Book Review: In the Best Interests of Baseball? The Revolutionary Reign of Bud Selig

In the Best Interests of Baseball is fundamentally a review and critique of the governance of major league baseball, past and present. About one-half of the book covers baseball’s leadership from the mid-1800’s to 1992, when Bud Selig was appointed acting commissioner. The second half of the book covers Selig’s fourteen years as “acting”, and then permanent commissioner of baseball.
 
As context for Selig’s activities as commissioner, Zimbalist reviews the organization of “monopoly leagues” (such as MLB, NFL, and other American sports leagues) in comparison to more “open” structures such as European soccer federations. He then presents a history of baseball governance beginning in the 1800’s and up through 1920. Significant attention is then spent on Judge Landis’ appointment as the first “true” commissioner, followed by more brief assessments of Landis’ successors. Zimbalist’s tagging of all commissioners between Landis and Selig as the “Undistinguished Middle” gives a preview of his thoughts on baseball’s leadership between 1944 (Landis’ death) and 1992.
 
Zimbalist gradually turns his focus to Bud Selig, covering his years as a Milwaukee Braves fan, as Brewers’ owner, then as acting commissioner, and finally coming up to the present date in reviewing Selig’s years as the formal commissioner. Overall, the treatment of Selig seems balanced, presenting positives and negatives of his “reign”. Selig gets kudos for getting the owners to work together, for using better governance procedures, and for drastically improving the marketing of MLB. The commissioner is criticized for holding cities “hostage” to stadium-funding demands via the threat of franchise moves. Selig gets a pass on the steroids issue.    
 
This book is in the “business of baseball” genre. While presenting some economic data, it does not stress statistics. Overall, it’s a quick, easy read. One bit of advice – read the notes at the end of the book. They add a lot to the story. SABR members should enjoy this book.
 
Here are the key statistics:
 
Book:  In the Best Interests of Baseball? The Revolutionary Reign of Bud Selig
Author: Andrew Zimbalist                
Author Credentials: Zimbalist is a sports economist, author and economics professor at Smith College. His previous books include Baseball and Billions and May the Best Team Win.  
Published: 2006, Wiley; ISBN 0-471-73533-7                      Length: 218 pages
Price: Retail list – $24.95; Online: new from $14.50 + ship.

Book Review: Foul Ball (plus Part II)

 

Foul Ball is the story of how Jim Bouton and his partners attempted to bring a minor-league baseball team to play in a historic old ballpark in Pittsfield, Mass. Bouton (for reasons that you’ll learn if you read the book) originally self-published Foul Ball in 2003. In Fall Ball (plus Part II), he adds another 150 pages to the story to chronicle his team’s further adventures during 2004.
 
On the heels of a failed referendum to build a new, publicly financed minor league stadium in Pittsfield, Bouton and friends hatch the idea to renovate a historic local ballpark. Pittsfield’s Wahconah Park had been home to baseball for over 100 years. In fact, during Part II it’s discovered that early baseball was being played on the grounds in 1791! However, as one can imagine, the old ball yard is in a state of decay requiring major upgrades in order to attract professional baseball.
 
Enter Bouton (of Ball Four fame), his investment banker neighbor Chip, their wives, and assorted allies. The Bouton team proposes to renovate Wahconah Park and bring in an independent minor league team – all with private investment dollars. All that’s needed is for the city to give them a lease on the publicly owned Wahconah. The odyssey to obtain this lease is the main theme of the story.
 
In pursuit of the lease and team, Bouton and his crew run into opposition from every direction. They have to fend off the powerful supporters of the recently defeated “new stadium initiative”, as well as other business and political factions that seem not to want them to succeed. The opposition even appears to lead back to alleged environmental pollution infractions, and includes the local carpenters’ union. After failing to get the lease in 2001, Bouton and his partners are invited back in 2004 by a new city administration to try again to make it happen.
 
This book is more about politics and civics than it is about baseball. Nonetheless, SABR members that enjoyed Ball Four and a good laugh will enjoy this book.
 
Here’s the key statistics:
 
Book: Foul Ball (plus Part II) My Life and Hard Times Trying to Save an Old Ballpark
Author: Jim Bouton               
Author Credentials: A twenty-game winner and All-Star pitcher, Bouton is best known as the author of Ball Four (published in 1970). He is also a motivational speaker, and gave the keynote address at the 2006 SABR national convention. 
Published: 2005, Lyons Press; ISBN 1-59228-867-7                        Length: 499 pages

Price: Retail list – $17.95; Online: new from $15.95 + ship; used from $6.95 + ship.

 

Book Review: A Well-Paid Slave

 

            A Well-Paid Slave is the story of outfielder Curt Flood and his court challenge of baseball’s reserve clause and anti-trust exemption.
 
The book contains several interesting story lines. Foremost, the book is the story of Flood’s life, from his upbringing in Oakland, California, through his struggles in minor league baseball in the segregated South of the 1950’s, his successes in the Major Leagues as a star center fielder for the 1960’s era Cardinals, his decision to challenge Major League Baseball’s reserve clause by refusing to report to the Phillies when traded after the 1969 season, to his court case and difficult life after baseball. Flood is portrayed on the one hand as a champion of individual freedoms, and on the other hand as an alcoholic who took advantage of others in personal and business relationships.
 
Other story lines contained in the book include:
 
  • The history of baseball-related law, including two prior Supreme Court cases and other rulings that establish baseball’s “presumed anti-trust exemption”.
  • The history of labor relations in baseball, including Marvin Miller’s rise to become the head of the Major League Baseball Players’ Association.
  • The breaking of the color line in MLB, and black baseball players’ impact on the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.
  • The office of the commissioner of baseball, with emphasis on Judge Landis and the book’s antagonist, Bowie Kuhn.
 
This book will be of interest to SABR members, especially those who enjoy reading about baseball law & labor relations, baseball desegregation, and baseball in the 1950s-1970s.
 
 
Here are the key statistics:
 
Book: A Well-Paid Slave; Curt Flood’s Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports
Author: Brad Snyder             
Author Credentials: Snyder is a lawyer and writer. His previous baseball book, Beyond the Shadow of the Senators, The Untold Story of the Homestead Grays and the Integration of Baseball won the SABR Peterson Award.
Published: 2006, Viking        ISBN 0-670-03794-X             Length: 352 pages
Price: Retail list – $25.95; Online: new and used from $15.49 + ship.

 

Membership

There are no membership requirements for SABR, other than enjoying baseball.

Our membership in the Rogers Hornsby Chapter of SABR is as diverse as the attendance at any baseball game.  While we do have writers, historians, curators and university professors in our chapter, we also have engineers, accountants, and craftsmen and workers from all walks of life.  What we share in common is being baseball fans and enjoying watching, reading, and talking about the national pastime.

If you’d like to learn more about the Society for American Baseball Research, please visit the membership link at the SABR national website.

About the Chapter

The Rogers Hornsby chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research serves members in Central and South Texas. We were officially recognized as a SABR chapter in early 2006 (our members having previously been part of the Houston chapter). 

Our membership is active in baseball research, including recently published books, articles, and active blogs. We meet monthly for dinner to talk baseball. We also hold an annual Summer Meeting (usually at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, home of the Rangers’ AAA affiliate, the Round Rock Express).

The big event for our chapter is our annual Winter Meeting, held at Texas State University in San Marcos. The Winter Meeting features presentations and panel discussions by baseball insiders, as well as research presentations by our members.

In addition to this web site, the Rogers Hornsby chapter also operates its own email group list and Facebook page to facilitate discussion among chapter members.

Chapter Info

The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a member-driven, nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster the research, preservation and dissemination of the history and record of baseball. SABR members number over 7,000 world-wide. While SABR does include historians, statisticians, journalists, and professional baseball players, most “SABR-ites” are baseball fans that enjoy watching and discussing the National Pastime.

The Rogers Hornsby chapter of SABR serves Central and South Texas. Our members live in Austin, Belton, San Antonio, San Marcos, the Rio Grande Valley, and all points in between.

For more information about the chapter, please see:

Rogers Hornsby(1)

Photo courtesy of Dean Hendrickson

Book Review: The Numbers Game

The Numbers Game is a book that should appeal to many SABR members. Although the theme of the book is baseball statistics, the stories are really about the history, people, and organizations behind the numbers. There is actually very little mathematics in the book, so if you’re turned off by polynomials you should not let that deter you from reading this well-told story.

Schwarz tells the tale of baseball statistics, beginning with “Father” Henry Chadwick in the 1850s, through Bill James in the 1970s and ‘80s, and coming current with the likes of Billy Beane, Theo Epstein and Paul DePodesta in the 21st century. The histories of many of the statistics-oriented sports organizations are also told – the Elias Sports Bureau, STATS, Inc., Project Scoresheet, Retrosheet, MLB.com, and baseballprospectus.com, among others.

Of course, SABR is prominently featured in several of the chapters.

A theme that runs throughout the book is the battle for recognition faced by the statistics proponents. On one level, there’s the battle for acceptance of statistical analyses by “traditional” baseball men. But also, on another level, there’s the battle between those that “control” the official statistics and those that are challenging the meaning, and often-times the accuracy, of those statistics.

I found the book to be an easy, enjoyable read. This book would be especially useful for new SABR members to familiarize themselves with the statistical landscape of the sport.

Here’s the key statistics:

  • Book: The Numbers Game – Baseball’s Lifelong Fascination with Statistics
  • Author: Alan Schwarz
  • Author Credentials: Baseball America writer, ESPN.com columnist, contributor to New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other national publications.
  • Published: 2004, St. Martin’s Press, ISBN 0-312-3222-4
  • Length: 254 pages; Foreword by Peter Gammons
  • Price: Retail list – $24.95; Online: new from $12.99 + ship; used from $4.25 + ship.

Two Exclusive Clubs

“Two Exclusive Clubs” is a Powerpoint presentation given by Jan Larson at the January 2009 winter meeting of the Rogers Hornsby Chapter.

You can download the presentation for viewing on your computer: Two Clubs

Jan can be reached at jan.a.larson@gmail.com.

Authors notes:

The presentation asks the audience to determine what qualifies the players and umpires in the two groups for membership in one of the two respective “clubs.”  The term “clubs” in this context refers to groups such as the “30/30 club,” the “3000 hit club” and the like.

The nature of the clubs is revealed in subsequent slides.

Kansas City Royals Trivia

Kansas City Royals Trivia

(presented August 2008)

(Move the mouse over the blank space to see the answer)
1. The Kansas City Royals began play in the American League in 1969. Name the current National League clubs that also began play in 1969.

San Diego, Washington (Montreal), Milwaukee (Seattle – AL)
2. Which current major league manager was AL Rookie of the Year for Kansas City in their inaugural season? Lou Piniella
3. Name the other current major league manager(s) that played for the Royals. Clint Hurdle, COL, Bud Black, SD, Bob Melvin, ARI
4. In what year did the Royals have their first winning season?  Bonus:  What was their record? 1971, 85-76
5. On August 17, 1976, Hall-of-Famer George Brett became the only Royals player to accomplish this feat.  What did he do? Game ending steal of home
6.

Diminutive (5’5") former Royals shortstop Fred Patek had a game to remember while playing for the Angels on June 20, 1980.  What did Patek do?

A. Went 5 for 5 including a cycle.
B. Completed an unassisted triple play.
C. Stole five bases.
D. Hit three homeruns.

 D.  Patek hit three homeruns on June 20, 1980 at Fenway Park as a member of the California Angels.
7. The Royals have participated in two World Series.  Name the Royals manager and opponent for each. Jim Frey, Philadelphia (1980) and Dick Howser, St. Louis (1985)
8.

Which of these players did NOT play for the Royals?

A. Gaylord Perry
B. Vida Blue
C. Kirk Gibson
D. Bert Blyleven
E. Willie Mays
F. Willie Mays Aikens
G. Willie Mays Hayes
H. Bill Buckner
I. Orlando Cepeda
J. Harmon Killebrew
K. Julio Franco
L. Bob Boone

D (Blyleven)

E (Mays)

G (Hayes)

K (Franco)
9. The starting shortstop for the Royals first World Series team was U. L. Washington.  What did the initials "U. L." stand for?  Bonus:  What unusual habit did Washington have? Nothing.  Washington kept a toothpick in his mouth while playing.
10. Name the Royals pitcher who threw two no-hitters in his relatively brief career.  Steve Busby
11. Kansas City had three consecutive dismal seasons from 2004-2006.  How many total games did they lose during those seasons. 310
12. Name the current Royals player that was selected as the collegiate player of the year and the Baseball America minor league player of the year the following season. Alex Gordon
13. List the four uniform numbers retired by the Royals. 5 – George Brett, 10 – Dick Howser, 20 -Frank White, 42 -Jackie Robinson
14. The Royals have been affiliated with just one AAA franchise during their history.  In what stadium does the Royals’ AAA franchise play their home games? Rosenblatt Stadium
15. Who was the Royals head groundskeeper during the years that Kauffman Stadium had an artificial turf surface? George Toma
16. What was George Brett’s final batting average in 1980; the season in which he flirted with batting .400? .390
17. What Royals player was named MVP of the 1989 All-Star game? Bo Jackson
18. List the Royals Cy Young Award winners.  Bonus: What year(s)? Bret Saberhagen (1985, 1989), David Cone (1994)
19. List the Royals MVP Award winners.  Bonus:  What year(s)? George Brett, (1980)
20. Former Royals speedster Willie Wilson holds the record for most inside-the-park homeruns for a player playing since 1950.  How many did hit? 13
21. Which pitcher was a 20-game winner three times during his Royals’ career? Dennis Leonard