Foul Ball: My Life And Hard Times Trying To Save An Old Ballpark (RosettaBooks Sports Classics)
United States history, Politics and government, Baseball, Sports and games
Synthetic audio, Automated braille
Summary
A rollicking and &“compelling&” true story of baseball, big money, and small-town politics by the author of the classic Ball Four (Publishers Weekly). Host to organized baseball since 1892, Pittsfield, Massachusetts&’s Wahconah Park was soon to be abandoned by… the owner of the Pittsfield Mets, who would move his team to a new stadium in another town—an all too familiar story. Enter former Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton and his partner with the best deal ever offered to a community: a locally owned professional baseball team and a privately restored city-owned ballpark at no cost to the taxpayers. The only people who didn&’t like Bouton's plan were the mayor, the mayor's hand-picked Parks Commissioners, a majority of the City Council, the only daily newspaper, the city&’s largest bank, its most powerful law firm, and a guy from General Electric. Everyone else—or approximately 98% of the citizens of Pittsfield—loved it. But the &“good old boys&” hated Bouton&’s plan because it would put a stake in the heart of a proposed $18.5 million baseball stadium—a new stadium that the citizens of Pittsfield had voted against three different times. In this riveting account, Bouton unmasks a mayor who brags that &“the fix is in,&” a newspaper that lies to its readers, and a government that operates out of a bar. But maybe the most incredible story is what happened after Foul Ball was published—a story in itself. Invited back by a new mayor, Bouton and his partner raise $1.2 million, help discover a document dating Pittsfield&’s baseball origins to 1791, and stage a vintage game that&’s broadcast live by ESPN-TV. Who could have guessed what would happen next? And that this time it would involve the Massachusetts Attorney General? &“An irresistible story whose outcome remains in doubt until the very end. Not just a funny book, but a patriotic one.&”—San Francisco Chronicle &“Bouton proves that a badly run city government can be just as dangerous—and just as hilarious—as a badly run baseball team.&”—Keith Olbermann