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Title: Among the first of its kind...
Review: "Ball Four" from Jim Bouton and "The Jocks" by Leonard Shecter were the first books I read as a kid that showed professional athletes were human beings rather than icons, and that the idealism and purity of our sports were better taken with a rather large grain of salt. It's no surprise that Shecter served as editor of Bouton's book. I remember being stunned by "The Jocks" when it first came out, and although times have changed greatly and tell-all books come out frequently, Shecter's cynical take still manages to be an eye-opener.
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