BALL FOUR - STEVE HOVLEY’S THING
A comic rendering of one of my favorite stories from Ball Four, pitcher Jim Bouton’s controversial diary of his 1969 season, which was the only one that his Seattle Pilots existed. Bouton, a clubhouse outsider owing to his left-wing views and outspoken nature, chronicled and described baseball’s seedy backstage habits and predatory business practices, as well as his colorful teammates’ quirks and personalities.
One of these was his later-roommate Steve Hovley, whose anti-war convictions, reading habit, Levi’s-wearing and refusal to give his hair a trim made teammates and manager alike very nervous (in a time where “longhair” was an insult.) Hovley was a common target for borderline bullying in the clubhouse but enjoyed the company of ballplayers nonetheless. Bouton liked to quote his one-liners and slightly off-the-wall approach to life. This is one of the first stories he tells about Hovley.
