Download or read book The Great American Baseball Strike written by Joe Layden and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the 1994-95 baseball strike within the context of the history of the game, its past labor problems, and its future as the great American pastime.

Download or read book The Great Baseball Revolt written by Robert B. Ross and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2016-04-01 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Players League, formed in 1890, was a short-lived professional baseball league controlled and owned in part by the players themselves, a response to the National League’s salary cap and “reserve rule,” which bound players for life to one particular team. Led by John Montgomery Ward, the Players League was a star-studded group that included most of the best players of the National League, who bolted not only to gain control of their wages but also to share ownership of the teams. Lasting only a year, the league impacted both the professional sports and the labor politics of athletes and nonathletes alike. The Great Baseball Revolt is a historic overview of the rise and fall of the Players League, which fielded teams in Boston, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Though it marketed itself as a working-class league, the players were underfunded and had to turn to wealthy capitalists for much of their startup costs, including the new ballparks. It was in this context that the league intersected with the organized labor movement, and in many ways challenged by organized labor to be by and for the people. In its only season, the Players League outdrew the National League in fan attendance. But when the National League overinflated its numbers and profits, the Players League backers pulled out. The Great Baseball Revolt brings to life a compelling cast of characters and a mostly forgotten but important time in professional sports when labor politics affected both athletes and nonathletes. Purchase the audio edition.

Download or read book Great American Baseball Stories written by Jeff Silverman and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-02-01 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Before multimillion-dollar salaries, luxury boxes, and player strikes became synonymous with professional sports, there existed the belief in playing simply "for the love of the game." Nothing captures that spirit better than these twenty classic pieces about America's favorite pastime. Collected here are the writings of Ring Lardner, Zane Grey, the Giants' immortal Christy Mathewson, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Finley Peter Dunne (who for a time was America's most popular humorist after Mark Twain), Burt Standish (creator of that all-American hero, Frank Merriwell), and many more. Baseball's golden era may have long since passed, but in the pages of Great American Baseball Stories, you can still sit in the bleachers for a nickel. Relive the golden era of baseball with timeless classics from: Albert G. Spalding Henry Chadwick Ernest Lawrence Thayer Grantland Rice Sol White Brig. Gen. Fredrick Funston Zane Grey Candy Cummings Alfred H. Spink Burt L. Standish Lester Chadwick Finley Peter Dunne Christy Mathewson Damon Runyon Grover Cleveland Alexander Gerald Beaumont Ring Lardner Hugh Fullerton Ralph D. Blanpied Charles E. Van Loan P.G. Wodehouse

Download or read book The Reshaping of America s Game written by Bryan Soderholm-Difatte and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-04-23 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The past 25 years have been the most dynamic in the history of Major League Baseball, from the league’s recovery after the players’ strike to the growth of analytics and the rise of new World Series contenders. In The Reshaping of America’s Game: Major League Baseball after the Players' Strike, Bryan Soderholm-Difatte reflects on the factors and challenges that have changed major league baseball since the 1994-1995 players’ strike. He examines the consolidation of power in the Commissioner’s Office, the influx of Latin and Asian players, the boom in new stadiums, the influence of analytics in reshaping how rosters are constructed, the relationship between managers and the front office, and the rise of the power-game between pitchers and batters that has led to unprecedented strikeout and home run totals. While Major League Baseball continues to develop and grow, the league has had to grapple with repeated steroids scandals, the struggle of small-market teams to remain competitive, and the “forever” unfinished business between players and owners over free agency and fair compensation. The Reshaping of America’s Game provides a detailed and intriguing review of the many issues affecting the national pastime during the liveliest years in MLB history. The Reshaping of America’s Game, together with Soderholm-Difatte’s America’s Game, Tumultuous Times in America’s Game, and America’s Game in the Wild-Card Era, form the author’s complete, definitive history of Major League Baseball.

Download or read book A Game of Failure written by Ryan Eckert and published by . This book was released on 2016-04-27 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On August 12th, 1994, the Major League Baseball Players Association directed its members to go on strike, ultimately leading to cancellation of both the remainder of the 1994 baseball season and the 1994 World Series. The 232-day saga that ensued, and its fallout, would ultimately amount to the most financially and emotionally destructive episode in the history of American professional sports. This book examines the 1994 strike from all angles, including its long-stemming origins to its beginnings, the course taken by events throughout its nine-month duration, and evolving popular reactions throughout. It will consider the eventual mediation and resolution, and what the strike meant in both the short- and long-term for Major League Baseball and the relationship between the sport and American culture. The labor dispute that culminated in 1994's strike and cancelled World Series was hardly the first dispute between players and owners in Baseball, but rather can be seen as a culmination of an extended period of labor unrest throughout the second half of the twentieth century. Here we see the "final showdown" in the owners' long-standing efforts to break the union; both sides would eventually accept concessions and, finally, the result would be normalization of the previous imbalance of power. Such a dramatic course correction would prove to have negative consequences for the public perceptions of both players and owners. Unlike previous labor disputes, 1994 was met with overwhelming feelings of resentment and betrayal aimed at both sides. Consequently, the 1994-95 strike was definitive in establishing the American public's modern conception of the relationship among professional athletes, team owners, and fans.

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 Empire Strikes Out written by Robert Elias and published by New Press, The. This book was released on 2010-01-19 with total page 451 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is the face of American baseball throughout the world that of goodwill ambassador or ugly American? Has baseball crafted its own image or instead been at the mercy of broader forces shaping our society and the globe? The Empire Strikes Out gives us the sweeping story of how baseball and America are intertwined in the export of “the American way.” From the Civil War to George W. Bush and the Iraq War, we see baseball's role in developing the American empire, first at home and then beyond our shores. And from Albert Spalding and baseball's first World Tour to Bud Selig and the World Baseball Classic, we witness the globalization of America's national pastime and baseball's role in spreading the American dream. Besides describing baseball's frequent and often surprising connections to America's presence around the world, Elias assesses the effects of this relationship both on our foreign policies and on the sport itself and asks whether baseball can play a positive role or rather only reinforce America's dominance around the globe. Like Franklin Foer in How Soccer Explains the World, Elias is driven by compelling stories, unusual events, and unique individuals. His seamless integration of original research and compelling analysis makes this a baseball book that's about more than just sports.

Download or read book Stars and Strikes written by Dan Epstein and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2014-04-29 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dan Epstein scored a cult hit with Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s. Now he returns with Stars and Strikes, a riotous look at the most pivotal season of the decade. America, 1976: colorful, complex, and combustible. It was a year of Bicentennial celebrations and presidential primaries, of Olympic glory and busing riots, of "killer bees" hysteria and Pong fever. For both the nation and the national pastime, the year was revolutionary, indeed. On the diamond, Thurman Munson led the New York Yankees to their first World Series in a dozen years, but it was Joe Morgan and Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine" who cemented a dynasty with their second consecutive World Championship. Sluggers Mike Schmidt and Dave Kingman dominated the headlines, while rookie sensation Mark "The Bird" Fidrych started the All-Star Game opposite Randy "Junkman" Jones. The season was defined by the outrageous antics of team owners Bill Veeck, Ted Turner, George Steinbrenner, and Charlie Finley, as well as by several memorable bench-clearing brawls, and a batting title race that became just as contentious as the presidential race. From Dorothy Hamill's "wedge" haircut to Kojak's chrome dome, American pop culture was never more giddily effervescent than in this year of Jimmy Carter, CB radios, AMC Pacers, The Bad News Bears, Rocky, Taxi Driver, the Ramones, KISS, Happy Days, Hotel California, and Frampton Comes Alive!--it all came alive in '76! Meanwhile, as the nation erupted in a red-white-and-blue explosion saluting its two- hundredth year of independence, Major League Baseball players waged a war for their own liberties by demanding free agency. From the road to the White House to the shorts-wearing White Sox, Stars and Strikes tracks the tumultuous year after which the sport--and the nation--would never be the same.

Download or read book Strike Four written by Richard Hershberger and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-03-08 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Baseball began as a schoolyard game, brought to America by the colonists. It evolved rapidly over the second half of the nineteenth century, with innovations and rule changes continuing throughout the twentieth century and into the modern era. But why and how did these changes take place? In Strike Four: The Evolution of Baseball, Richard Hershberger examines the national pastime’s development, from the reasoning behind new rules and innovations to the consequences of these changes—both intended and unintended—that often led to a new round of modifications. Topics examined include the dropped third strike, foul territory, nine innings, tagging up, balls and strikes, tie games, equipment, the infield fly rule, and many more. Ultimately, this book provides the reader with a narrative history of how baseball evolved from an informal folk game to the sport played in ballparks around the world today. As such, Strike Four is a wonderful reference for sports fans and historians of all generations.

Download or read book Expanding the Strike Zone written by Daniel A. Gilbert and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With its iconic stars and gleaming ballparks, baseball has been one of the most captivating forms of modern popular culture. In Expanding the Strike Zone, Daniel A. Gilbert examines the history and meaning of the sport's tumultuous changes since the mid-twentieth century, amid Major League Baseball's growing global influence. From the rise of ballplayer unionism to the emergence of new forms of scouting, broadcasting, and stadium development, Gilbert shows that the baseball world has been home to struggles over work and territory that resonate far beyond the playing field. Readers encounter both legendary and unheralded figures in this sweeping history, which situates Major League Baseball as part of a larger culture industry. The book examines a labor history defined at once by the growing power of big league stars -- from Juan Marichal and Curt Flood to Fernando Valenzuela and Ichiro Suzuki -- and the collective struggles of players working to make a living throughout the baseball world. It also explores the territorial politics that have defined baseball's development as a form of transnational popular culture, from the impact of Dominican baseball academies to the organized campaign against stadium development by members of Seattle's Asian American community. Based on a rich body of research along with new readings of popular journalism, fiction, and film, Expanding the Strike Zone highlights the ways in which baseball's players, owners, writers, and fans have shaped and reshaped the sport as a central element of popular culture from the postwar boom to the Great Recession.

Download or read book The Strike Zone written by R. Mark Janacek and published by Dog Ear Publishing. This book was released on 2016-03-29 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It takes place every day - business professionals evaluate the performance of an individual, a department or team, and perhaps even an entire company. However, for many managers, the process of evaluating performance is a dreaded corporate ritual that fails to cut to the chase and answer the question: “Did the performer achieve the objective, or not?” For nearly 35 years as a national and international management consultant, Mark Janacek has helped Fortune 500 organizations around the globe to improve individual, team and corporate performance. An avid and lifelong baseball fan, Janacek applies the simplicity of calling balls, strikes and outs against the strike zone as a model for evaluating performance in the business setting. The Strike Zone provides both a practical set of techniques, as well as a strong philosophical foundation for simplifying and strengthening the evaluation process across the entire business enterprise. For over three decades Janacek observed the hand-wringing frustration of both managers and staff struggling with evaluation systems failing to identify and truly reward excellence in performance, while correctly indicting poor performers that weigh down the organization. The Strike Zone is designed to reverse this agonizing trend, and vector corporate cultures to perform as never before. Janacek liberates well-meaning HR departments and company executives as he uncovers the ten most common evaluation traps found in many organizations. The Strike Zone provides specific, hard-hitting strategies to avoid them. Janacek’s cutting edge approach makes The Strike Zone a must-read for everyone competing in the business setting. Regardless of your position - owner, executive, manager, team leader, or individual contributor – The Strike Zone will surely engage you with keen insights, great depth of thought, and ignite those long lost passions for excellence.

Download or read book The Great American Novel written by Philip Roth and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2022-09-21 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Pastoral—a richly imagined novel featuring America’s only homeless big-league baseball team in history delivers “shameless comic extravagance…. Roth gleefully exploits our readiness to let baseball stand for America itself" (The New York Times). Gil Gamesh, the only pitcher who ever literally tried to kill the umpire. The ex-con first baseman, John Baal, "The Babe Ruth of the Big House," who never hit a home run sober. If you've never heard of them—or of the homeless baseball team the Ruppert Mundys—it's because of the Communist plot, and the capitalist scandal, that expunged the entire Patriot League from baseball memory. In this ribald, wickedly satiric novel, Roth turns baseball's status as national pastime and myth into an occasion for unfettered picaresque farce, replete with heroism and perfidy, ebullient wordplay and a cast of characters that includes the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Download or read book Exploring the World of Sports written by Phyllis J. Perry and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1998-03-15 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Motivate students to read by using a topic they love-sports-and extend learning across the curriculum! Discussion starters, multidisciplinary activities, and topics for further research follow each reading suggestions. Perry describes subject-specific fiction and nonfiction materials that help students make the transition from fiction to expository text. There are also additional print and nonprint sources. Grades K-5.

Download or read book Long Balls No Strikes written by Joe Morgan and published by Crown Archetype. This book was released on 2011-10-12 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nobody loves baseball more than Joe Morgan. He's proved it with his hall-of-fame performance on the field and his brilliant color commentary in the broadcast booth. Bob Costas says, "There may not be anyone alive who knows more about baseball than Joe Morgan. In his playing days, Morgan was a key cog in the Big Red Machine, and he saw the game at its zenith. From his perch in the broadcast booth he watched as baseball self-destructed, culminating in the devastating strike of 1994. And in 1998, he saw the game come back with baseball's electrifying resurgence in the season of McGwire, Sosa, and the Yankees. But as great as '98 was, Joe knows that baseball still has a lot of problems. And while baseball may be back, Joe wants the fans, the players, and the owners to know that some serious changes still need to be made. In Long Balls, No Strikes, Morgan draws on three decades' experience and passion as he dissects what has gone wrong and right for baseball. Some of his insights may seem unorthodox, some will be controversial, but that's never stopped Joe Morgan before. How do we improve the game on the field? Raise the mound Abolish the designated hitter forever Make the umpires learn the strike zone And that's only the beginning. . . . How do we improve the game off the field? Erase the invisible color line that keeps African-Americans from holding management positions Expand the talent pool by sending more scouts to the inner cities Have all teams share equally from the same profit pool And that's not all. . . . Joe Morgan doesn't believe in "the good old days." Tomorrow's game can be even better than yesterday's. But at the end of the century, the game stands at a crossroads. One path leads right back to the troubles that nearly destroyed the game forever in 1994. The other leads to a new Golden Age. If baseball wants to continue to thrive, some changes must be made. But before there are changes, we need to ask the right questions. And if Joe Morgan doesn't know the answers, then no one does.

Download or read book Great American War Club written by Fernan Vargas and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2017-06-24 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide to using the base ball bat, axe handle and other big clubs for self defense

Download or read book Strike Three A Player s Journey Through the Infamous Baseball Strike Of 1994 written by Nikco Riesgo and published by Strike Three. This book was released on 2010-04-17 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Russ Cohen gives us a look back at the baseball strike of 1994-1995 as seen through the eyes of Nikco Riesgo, a "replacement player."

Download or read book The Great American Sports Page A Century of Classic Columns from Ring Lardner to Sally Jenkins written by John Schulian and published by Library of America. This book was released on 2019-04-30 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A first-of-its-kind celebration of the newspaper scribes who made sportswriting a glorious popular art, and immortalized America's greatest games and athletes Spanning nearly a century, The Great American Sports Page presents essential columns from more than three dozen masters of the press-box craft. These unforgettable dispatches from World Series, Super Bowls, and title bouts for the ages were written on deadline with passion, spontaneity, humor, and a gift for the memorable phrase. Read avidly day in and day out by a sports-mad public, these columnists became journalistic celebrities in their home cities, their coverage trusted and savored, their opinions hotly debated. Some even helped change the games they wrote about. Gathered here in a groundbreaking anthology, their writings capture some of sport's most enduring moments and many of its all-time greats: Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, and Michael Jordan among them. But the best American sportswriters also found ways to write powerfully about lesser-known athletes and to convey, often with heartbreaking honesty and insight, the less glamorous and more tragic facets of the games we love. In its survey of the finest American sportswriting from Ring Lardner to Thomas Boswell, from Red Smith and Jimmy Cannon to Bob Ryan and Michael Wilbon, The Great American Sports Page takes the measure of the human richness, complexity, and competitive spirit of sports and the athletes who continue to fascinate and inspire us.