflict between small-town America's city governments and people. Bouton's story rings very true with me because I live in a town of similar size to Pittsfield (40-50,000), and I see locally the behaviours he has chronicled: an arrogant city government more concerned with building itself Taj Mahals and handing out fat contracts than doing the will of the people. A newspaper that works hand in glove with the city functionaries to further its own selfish interests. Legal harassment of those who dare dissent openly, and city employees acknowledging that the system is horribly corrupt but terrified to say so. And overshadowing it all, the pandering of city government to corporate greed and pressure--in the case of Pittsfield, GE and its apparent history of gross PCB spillage.Fighting City Hall is not easy, and few do so, but Jim Bouton and Chip Elitzer had the guts to do it, for the love of baseball and history. When the original publisher mysteriously reneged on its agreement to put this book into print--gee, I wonder why--Bouton self-published it. It was well worth my money. Recommended for baseball fans, as well as anyone who has ever seen a city government wield power 'just because it can.'

As a resident of Seattle, it's easy to get caught up in a story about politicians desperate to build a new stadium, despite the voters' clearly-stated opposition to the idea -- especially when the guy telling the story used to play for our hard-luck Pilots. But it quickly becomes clear that this story is about a lot more than just a ballpark ... about more, even, than just baseball. If Jim Bouton's first book, "Ball Four" (which I admit to not having read yet, though it's way up on my to-read list now), was a masterpiece of baseball literature, "Foul Ball" is not only a masterpiece of muckraking journalism, it's also simply an engrossing story, very well told.In attempting to save historic Wahconah Park, and professional baseball, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Bouton and his partners run up against a closed power structure that controls politics, finance, and the town's one daily paper. Over time, the people of Pittsfield rally behind his cause in overwhelming numbers ... or rather, in numbers that would be overwhelming anyplace but Pittsfield. There, the political-financial-media rulers ignore the public, cut their backroom deals, manipulate or intimidate opponents, and steamroll ahead to achieve the outcome they had settled on long ago. It's about money, and accountability, and power -- but mostly, I think, about money. "Everybody's just going to have to live with it."Bouton tells his story with surprising good humor, considering how infuriating the whole thing is. He is insightful and bold, with a sharp eye for detail and a talent for description. And he literally puts his money where his mouth is, choosing to publish this title himself rather than make the bowdlerizing edits demanded by his initial publishers. I strongly encourage you to reward his risk-taking (and get yourself a darn fine book in the process) by buying one or two copies of "Foul Ball" yourself.

Jim Bouton is all grown-up. He's living happily in Massachusetts despite, like many other grown-ups, getting over a deep loss. He still loves baseball and often goes to minor league games in Pittsfield. The park is run-down but he sees it's potential as an historical landmark. Ah, but the local newspaper and politicians want a new stadium. Thus begins a conflict that mirrors the American problem of whether or not our republic is 'of the people' or of the people with money and power.Bouton's mockingbird flies freely throughout the narrative. He lets his pal, Chip, be smart and be a hero. It's as if Chip was a catcher calling a good game. There are even Gary Bell updates.Foul Ball is beyond a great read. As much fun as it is to hear his 'voice' again, it is more important that stories like this be heard. Read this for fun but afterwards, keep an eye out for bulldozers.