On this week's episode of SABRCast, Rob Neyer chats with Janet Marie Smith of the Los Angeles Dodgers about the revolutionary ideas she helped bring to ballpark design in the early 1990s and how those ideas still resonate across the league today. And, as Rob and Scott discuss who won the weekend, they detail their relationships with those captivating little cardboard photographs known as trading cards. For show notes, extra content, and a list of what Rob's reading, visit the SABRCast website at https://sabr.org/sabrcast
What's Rob reading this week?
Ball Four: The Final Pitch (Audible edition) By Jim Bouton
When Ball Four was published in 1970, it created a firestorm. Bouton, a former New York Yankees star turned journeyman knuckleballer with the Seattle Pilots, was called a Judas, a Benedict Arnold and a “social leper” for having violated the “sanctity of the clubhouse.” Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force Bouton to sign a statement saying the book wasn’t true. Ballplayers, most of whom hadn’t read it, denounced the book. It was even banned by a few libraries. Almost everyone else, however, loved Ball Four. Fans liked discovering that athletes were real people — often wildly funny people. Many readers said it gave them strength to get through a difficult period in their lives. Serious critics called it an important document. In 1999 Ball Four was selected by the New York Public Library as one of the “Books of the Century.” And Time magazine chose it as one of the "100 Greatest Non-Fiction" books. Click here to listen to Jim Bouton read the audiobook version of Ball Four at Audible.com.
Also reading: Jacob Bogage: "Baseball card collectors suspected rampant fraud in their hobby. Now the FBI is investigating." (Washington Post)
Also reading: Robert Silverman: "Inside Baseball Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera’s Far-Right Politics" (The Daily Beast)
Read more: Click here to check out Rob's full list of book recommendations on Goodreads.com