Download or read book The Continental League written by Russell D. Buhite and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2014-05-01 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Long before there was Moneyball, a group of investors led by baseball legend Branch Rickey proposed a new economic model for baseball. Based on an innovative approach to evaluating and developing talent, the Continental League was the last serious attempt to form a third Major League. The league’s brief history affords a glimpse of any number of missed chances for America’s game. As one of the original Continental Leaguers, historian Russell D. Buhite is—literally—talking “inside baseball” when he describes what happened in 1959 and 1960. Part memoir, part history, his account of the origin, development, and eventual undoing of the Continental League explores the organization’s collective corporate structure as well as its significant role in building a thriving Minor League and forcing expansion on Major League Baseball. Buhite captures a lost era in baseball history and examines its lasting impact on the game.
Download or read book The Continental League written by Russell D. Buhite and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2014-05-01 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The history of the Continental League, the last serious attempt to start a third major league"--
Download or read book Major Leagues written by David Pietrusza and published by Church & Reid. This book was released on 1991 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New major leagues have sprung up throughout the history of baseball, both long-term successes (the American and National leagues) and the transitory, of which the Federal League (1914-15) and the Mexican League (1946) were two. Some leagues were born of noble motives (the Union Association, 1884, to abolish the reserve clause); others, farcical (the Global League, 1969). And many were stillborn, never playing that first inning (such as the Continental League, 1959-60). Here is their history and an analysis of the conditions that determined success or failure. “This is a first class work in the comprehensive baseball history category and belongs on the shelf along with those impressive volumes of Harold Seymour and David Voigt.”— Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Bibliography Committee Newsletter “Well-researched . . . worthy” — Library Journal
Download or read book Bottom of the Ninth written by Michael Shapiro and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2010-04-21 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Bottom of the Ninth, Michael Shapiro brings to life a watershed moment in baseball history, when the sport was under siege in the late 1950s "A fascinating look at an almost forgotten era . . . One of the best baseball books of recent seasons." -Cleveland Plain Dealer Shapiro reveals how the legendary executive Branch Rickey saw the game's salvation in two radical ideas: the creation of a third major league—the Continental League—and the pooling of television revenues for the benefit of all. And Shapiro captures the audacity of Casey Stengel, the manager of the Yankees, who believed that he could remake how baseball was played. The story of their ingenious schemes—and of the powerful men who tried to thwart them—is interwoven with the on-field drama of pennant races and clutch performances, culminating in the stunning climax of the seventh game of the 1960 World Series, when one swing of the bat heralds baseball's eclipse as America's number-one sport.
Download or read book Stumbling Around the Bases written by Andy McCue and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2022-04 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the late 1950s to the 1980s, baseball's American League mismanaged integration and expansion, allowing the National League to forge ahead in attendance and prestige. While both leagues had executive structures that presented few barriers to individual team owners acting purely in their own interests, it was the American League that succumbed to infighting--which ultimately led to its disappearance into what we now call Major League Baseball. Stumbling around the Bases is the story of how the American League fell into such a disastrous state, struggling for decades to escape its nadir and, when it finally righted itself, losing its independence. The American League's trip to the bottom involved bad decisions by both individual teams and their owners. The key elements were a glacial approach to integration, the choice of underfinanced or disruptive new owners, and a consistent inability to choose the better markets among cities that were available for expansion. The American League wound up with less-attractive teams in the smaller markets compared to the National League--and thus fewer consumers of tickets, parking, beer, hot dogs, scorecards, and replica jerseys. The errors of the American League owners were rooted in missed cultural and demographic shifts and exacerbated by reactive decisions that hurt as much as helped their interests. Though the owners were men who were notably successful in their non-baseball business ventures, success in insurance, pizza, food processing, and real estate development, didn't necessarily translate into running a flourishing baseball league. In the end the National League was simply better at recognizing its collective interests, screening its owners, and recognizing the markets that had long-term potential.
Download or read book Baseball s New Frontier written by Fran Zimniuch and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2018-08-01 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Major League Baseball first expanded in 1961 with the addition of the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators, it started a trend that saw the number of franchises almost double, from sixteen to thirty, while baseball attendance grew by 44 percent. The story behind this staggering growth, told for the first time in Baseball’s New Frontier, is full of twists and unexpected turns, intrigue, and, in some instances, treachery. From the desertion of New York by the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants to the ever-present threat of antitrust legislation, from the backroom deals and the political posturing to the impact of the upstart Continental League, the book takes readers behind the scenes and into baseball’s decision-making process. Fran Zimniuch gives a lively team-by-team chronicle of how the franchises were awarded, how existing teams protected their players, and what the new teams’ winning (or losing) strategies were. With its account of great players, notable characters, and the changing fortunes of teams over the years, the book supplies a vital chapter in the history of Major League Baseball.
Download or read book Late Innings written by Dean A. Sullivan and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The third volume in this exciting, well-researched history of America's pastime retraces some of the most important people and events in the game, from Jackie Robinson's shattering of the race barrier to the labor unrest of the 1970s.
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 Hearings written by United States. Congress Senate and published by . This book was released on 1960 with total page 2402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Big Leagues Go to Washington written by David George Surdam and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2015-04-15 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between 1951 and 1989, Congress held a series of hearings to investigate the antitrust aspects of professional sports leagues. Among the concerns: ownership control of players, restrictions on new franchises, territorial protection, and other cartel-like behaviors. In The Big Leagues Go to Washington, David Surdam chronicles the key issues that arose during the hearings and the ways opposing sides used economic data and theory to define what was right, what was feasible, and what was advantageous to one party or another. As Surdam shows, the hearings affected matters as fundamental to the modern game as broadcasting rights, player drafts and unions, league mergers, and the dominance of the New York Yankees. He also charts how lawmakers from the West and South pressed for the relocation of ailing franchises to their states and the ways savvy owners dodged congressional interference when they could and adapted to it when necessary.
Download or read book Organized Professional Team Sports 1960 written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Antitrust and Monopoly and published by . This book was released on 1960 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Considers S. 3483, to include baseball under antitrust provisions of the Sherman Act, the Clayton Act, and the Federal Trade Commission Act, and to exempt football, hockey, and basketball from certain aspects of these provisions.
Download or read book Organized Professional Team Sports 1960 written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary and published by . This book was released on 1960 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Considers S. 3483, to include baseball under antitrust provisions of the Sherman Act, the Clayton Act, and the Federal Trade Commission Act, and to exempt football, hockey, and basketball from certain aspects of these provisions.
Download or read book Stadium Games written by Jay Weiner and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 550 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Stadium Games begins with the events leading to the arrival of the Twins and Vikings to the state in 1961 and traces subsequent controversies about professional sports in the region up to the present. Weiner discusses the factors that make Minnesota the poster child for the nation's stadium debates - the recent departure of the North Stars hockey team, the near departure of the Timberwolves, the strong opposition of taxpayers, and the apparent greed of team owners. Stadium Games reveals the behind-the-scenes deals and inside scoop on what went wrong in the recent unsuccessful campaign for a new ballpark, divulging how public relations experts failed and how government leaders conspired to fake out Minnesota's citizens."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Download or read book The Postwar Yankees written by David George Surdam and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2021-12-13 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Yankees and New York baseball entered a golden age between 1949 and 1964, a period during which the city was represented in all but one World Series. While the Yankees dominated, however, the years were not so golden for the rest of baseball. In The Postwar Yankees: Baseball's Golden Age Revisited, David G. Surdam deconstructs this idyllic period to show that while the Yankees piled on pennants and World Series titles through the 1950s, Major League Baseball attendance consistently declined and gate-revenue disparity widened through the mid-1950s. Contrary to popular belief, the era was already experiencing many problems that fans of today's game bemoan, including a competitive imbalance and callous owners who ran the league like a cartel. Fans also found aging, decrepit stadiums ill-equipped for the burgeoning automobile culture, while television and new forms of leisure competed for their attention. Through an economist's lens, Surdam brings together historical documents and off-the-field numbers to reconstruct the period and analyze the roots of the age's enduring mythology, examining why the Yankees and other New York teams were consistently among baseball's elite and how economic and social forces set in motion during this golden age shaped the sport into its modern incarnation.
Download or read book In Pursuit of Pennants written by Mark L. Armour and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2015-04 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1936 Yankees, the 1963 Dodgers, the 1975 Reds, the 2010 Giants--why do some baseball teams win while others don't? General managers and fans alike have pondered this most important of baseball questions. The Moneyball strategy is not the first example of how new ideas and innovative management have transformed the way teams are assembled. In Pursuit of Pennants examines and analyzes a number of compelling, winning baseball teams over the past hundred-plus years, focusing on their decision making and how they assembled their championship teams. Whether through scouting, integration, instruction, expansion, free agency, or modernizing their management structure, each winning team and each era had its own version of Moneyball, where front office decisions often made the difference. Mark L. Armour and Daniel R. Levitt show how these teams succeeded and how they relied on talent both on the field and in the front office. While there is no recipe for guaranteed success in a competitive, ever-changing environment, these teams demonstrate how creatively thinking about one's circumstances can often lead to a competitive advantage. Purchase the audio edition.
Download or read book Baseball written by Steven P. Gietschier and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2023 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of baseball as a sport and business during the middle of the twentieth century, examining the game on and off the field and tracing its development within the broader contours of American history.
Download or read book Stumbling Around the Bases written by Andy McCue and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2022-04 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first examination of the management of the American League and its consequences for the twentieth century.
