The Loss of Innocence...
“Ball Four” is a book written by former MLB pitcher Jim Bouton in 1970. The book is a diary of Bouton’s 1969 season. The book recounts much of Bouton’s baseball career, spent mainly with the Yankees.
Despite its controversy at the time, (commissioner Bowie Kuhn’s attempted to discredit it) “Ball Four” is considered to be one of the most important sports books ever written and the only sports-themed book to make the New York Public Library’s 1996 list of Books of the Century. It also is listed in Time magazine’s 100 greatest non-fiction books of all time. Not bad, right?
I grew up idolizing many baseball icons. As a kid I read every Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Cy Young, and Lou Gehrig book I could get my hands on. Without these books, I might be illiterate today. Of course, I followed the careers of Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, etc. Back in the ’50s and ‘60s in rural Missouri, it was all baseball. The games on the radio were very important and the kids clamored over the trading cards. So, even at the age of 20 (in 1970) I was still pretty much naive about the ‘dark side’ of baseball. That was until Jim Bouton’s book “Ball Four” opened the door. It pretty much shocked the sporting world and yes, stole our innocence so to speak. Fifty-plus years later we know how ‘human’ these athletes were (and still are). We wanted them to be wholesome men that kids could look up to. Mickey Mantle’s drinking problems were not talked about until “Ball Four”. Oh, we knew Babe Ruth liked his beer, but it was presented as a beer or two after the game type of thing. Bouton’s book did not sugarcoat anything. The womanizing, the cheating, the drugs, where all discussed openly. Many, in fact most, baseball people were very mad at Bouton. Even though I did not like finding out that my baseball heroes were so flawed, I did appreciate Bouton telling it like it was. It took years before Jim Bouton was allowed to return to the Yankee circle. It took years for Mantle to finally reconcile with Bouton. They reconciled only after Bouton showed Mantle some kindness, when Mickey lost his son Billy. Billy Mantle died of a heart attack at a drug rehab center. Nowadays we know we have to be skeptical or at least careful before we can look up to our sports heroes. Still many of our sports stars seem to ‘make the cut’ without disappointing their fans. Len Dawson, Hank Aaron, Derek Jeter, Arnold Palmer, Pat Tillman, and Michael Jordan, come to mind. One of the reasons most of us are excited about Patrick Mahomes, besides his ability to win football games, is the hope that he is, ‘one of the good guys’.
Be it, athletes or astronauts, pitchers or presidents, we want them to be one of the good guys (or gals). Someone to look up to. But there is something inside us that likes to know that others are ‘human’, if not flawed. I especially think sport stars and politicians have this shadow hanging over them. Most of us looked up to JFK, and even idolized him, but he had a ton of secrets. He was ‘protected’ by the look-the-other-way-press for a long period of time. When it was finally revealed, it was very disappointing to many of us. Let’s face it, if any of us were completely vetted, most of us, would be found somewhat flawed. Protecting our heroes is a thing of the past. We now know many presidents were not exactly faithful in their marriages. Some compare the loss of innocence in our government with that of baseball. Watergate happened in 1972 two years after “Ball Four”. Before Watergate most citizens felt the government was doing its best or was at least trying to be honest (for the most part). After Watergate (and Vietnam, Civil Rights, etc.) this trust in our government went downhill fast. Again, a loss of innocence. I just read an article about the ‘siege on the capital’ after the 2020 election. Those folks had no faith in the government. Now, back to baseball.
Another book that started the ‘tell all’ approach about baseball was “The Long Season” by Jim Brosnan in 1960. It was witty and candid, but not shocking like “Ball Four”. Think of your favorite sport and some of your favorite players. Be it Larry Bird or Lance Armstrong, be it Joe Namath or Joe Morgan. What are your expectations of them? How flawed would you accept? Do we care as much as we should or as much as we did? With our innocence gone, where do we draw the line? Do we welcome Pete Rose into the HOF? Do we let Barry Bonds get full accolades? Do we forgive Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, Michael Vick, Joe Paterno, Johnny Manziel, and the Astros? Are athletes more likely to be ‘flawed’ than us regular folks? (Another topic.)
I just thought I would share these thoughts. I still like Mickey and the boys, but just wish they would have had more off-field discipline. As far as the government goes I trust as much as I can, but I am often skeptical. I like the adage that you can never trust anybody as president that actually wants the job.
Even though “Ball Four” was not a fanciful fun read about our baseball heroes it did wake us up and that, in the long run, was a good thing. It is fun to note that Bouton’s ex-wife (Bobbie) wrote a tell-all book about how flawed Jim was. Before Jim Bouton passed away in 2019, he was finally allowed back to Yankee Stadium for the Old Timers’ Games. The crowd gave him a warm welcome. Forgiveness is a beautiful thing.
