Update 8/11

Book club is officially over and the discussion thread is here.

Update 7/28

The weekly threads don't seem to be great idea, so I am going to pivot. I won't be posting any more weekly threads. Instead, if you have thoughts while reading, post them on this thread. On August 11, I'll post a thread for discussion of the entire book.

Update 6/30

Welcome to the TexAgs Off Season Baseball Book Club! We are reading Ball Four by Jim Bouton. Book club officially runs from July 1 to August 11, a period of six weeks.

Each week on Mondays, I will post a discussion thread. The book is divided into 7 chapters, called parts, so here is the schedule:

July 7 - Parts 1 and 2 (Discussion thread)
July 14 - Part 3 (Discussion thread)
July 21 - Part 4 (Discussion thread)
July 28 - Part 5
August 4 - Part 6
August 11 - Part 7, additions from various anniversary editions, and wrap-up

Don't feel pressured to read at this pace. Feel free to read ahead or take more time. I am just making weekly threads to keep a discussion going throughout the reading period instead of having it all at the end. I think it will be more fun and engaging that way.

To be fair to everyone, I am just going to ask in each discussion thread that you keep discussion only to things that happened in the book up to the part that is being discussed. (e.g. don't bring up things that happened in part 4 before the July 21 thread)

Happy reading!


Update 6/20

Welcome to the TexAgs Off Season Baseball Book Club! We will be reading Ball Four by Jim Bouton. This book won 50% of the votes in a poll of participants. As I understand it, there have been several editions of this book over the years. I'm going to say it's fine if you can get any edition. It will make for interesting discussion if there are major differences in the editions.

Club will officially start on July 1, so you have some time to acquire the book. Here are some easy links for buying in various formats:

Paperback
Ebook
Audio Book

In addition, our reporters in the field indicate that the book is included with both Spotify Premium and Kindle Unlimited.

I also urge you to check your local library to see if they have the book available. Or you can check used book stores/sites to find books at a discount.

Book club will officially run from July 1 to August 11, a period of six weeks. Right now, I'm thinking about posting one thread a week on Mondays for discussion of the book at certain breaking points. You can get a head start if you want, but please don't post book discussion until you see one of these threads so that we can all talk about it together. (First thread is planned for July 7.)

Happy reading!

Totally up for it.

lots of pictures??

In!

Boss Man (Minks, not an athlete) used to do this in twitter before he became all busy with kids and job and all that

trouble said:

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I wouldn't mind throwing some YA in there as well for fast reads. The one you recommended for Mal last year was great. He's read it multiple times now

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Aw that's awesome! May I recommend my favorite middle-grade baseball book? He might like it, too. It's The Batboy by Mike Lupica. A 14-year-old kid gets a summer job as batboy for the Detroit Tigers. That summer, the team acquires his favorite player, an old veteran who had previously gotten in trouble for steroid usage and who was never the same after. Meeting the player doesn't go like the kid hoped, but over the summer they both find out that maybe they have things to learn from each other.

It's an absolute love letter to baseball.

In the case you love Field of Dreams and haven't read Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella that the movie is adapted from, it's a real treat. It made me actually read The Catcher in the Rye…

Im following along to see what gets suggested. I may be in the minority but there are some really poorly written sports books. Not all of them, of course, but some are real woofers. Love the idea and looking forward to a potential pool of adds to my TBR list.

My daughter got me Wingman by Adam Lazurus for Christmas. It's only partially about baseball. It's tells the relationship between John Glenn and Ted Williams over the years. When Ted Williams was drafted back into service during the Korean War, he was one of John Glenn's wingmen. They stayed friends until Williams death.

Agsncws said:

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Im following along to see what gets suggested. I may be in the minority but there are some really poorly written sports books. Not all of them, of course, but some are real woofers. Love the idea and looking forward to a potential pool of adds to my TBR list.

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That's true about all genres, sadly. You just don't know until you read them, either.

If you're looking for a good sports book not about baseball, I recommend The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. It's about the University of Washington rowing team that went to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. I listened to it on a long road trip and was just enthralled.

If y'all are still neeeing recommendations.....there is a book about A&M baseball during the Childress era by Heath Cleary called All It Takes Is Everything You've Got.....I own it but haven't read it yet