I read the 30th Anniversary edition of this book. It included the original diary of Jim Bouton's 1969 season as a major league pitcher trying to reinvent himself, an update 10 years later, 20 years later, and finally 30 years later.

The meat of the book is fantastic. I was underwhelmed with the shocking revelations, of course. This might have something to do with the fact that I am reading the book in 2012, and not 1970. And, the revelations are no worse than what we would see in an average sitcom. But, the story of how teams traveled, and Bouton's personal look at coaches and fellow players made for an interesting read. I also thought it was interesting how casually he would talk about the girls on the road that players would easily pick up, and how it contrasted against the stories of his happy family life. I loved the stories about the kids and how they dealt with new teams and living in new cities.

The first couple of afterwards were interesting, but not mindblowing. We did get to find out that he split from his wife, so I guess the happy family life wasn't quite as happy as he thought. (I read that his ex wife wrote a book with Mike Marshall's wife. It sounds like the standard spousal tell all. I did find it interesting that Bouton's quote was a complaint about telling the world all of his family secrets. Well.... He kind of already did the same thing, and had to live with the infidelity, so I thought that was a lame complaint. Oh well.) The afterwards are a lot better written than the actual book, so I am guessing that his new wife (who is some sort of professor) played a part in editing his prose and making it sound really good. Anyway, as I said they were interesting, but not really that great. Until we get to the final afterward. That was an incredible eulogy to his daughter. Like a novel, the kid who early in the book is impossible to hurt, gets killed in a car accident, and the father only arrives right when she dies. Her death, and Bouton's return to Yankee Stadium make for a chapter that in itself is equal to the entire book. The book was interesting in it's look into baseball clubhouses, this chapter was amazing in it's story of a Father's love and the grief over the death of a daughter. I have to admit I cried real tears through this chapter.

It's definitely a product of it's times. But, having said that the book is an interesting read at any time. He comes across poorly when he is so bitter about today's ballplayers. After having lived through having to beg for pay raises, you would think he would celebrate the modern day player who finally have the upper hand in the situation. Anyway, the book on the whole is excellent. The writing in the final afterward was so good that I added a half a star to my rating.