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The Wrong Stuff
The return of a sports classic with a new foreword by the author
Finally back in print after many years, here is Bill Lee’s classic tale of his renegade life on and off the mound. Whether walking out on the Montreal Expos to protest the release of a valued teammate or telling sportswriters eager for candid and offbeat comments more about the game than his bosses wanted anyone to know, pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee became celebrated as much for his rebellious personality as for his remarkable talent. Add to the mix his affinity for Eastern religions and controversial causes, and you can see why Lee infuriated the establishment while entertaining his legion of fans.
In this wildly funny memoir that became a massive bestseller in the United States and Canada when it was first published, Lee recounts the colorful story of his life—from the drugged-out antics of his college days at USC (where he learned that “marijuana never hammered me like a good Camel”) to his post–World Series travels with a group of liberal long-distance runners through Red China (where he discovered that conservatives don’t like marathons because “it’s much easier to climb into a Rolls-Royce”). Lee also describes his minor league days, joining the Reserves during the Vietnam War, his time with the Red Sox, and the 1975 World Series. He spares no detail while recalling his infamous falling-out with Red Sox management that led to his trade to Montreal.
Full of irreverent wit, and an inherent love of the game, The Wrong Stuff is a sports classic for a new generation.
242 pages, Hardcover
First published June 11, 1984
22 people are currently reading
528 people want to read
About the author
Bill Lee
106 books5 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
August 9, 2020
4.5 stars. The best of the tell-all baseball books that I’ve read.
September 2, 2017
"You're supposed to sit on your ass and nod at stupid things
Man, that's hard to do;
And if you don't they'll screw you,
And if you do they'll screw you too.
When I'm standing in the middle of the diamond all alone:
I always play to win, when it comes to skin and bone.
And sometimes I say things I shouldn't, like..."
"Bill Lee" by Warren Zevon
Since opening Fenway in 1912, the Boston Red Sox have displayed a remarkably cavalier attitude towards developing and holding onto left-handed starters, frittering away such talents as John Tudor, Bruce Hurst, and the inimitable Bill Lee. This despite the fact that their archnemesis New York Yankees have always boasted lineups heavily weighted towards lefties, and that three of their own best four hitters (Ted Williams, Manny Ramirez, Yaz, and Wade Boggs: this list doesn't take Babe Ruth into account, although he was a pretty fair left-handed starter in his own right) batted from the left side.
From 1973-1975, Lee posted consecutive 17 win seasons; after staging a one man protest when Sox brass sold Bernie Carbo, Lee was sold to Montreal. After staging a one man protest when the Expos released Rodney Scott, Lee found himself out of professional Baseball.
To me, Lee is the anti-Curt Schilling; where Schilling is always eager to trumpet his support of God and George Bush, Lee is always there to stand up for the underdog.
Profane, profound, and quixotic, every word of this memoir breathes a deep reverence for the Game, as well as a good natured bemusement at the follies of those who run it.
Man, that's hard to do;
And if you don't they'll screw you,
And if you do they'll screw you too.
When I'm standing in the middle of the diamond all alone:
I always play to win, when it comes to skin and bone.
And sometimes I say things I shouldn't, like..."
"Bill Lee" by Warren Zevon
Since opening Fenway in 1912, the Boston Red Sox have displayed a remarkably cavalier attitude towards developing and holding onto left-handed starters, frittering away such talents as John Tudor, Bruce Hurst, and the inimitable Bill Lee. This despite the fact that their archnemesis New York Yankees have always boasted lineups heavily weighted towards lefties, and that three of their own best four hitters (Ted Williams, Manny Ramirez, Yaz, and Wade Boggs: this list doesn't take Babe Ruth into account, although he was a pretty fair left-handed starter in his own right) batted from the left side.
From 1973-1975, Lee posted consecutive 17 win seasons; after staging a one man protest when Sox brass sold Bernie Carbo, Lee was sold to Montreal. After staging a one man protest when the Expos released Rodney Scott, Lee found himself out of professional Baseball.
To me, Lee is the anti-Curt Schilling; where Schilling is always eager to trumpet his support of God and George Bush, Lee is always there to stand up for the underdog.
Profane, profound, and quixotic, every word of this memoir breathes a deep reverence for the Game, as well as a good natured bemusement at the follies of those who run it.
July 13, 2011
The first memoir I ever read. It was actually a lot of fun to read, though it's definitely better if you're a fan of the game. Bill Lee goes through his entire baseball career: the ups, downs, and his aversion to navy blue pinstripes. This book actually made me a Red Sox fan.
April 18, 2024
An entertaining book from a pitcher that was always considered odd. I'm not so sure he was odd, he was just narcissistic and that clouded his judgement. Anyway the book did a good job going through his career and his high and low points.
Recommended for a nice quick read. By the way, he kept saying at the end that he was blackballed by baseball. Ok fine, but is it being blackballed when you had a history of being difficult and had literally walked out on two different teams because you didn't like player transactions the team made? To me it would be insane to hire him even if he still could pitch. With that being said, I can't say he doesn't have a charm about him and that he is entertaining in his way.
Recommended for a nice quick read. By the way, he kept saying at the end that he was blackballed by baseball. Ok fine, but is it being blackballed when you had a history of being difficult and had literally walked out on two different teams because you didn't like player transactions the team made? To me it would be insane to hire him even if he still could pitch. With that being said, I can't say he doesn't have a charm about him and that he is entertaining in his way.
December 9, 2021
good short account of lee's career. lee and lally do a nice job of putting lee's voice on the page, in a style not entirely dissimilar to bill veeck's longer autobio (both contain a number of memorable zingers and one-liners).
from lee, you get a good sense of the game's positives and negatives during its 70s/80s phase, from drug use to womanizing to the overall style of play (he hates the DH and enjoys hitting). lee, always a starry-eyed idealist, is a kind of eco-left libertarian type, opposed both to the depopulation of salmon and the spotted owl as well as free agency.
from lee, you get a good sense of the game's positives and negatives during its 70s/80s phase, from drug use to womanizing to the overall style of play (he hates the DH and enjoys hitting). lee, always a starry-eyed idealist, is a kind of eco-left libertarian type, opposed both to the depopulation of salmon and the spotted owl as well as free agency.
March 15, 2020
If you open the side door to this book, a clatter of beer cans and empty bottles will fall out on the ground, along with a baggie and a roach clip. This an autobiographical book about 1970's left-handed pitcher Bill "Spaceman" Lee, and there are at least 30 pages in it that don't mention intoxicants at all, and 15 of those that aren't silly hooey that goes on in his head. But that doesn't leave much at all of what I was hoping for--a window into a sport and an era in that sport, that I like to read about.
Don't get me wrong, I like cult ballplayers and original thinkers. But Bill Lee, while he is probably the former, isn't much the latter. To my mind, what he is (at least as of the wrting of this rather old book) is an overgrown adolescent boy who can throw a baseball unusually well. Pluck any high schooler out of class and you can get the same half-baked, party hearty, vague dime-store philosophy that will give way, for most of them, pdq. It's not rare, not cute, not deep, not anything really, and not enough to base a book on.
It's not as if I didn't know that baseball players of Lee's era were heavy into the bar scene. Like the authors of a few other baseball tell-alls I've read, Lee makes the drunk's mistake of thinking that eveyone else is as fascinated and entertained by these boozy tales as he is. To me, most of the stories he recounts were just reptitive and tiresome. Grow up already, friend. Although Lee does occasionally have a pretty good sense of humor, and the book did make me laugh a few times, reading this book was mostly akin to being stuck in an airplane seat next to a loaded former athlete telling repititious war stories. If you want to read a good baseball book, read David Halberstam, not this.
Don't get me wrong, I like cult ballplayers and original thinkers. But Bill Lee, while he is probably the former, isn't much the latter. To my mind, what he is (at least as of the wrting of this rather old book) is an overgrown adolescent boy who can throw a baseball unusually well. Pluck any high schooler out of class and you can get the same half-baked, party hearty, vague dime-store philosophy that will give way, for most of them, pdq. It's not rare, not cute, not deep, not anything really, and not enough to base a book on.
It's not as if I didn't know that baseball players of Lee's era were heavy into the bar scene. Like the authors of a few other baseball tell-alls I've read, Lee makes the drunk's mistake of thinking that eveyone else is as fascinated and entertained by these boozy tales as he is. To me, most of the stories he recounts were just reptitive and tiresome. Grow up already, friend. Although Lee does occasionally have a pretty good sense of humor, and the book did make me laugh a few times, reading this book was mostly akin to being stuck in an airplane seat next to a loaded former athlete telling repititious war stories. If you want to read a good baseball book, read David Halberstam, not this.
June 6, 2016
#9, Esquire’s list of The Twenty Best Baseball Books Ever
Briefly: Ball Four-lite
Had The Wrong Stuff come out in 1965, it would have been a revolutionary look at the inside of the game from a player’s perspective, the sort of tell-all for which publishers salivate. As it stands, Bill “Spaceman” Lee’s book was published over 15 years after the release of Ball Four, and as such, it reads like a pale imitation.
Lee’s book suffers from its placement on the Pareto Frontier: that’s the economic principle stating that a choice must outpace other options on at least one dimension for it to be worth selecting; otherwise, it is considered a “dominated choice.” In this case, on every dimension, Ball Four is a stronger alternative than The Wrong Stuff, meaning this memoir is a dominated choice.
If you’re a reader who can’t get enough of Ball Four, Lee’s book is worth reading. But most readers will be better off sticking to the original that Lee so clearly emulated.
Briefly: Ball Four-lite
Had The Wrong Stuff come out in 1965, it would have been a revolutionary look at the inside of the game from a player’s perspective, the sort of tell-all for which publishers salivate. As it stands, Bill “Spaceman” Lee’s book was published over 15 years after the release of Ball Four, and as such, it reads like a pale imitation.
Lee’s book suffers from its placement on the Pareto Frontier: that’s the economic principle stating that a choice must outpace other options on at least one dimension for it to be worth selecting; otherwise, it is considered a “dominated choice.” In this case, on every dimension, Ball Four is a stronger alternative than The Wrong Stuff, meaning this memoir is a dominated choice.
If you’re a reader who can’t get enough of Ball Four, Lee’s book is worth reading. But most readers will be better off sticking to the original that Lee so clearly emulated.
September 27, 2011
The Wrong Stuff was one of the more entertaining baseball books I've ever read. It is the true story of ex-Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee's time in the majors and life just after it. Lee is eccentric, to say the least, and not shy about relating the realities of life on the road: the boozing, drugs, and women. He doesn't write about these shenanigans with puffed up bravado. He is more interested in conveying the circus atmosphere of professional sports, and does so with bemusement and humor. Also, having all sorts of strange influences - some Eastern, he will spend a couple paragraphs describing a method of pitching without thinking, or pitching with a hangover. It all makes for a very entertaining read.
April 17, 2013
One of the funniest baseball books ever written. Lee was an iconoclast and goofball, but that's okay. He's got plenty of stories to share in this book, from his days with the Boston Red Sox to his time with the Montreal Expos. Lee reveals his philosophy on life, which I guess is Zen Buddhism with a touch of cannabis. He makes no apologies for the great times he had both on and off the field and shares some interesting insights about some of his teammates over the years. Of course, for all his shenanigans, Lee loved the game of baseball.
November 2, 2018
Without a doubt, Bill Lee’s behind the scenes look at what goes on beyond the white lines, or while they snort white lines, is a riot. Baseball fans that grew up in the 1970s will especially appreciate this book due to its portrayal of certain personalities of that era. Pete Rose, Carl Yastrzemski, Bernie Carbo, Dwight Evans, Thurman Munson...no one is off limits.
November 10, 2020
I grew up as a Yankee fan during the time Lee was pitching for the hated Red Sox. Didn't like him because he was a "spaceman", and he played for the Red Sox. Then I saw him on Burns' documentary on baseball. I loved the interviews with Lee, so I decided to read this book. What a treat. I love baseball, and Lee's love for the game came through in his highly humorous story telling. And, he knows baseball. I don't have much in common with Lee other than the love of the game, but I feel like I found a friend in this book, and with his other writings and interviews.
October 24, 2019
A must read for Baseball fans of wannabe Zen practitioners
Bill Lee, is well I own and loved to baseball fans and Absurdists everywhere. This is his story, in his words with an insight into the great American sport in the turbulent 70's. It is peppered with recollections, far out tales and enough reasons why baseball now has mandatory drug testing!
Bill Lee, is well I own and loved to baseball fans and Absurdists everywhere. This is his story, in his words with an insight into the great American sport in the turbulent 70's. It is peppered with recollections, far out tales and enough reasons why baseball now has mandatory drug testing!
March 27, 2025
Re-read this for the first time in years (loaned my first copy out and never got it back) and it remains an absolute baseball classic. I was stunned how much I remembered after all these years. Lee is hilarious and passionate about the game of baseball. Simply one of the best books on baseball you'll ever read
December 26, 2018
A chance to go backstage at the MLB park. Find out what the dugout is all about. I enjoyed learning of the shenanigans of 1970's Boston Red Sox. This book like Ball Four before it tells it like it was. I enjoyed his style of writing. entertaining.
May 19, 2022
I've heard of, "Spaceman" Bill Lee, but reading his story was both interesting and funny. I love baseball, and enjoy reading about the life of a player. But I also enjoyed reading about the life of the man, husband, and father.
July 21, 2019
A humourous return to my youth, when Baseball and the world in general turned upside down.
October 22, 2022
Great storyteller - huge fan of Bill Lee
Read
February 12, 2017Wonderful, unique sense of humor. Observations and commentary could only spring from a left-hander. Highly recommended.
July 20, 2015
A cool look back at his baseball career. Some good stuff on the life of a baseball player - partying, carousing with women, getting ready for a game, the mindset during the game. Does a good job of chronicling time with Boston and Montreal without 'naming names' a la Jim Bouton in Ball Four. And cool stories from time with Boston such as AL East division races of the early-mid 1970s, the 1975 post-season and of course the collapse of 1978. Can see Lee has some lingering bitterness about the way he was treated by Boston at the end. One big downer of the book are the tangents he goes into on drug use..too long and drawn out. A quick, easy and fun read and generally a must for a die hard's baseball fan's list.
May 1, 2012
Bill Lee's "The Wrong Stuff" looks like on the surface just to be another cut and dried quick biography of a former sports star. But after reading this, I was amazed that this book did not garner the same kind of negative attention that Jim Bouton's "Ball Four" did. Lee talks frankly about his drug use, his indiscretions with women, and his general disdain for the powers that be in baseball. If a star today shared similar revalations, I can't imagine the furror it would cause. Lee pitched a little before I started following baseball but his perspecive on things is timeless. I highly recommend this book. (originally posted on Amazon.com)
August 5, 2014
I totally dig books about baseball, and this was a great one. Bill Lee's 'The Wrong Stuff' (1984) is right up there with Jim Bouton's 'Ball Four' and Dirk Hayhurst's 'The Bullpen Gospels' as one of the most truthful, entertaining, insightful, funny, and brutally honest baseball memoirs of all time. Lee doesn't hold anything back, including his thoughts on such baseball figures as Don Zimmer, Luis Tiant, Carlton Fisk, Carl Yastrzemski and an endless list of others.
A highly recommended read for baseball fans, an absolute must for Red Sox fans.
A highly recommended read for baseball fans, an absolute must for Red Sox fans.
May 27, 2012
In the wake of the Red Sox loss to the White Sox, I decided to revisit the past and read Bill Lee‘s autobiography, written with Dick Lally. Lee pitched for the Red Sox during the years that I became a baseball fan. This twenty-year old book is a breezy, amusing recollection of baseball in the seventies. Lee and Lally just wrote another book that will also go on my list of books to read.
Published in hardback by Viking Press.
Published in hardback by Viking Press.
December 22, 2016
One of the tag lines on my copy is "funnier than 'Ball Four' ." I don't feel that this book has held up as well. Lee tells the story of his life and career well and shines light on Don Zimmer, Rodney Scott, marijuana and Luis Tiant, but that's all they were...stories. He has since told some of these stories often and his irreverent tone was no act - what you see with Bill Lee is what you get
December 10, 2007
spaceman might have been too stoned to write a book. but whatever, it hasn't stopped any other old hippie from writing their memoir. go sox!
April 29, 2008
Maybe the best of the second wave of tell all/locker room story baseball books to come out in the wake of Ball Four. Funny stuff.
March 5, 2009
The other great baseball autobiography. From the mind of the man that imagined the perfect pitch as being the one that vanished from the pitcher's hand and appeared in the catcher's glove.
December 29, 2009
this is a very good book ...bill lee was a entertaining ball player..and his book is entertaining also...funny,sad and at times it will make you mad but well worth the read.
December 22, 2009
I love a good baseball book. This one, although a bit of a classic, just didn't measure up for me.
January 13, 2011
Clearly my kindred spirit.
January 16, 2012
Bill Lee was one of my favorite players. This book is entertaining but spotty, without the detail I hoped for. Best, I think, for those who grew up during the time. which would be me.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews