Download or read book Much More Than a Game written by Robert F. Burk and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2003-01-14 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To most Americans, baseball is just a sport; but to those who own baseball teams--and those who play on them--our national pastime is much more than a game. In this book, Robert Burk traces the turbulent labor history of American baseball since 1921. His comprehensive, readable account details the many battles between owners and players that irrevocably altered the business of baseball. During what Burk calls baseball's "paternalistic era," from 1921 to the early 1960s, the sport's management rigidly maintained a system of racial segregation, established a network of southern-based farm teams that served as a captive source of cheap replacement labor, and crushed any attempts by players to create collective bargaining institutions. In the 1960s, however, the paternal order crumbled, eroded in part by the civil rights movement and the competition of television. As a consequence, in the "inflationary era" that followed, both players and umpires established effective unions that successfully pressed for higher pay, pensions, and greater occupational mobility--and then fought increasingly bitter struggles to hold on to these hard-won gains.

Download or read book The Extra 2 written by Jonah Keri and published by ESPN. This book was released on 2011-03-08 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What happens when three financial industry whiz kids and certified baseball nuts take over an ailing major league franchise and implement the same strategies that fueled their success on Wall Street? In the case of the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays, an American League championship happens—the culmination of one of the greatest turnarounds in baseball history. In The Extra 2%, financial journalist and sportswriter Jonah Keri chronicles the remarkable story of one team’s Cinderella journey from divisional doormat to World Series contender. When former Goldman Sachs colleagues Stuart Sternberg and Matthew Silverman assumed control of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2005, it looked as if they were buying the baseball equivalent of a penny stock. But the incoming regime came armed with a master plan: to leverage their skill at trading, valuation, and management to build a model twenty-first-century franchise that could compete with their bigger, stronger, richer rivals—and prevail. Together with “boy genius” general manager Andrew Friedman, the new Rays owners jettisoned the old ways of doing things, substituting their own innovative ideas about employee development, marketing and public relations, and personnel management. They exorcized the “devil” from the team’s nickname, developed metrics that let them take advantage of undervalued aspects of the game, like defense, and hired a forward-thinking field manager as dedicated to unconventional strategy as they were. By quantifying the game’s intangibles—that extra 2% that separates a winning organization from a losing one—they were able to deliver to Tampa Bay something that Billy Beane’s “Moneyball” had never brought to Oakland: an American League pennant. A book about what happens when you apply your business skills to your life’s passion, The Extra 2% is an informative and entertaining case study for any organization that wants to go from worst to first.

Download or read book The OWNERS All NBA NFL MLB Team Owners Since 1920 written by Bill Beermann and published by . This book was released on 2017-05-23 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A capsule view of the owners of America's "big three" pro sports teams. From yesterday's millionaires to today's billionaires, The Owners is packed with stories, anecdotes, financial deals and blurbs about the individuals who founded, bought or inherited these 92 teams and built pro sports into a mega-billion-dollar entertainment industry.

Download or read book 100 of the Top Baseball Team Owners of All Time written by Alex Trost and published by A&V. This book was released on 2014-06-13 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are you looking for a journey that will take you through this amazing obok, along with funny comments and a word puzzle? Then this book is for you. Whether you are looking at this book for curiosity, choices, options, or just for fun; this book fits any criteria. Writing this book did not happen quickly. It is thorough look at accuracy and foundation before the book was even started. This book was created to inform, entertain and maybe even test your knowledge. By the time you finish reading this book you will want to share it with others.

Download or read book Major League Baseball Organizations written by Frank P. Jozsa and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2016-10-07 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyzes and highlights the development and success of major league baseball teams in the National League and the American League, focusing on each team’s performance in seasons and postseasons and to what extent each succeeded as a business enterprise despite competition for market share from other types of entertainment. The book discusses historical and financial information about the 30 major league franchises. Each chapter contains two core themes—Team Performances and Franchise Business. The former highlights which and how teams won division and league championships and World Series while the latter lists and compares financial data including their revenue, gate receipts, and operating income and describes interesting business topics. Each chapter also provides an overview of when each franchise organized and why it joined MLB, a brief profile of its current majority owner or ownership group, records of teams’ special coaches and players, attendances at home games, and how their ballparks rank as a venue for fans. Baseball Business explains why particular teams located in large, midsized, or small markets win more games and titles than others and when and how frequently that occurs. Furthermore, it provides ways to compare franchises’ financial success individually, by division, and by league. By linking and comparing the historical performances of MLB teams to financial information about them as business organizations, this book offers a unique contribution to the literature on the sports industry.

Download or read book May the Best Team Win written by Andrew Zimbalist and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2010-12-01 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The business of baseball stands in sharp contrast to the game’s wholesome image as America’s favorite pastime. Major league baseball is a deeply troubled industry, facing chronic problems that threaten its future: persistent labor tensions, competitive dominance by high-revenue teams, migration of game telecasts to cable, and escalating ticket prices. Amid the threat of contraction, existing franchises are demanding public subsidies for new stadiums, while viable host cities are begging for teams. The game’s core base of fans is aging, and MLB is doing precious little to attract a younger audience. According to Andrew Zimbalist, these problems have a common cause: monopoly. Since 1922 MLB has benefited from a presumed exemption from the nation’s antitrust laws. It is the only top-level professional baseball league in the country, and each of its teams is assigned an exclusive territory. Monopolies have market power, which they use to derive higher returns, misallocate resources, and take advantage of consumers. Major league baseball is no exception. In May the Best Team Win, Zimbalist provides a critical analysis of the baseball industry, focusing on the abuses and inefficiencies that have plagued the game since the 1990s, when franchise owners appointed their colleague Bud Selig as MLB’s “independent” commissioner.

Download or read book Never Just a Game written by Robert F. Burk and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2001-03-01 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America's national pastime has been marked from its inception by bitter struggles between owners and players over profit, power, and prestige. In this book, the first installment of a highly readable, comprehensive labor history of baseball, Robert Burk d

Download or read book Making It in the Minors written by Arthur P. Solomon and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2012-10-30 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are many sports-related books about what happens on the playing field, but few are written about the equally interesting stories of what happens on the business side. Why acquire a professional sports team? What goes into the branding, marketing and entertainment that make some teams successful, and others not? What are the challenges that managers and staff face? Are there valuable lessons from the major and minor leagues for university, high school and other amateur sports programs? How do sports teams generate a profit? While the examples are drawn from the business of baseball, the lessons are applicable to other sports and many retail businesses.

Download or read book The Baseball Business written by James Edward Miller and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 1991-04 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Draws on the experiences of the Baltimore Orioles to trace the development of the baseball business since 1950

Download or read book Cuban Star written by Adrian Burgos, Jr. and published by Hill and Wang. This book was released on 2011-04-26 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A proud and boisterous Negro League team owner, Alex Pompez rose to prominence during Latino baseball's earliest glory days. As a passionate and steadfast advocate for Latino players, he helped bring baseball into the modern age. But like many in the era of segregated baseball, Pompez also found that the game alone could never make all ends meet, and he delved headlong into the seedier side of the sport—gambling—to help finance his beloved team, the New York Cubans. He built one of the most infamous numbers rackets in Harlem, rubbing shoulders with titans of the underworld such as Dutch Schultz and eventually arousing the ire of the famed prosecutor Thomas Dewey. He also brought the Cubans, with their incredible lineup of international players, to a Negro League World Series Championship in 1947. Pompez presided over the twilight of the Negro League, holding it together as long as possible in the face of integration even as he helped his players make the transition to the majors. In his later days as a scout, he championed some of the brightest future Latino stars and became one of Latin America's most vocal advocates for the game. That today's rosters are filled with names like Rodriguez, Pujols, Rivera, and Ortiz is a testament to the influence of Pompez and his contemporaries.

Download or read book Lady Moguls A History of Women Who Have Owned Major League Baseball Teams written by William a. Cook and published by Sunbury Press, Incorporated. This book was released on 2015-10-27 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Women have been part of the tradition and lore of the game of baseball for over the past one hundred and fifty years. The first organized women's team in the United States was started at Vassar College in 1866. Endless stories abound about women's participation in the grand old game in almost every capacity and have been well documented over the years in many published books. However this book is about an exclusive group of women in baseball history, some of them are well known, but most are not. These are women who have experienced the game from the very top as major league team owners and co-owners. The history of women who have owned major league teams is more than a mere curiosity; their collective stories form an anthology of struggle in a male dominated bastion for acceptance and recognition as entrepreneurs and sports-minded individuals who understand the tradition of the game of baseball and it's ingrained connection to American culture. It all began in 1911 when Helene Hathaway Robison Britton inherited the St. Louis Cardinals and the saga continued through the ensuing decades of the twentieth century with various women gaining control of major league teams through subsequent inheritances. Then in 1985 a watershed event occurred for women in major league baseball. Marge Schott gained majority control of the Cincinnati Reds, joining Jean Yawkey of the Boston Red Sox and Joan Kroc of the San Diego Padres thereby bringing the number of women to three who owned major league teams at that time. While most of the woman who have owned major league teams gained control through inheritances, a few such as Joan Payson of the New York Mets and Marge Schott of the Cincinnati Reds, both of whom had strong independent interests in the game, gained majority control of their team with their own finances. A more recent co-owner who bought a considerable share of the Colorado Rockies with her own money is Linda Alvarado. The degree to which the lady moguls have taken an active role in running their ball clubs is varied. Some such as Eleanor Hempstead who inherited the New York Giants chose to turn the reigns of leadership over to her husband. Others such Grace Comiskey of the Chicago White Sox and Florence Dreyfuss of the Pittsburgh Pirates, while not day-to-day hands-on owners were often involved with major decisions affecting their ball clubs. Marge Schott while very controversial was decidedly hands-on. Also included in this work are stories of women team owners of color. Today, Negro League players are enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and statistics of the leagues' most talented players appear in The Baseball Encyclopedia. Therefore to bridge the gap between the period of exclusion in major league baseball of players and owners of color and today's game, I have included in this work, two women who were involved with ownership and administration of Negro Leagues teams; Olivia Taylor of the Indianapolis ABC's and Effa Manley of the Newark Eagles. In fact in 2006, Effa Manley became the first women elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Collectively these remarkable women have added colorful, enriching and sometimes controversial experiences to the history of major league baseball. It is my hope that their legacy will continue to expand and to inspire women to make further inroads into both ownership and management of big league teams. Contents: Helene Hathaway Robison Britton - St. Louis Cardinals Effa Manley - Newark Eagles Grace Reidy Comiskey - Chicago White Sox Joan W. Payson - New York Mets Jean R. Yawkey - Boston Red Sox Marge Schott - Cincinnati Reds Joan B. Kroc - San Diego Padres Other Notable Lady MLB Owners and Co-owners Notes Bibliography

Download or read book Greatest Team Owners in Baseball History Top 100 written by Alex Trost and published by A&V. This book was released on 2014-06-13 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are you looking for a journey that will take you through this amazing obok, along with funny comments and a word puzzle? Then this book is for you. Whether you are looking at this book for curiosity, choices, options, or just for fun; this book fits any criteria. Writing this book did not happen quickly. It is thorough look at accuracy and foundation before the book was even started. This book was created to inform, entertain and maybe even test your knowledge. By the time you finish reading this book you will want to share it with others.

Download or read book Baseball s Most Notorious Personalities written by Jonathan Weeks and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2013-05-09 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of the 17,000-plus players who have donned major league uniforms over the years, not all were particularly nice or ethical. In fact, the actions of a handful were so heinous, they left an indelible mark on the sport. In Baseball’s Most Notorious Personalities: A Gallery of Rogues, Jonathan Weeks thoroughly examines this dark side of our National Pastime. Liars, cheats, hotheads, even axe murderers—you’ll find them all here in the Gallery. From scapegoats to maniacs, meddling managers to fanatical fans, this book profiles them all. Included are players such as Brooklyn outfielder Len Koenecke, who tried to crash a chartered plane in a maniacal suicide attempt; Ty Cobb, who was known to slide into bases with spikes flying and brawl with anyone who dared oppose him, including an attack on a fan who heckled him from the stands; and Marty Bergen, a talented catcher for the Boston Beaneaters who murdered his family with an axe. These are just a few of the many intriguing individuals found in this volume. Spanning three centuries of baseball—from the 1800s into the current decade—Baseball’s Most Notorious Personalities covers various themes of notoriety. Though some of the stories may be familiar to the dedicated baseball enthusiast, even the most die-hard fan will be shocked and surprised by some of the actions of well-known and lesser-known players, managers, fans, and team owners contained in this book. Baseball’s Most Notorious Personalities is a fascinating read for all baseball fans and historians.

Download or read book The Key Issues Confronting Minor League Baseball written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Small Business and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Distributed to some depository libraries in microfiche.

Download or read book Baseball Inc written by Frank P. Jozsa, Jr. and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2006-02-17 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the second half of the twentieth century, Major League Baseball and its affiliated minor leagues evolved from local and regional entities governing the play of America's favorite pastime to national business organizations. The relocation of teams, league expansion, the advent of free agency and an influx of international players has made baseball big business, on an increasingly global scale. Focusing on the last fifty years, this work examines the past and present commercial elements of organized baseball, emphasizing the dual roles--competitive sport and profitable business--which the sport must now fulfill. Twenty-five essays cover five areas integral to the economic side of baseball: business and finance, human resources, international relations, management and leadership and sports marketing. Detailed discussions of the redistribution of revenues, the history of player unionization, aggressive global marketing, strategies of franchise owners and an evaluation of fan costs, among other topics introduce the reader to the important issues and specific challenges professional baseball faces in an increasingly crowded--yet geographically expansive--sports marketplace. The work is also indexed.

Download or read book The Rank and File of 19th Century Major League Baseball written by David Nemec and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2012-04-19 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With this volume, David Nemec completes his remarkable trilogy of 19th-century baseball biographies, covering every major league player, manager, umpire, owner and league official. It provides in-depth information on many figures unknown to most historians. Each detailed entry includes vital statistics, peer-driven analysis of baseball-related skills, and an overview of the individual's role in the game. Also chronicled are players' first and last major league games, most important achievements, movements from team to team, and much more. By bringing attention to these overlooked baseball personalities, this reference work immeasurably enriches our knowledge of 19th century major league baseball.

Download or read book Baseball History written by IntroBooks and published by IntroBooks. This book was released on 2018-02-18 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Baseball inspired millions of people in the United States. It evolved from the old bat and ball games which used to be played in England during the 18th century. The immigrants who came to settle in North America were the ones responsible to bring this game to the Americans. Eventually they came up with the modern version of the game and by the end of 19th century baseball was being recognised as the National Sport of US. The first recorded American reference of baseball in US traces its way back to the year 1791, which was an ordinance passed in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The uproar created by the cheering crowd was the reason on the game being banned from being played anywhere near 80 yards from the town meeting house.