Full Description
Major League Baseball was in crisis in 1968. The commissioner was inept, professional football was challenging the sport's popularity and the game on the field was boring, with pitchers dominating hitters in a succession of dull, low-scoring games. The major league expanded for the 1969 season but the muddled process by which new franchises were selected highlighted the ineffective management of the sport.
This book describes how baseball reached its nadir in the late 1960s and how it survived and began its slow comeback. The lack of offense in the game is examined, taking in the great pitching performances of Denny McLain, Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale and others. Colorful characters like Charley Finley and Ken Harrelson are covered, along with the effects that dramatic changes in American society and the war in Vietnam had on the game.
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Gentlemen, Please Be Seated, We Have Some Other Business to Discuss
2. Baseball Is Essentially a Nonviolent Sport in a Violent Time
3. The Division Between the "Haves" and the "Have Nots"Has Been Narrowing
4. Almost Any Strong and Passably Coordinated Young Man Can Learn How to Pitch
5. You Handsome Sonofagun, Don't You Ever Die
6. I've Just Been Taught a New Trade: I'm a Trained Killer
7. The Entire Chain of Events Is of Utter Embarrassment to Baseball
8. Let's Not Permit the Inmates to Run the Asylum
9. We May Have Been Overly Optimistic in the Spring
10. Don't Worry About the Tigers, They Always Find a Way Not to Win
11. It Will Be a Miracle If the Montreal Ball Park Is Ready in Time
12. Nobody in the World Can Be Another Mickey Mantle
13. Either Miller or Baseball Has to Go
Epilogue: Baseball Was on Fire When I Became Commissioner
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
