Great Books

First Time in Paperback, Updated and Expanded With a New Chapter for the 2004 Edition That Covers Through the 2003 Season Shocked to discover how little contemporary baseball stars knew of their sport’s rich lore, acclaimed baseball writer Leonard Koppett set out to change all that in one fell swoop. Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball, first published in 1998, now updated through the 2003 season and available in paperback for the first time, this great baseball book makes the entire treasure of the game’s history available in one richly enjoyable volume. Opening to literally any page, readers will find lively narratives on the shape and significance of each baseball season from the sport’s nineteenth century beginnings through 2003's scintillating postseason, as well as quantitative summaries of statistics that chronicle changes in the game. Each chapter recounts trends, players, and events during different eras, offers succinct seasonal recaps, and summarizes the highlights of each baseball era. On the origins and evolution of on-the-field play—from the 1880s origin of pitching high and tight then low and away, to today’s ballplayers’ use of body armor at bat—plus statistics and record-breaking achievements, Koppett’s got it covered. On the introduction of night baseball, radio and TV broadcasting, free agency, and the divisional play-offs, Koppet’s got it covered, too. And if readers want to know just whose interests have been served with each new development in the life of major-league baseball, Koppett’s the man. This is the only book of its kind--an instantly accessible and concise history of baseball by a Hall of Fame sportswriter that spans the divide between statistical encyclopedias and specialized narratives on individual seasons, teams, and players. In this first update since the original edition, David Koppett has taken his late father's copious notes and expanded the book with new sections on interleague play, home run races and records, newly opened ballparks, changes in umpiring, the Commissioner's office, the 2002 labor agreement, and summaries for every season since 1995.

The why behind Hall of Fame sportswriter Leonard Koppett's Concise History is almost as impressive as the authoritative and fascinating volume itself. Given that baseball's best pitch is the richness of its lore, Koppett was appalled that upon their arrival in the majors, contemporary stars like Yankee first baseman Don Mattingly knew nothing of Lou Gehrig, and Ken Griffey Jr. had little more awareness of Jackie Robinson than his name. If the players themselves don't appreciate the legacy or importance of what they're part of, what chance do the rest of us have? Koppett's mission is to change that. What makes the Concise History such a valuable addition to an already packed baseball bookshelf is that it's an original. First and foremost, its strong, narrative push spans the divide between statistical encyclopedias and the chronicles that generally focus on individual years or teams or issues. It's quite thorough--reaching back to the 1840s and covering the game up through the 1998 sale of the Dodgers--clearly linking the game of baseball to the business of baseball. It covers trends as well as players and events, and, in one of its most useful features, offers succinct seasonal recaps at the end of each chapter. Koppett's a fine writer with a well-established voice, which he uses to analyze as well as report; he's no fence straddler on the more complex questions like free agency, franchise moves, collusion, realignment, and the replacement of family ownership by conglomerates. Like a good home run race, it's a book unique to this particular game, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere. --Jeff Silverman

Major League Winners: Using Sports and Cultural Centers as Tools for Economic Development chronicles the challenges overcome by civic leaders who are using the development of sports and cultural venues to help create diversified, vibrant, and attractive economic bases within their communities. Drawing on his 30 years of involvement with such projects, Mark Rosentraub presents case studies that demonstrate the innovative private-public partnerships needed to create win-win scenarios. These include how: Indianapolis and Cleveland now boast new images as well as new downtowns thanks to innovative sports and cultural venues San Diego continues to revitalize itself through partnerships of shared risk and returns L.A.’s resurgence makes the most of its location and its glitz Columbus and Reading are proof that even midsized and smaller cities can leverage sports enthusiasm A decade ago in Major League Losers: The Real Cost of Sports and Who’s Paying for It, Dr. Rosentraub educated us about the insidious nature of the great sports welfare machine. Now, he shows us that those lessons are well-learned. While no urban center will weather this current economic crisis unscathed, the areas that will suffer least and recover fastest are those that are attracting and retaining significant concentrations of diversely skilled human capital. Rather than just provide us with a brief escape from our problems, with the right leadership, sports and entertainment can create opportunities for our cities to reinvent and reinvigorate themselves.

"My day-to-day existence," writes Kathleen Lockwood, "rested on the ability of my husband to throw a tiny leather ball over ninety-five miles an hour past a large wooden bat." If that sounds like hyperbole, consider this: In the 12 years that followed their wedding in 1970, Kathleen and major leaguer Skip would move 35 times. The couple and their growing family endured three player strikes, a handful of trades and trade rumors, and the steady threat of a career-ending arm injury. Kathleen built lifelong friendships with other players' wives, managed their homes and cared for their children, and shared in the cycle of triumph and defeat that is life in the major leagues.

What would it be like to be the President of the United States? First person text and fanciful illustrations provide young readers with delightful, imagination-inspiring details of what it's like to be President of the United States and more.

The obsessive reference for every baseball nut, THE TEAM-BY-TEAM ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL is a comprehensive, original, devour-it-like-salted-peanuts single-volume encyclopedia that marries history and statistics and delivers them team by team. Organizing by teams gives the wide view—how do the Murderer’s Row Yankees compare to the Big Red Machine? The long view—what team has given the Red Sox the most trouble over the last 100 years? And the hidden view—name the team that went through all the 1990s without a Gold Glove winner. It’s how the game is played, and now, finally, it’s presented in the way the game is best understood. Created by baseball historian Dennis Purdy, a true buff’s buff, THE TEAM-BY-TEAM ENCYCLOPEDIA offers the history of every existing major league baseball franchise told through narrative, bios, anecdotes, photographs, and the most comprehensive team statistics ever assembled in a single book. Every year’s record, standing, attendance, and primary starting lineup for each of baseball’s 30 franchises. Top-10 leader lists for every major category (and some minor ones), plus all-time won-loss records versus all opponents. All the awards—MVP, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, Gold Glove. Manager records. Post-season records. Even retired uniform numbers. But the stats are just the beginning—each chapter contains entertaining thumbnail biographies of every franchise’s key players, recalling, for example, how the game’s greatest shortstop, Honus Wagner, was ecruited when spotted throwing rocks across a river. And sprinkled throughout are spicy team facts, bizarre anecdotes, statistical anomalies, and little-known gems—like what Babe Ruth said to Lou Gehrig after hitting his “called shot” homerun in the 1932 World Series.

All over the world, soccer is known as “the Beautiful Game” and is the most popular sport. But in the United States, professional soccer still has a hard time catching on.It has had some successes here. The American Soccer League of the 1920s, Pélé and other international stars in the North American Soccer League’s glamorous 1970s, the indoor soccer phenomenon of the 1980s, and the U.S. women’s win in the Women’s World Cup of 1999 all hinted that the American public is ready to embrace pro soccer.In its short history, Major League Soccer (MLS) has survived and even started to thrive, drawing steady crowds and loyal fans. In Long-Range Goals, Beau Dure profiles teams and players, including D.C. United, the Los Angeles Galaxy, Landon Donovan, Freddy Adu, and Coach Bruce Arena, who are all vital to MLS. Some of the triumphs include an expansion of the league and its ownership group, the contribution of MLS players to a strong U.S. World Cup showing in 2002, and the construction of soccer stadiums nationwide. At the same time, MLS has occasionally stumbled, during costly legal battles with players and seeing two teams fold, but its investors have remained strong, figured out how to make money, and support the league.From the league’s formation in 1993 to the David Beckham era, this book reveals all the action on and off the pitch: the politics, the lawsuits, the management of its teams, and the savvy business deals that helped MLS rebound. It also revels in the big personalities of its stars, the grace of its utility players, and the obstacles the league faces in meeting its long-range goals.

"After many minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years spent in the bullpen, I can verify that this is a true picture of baseball."--Tim McCarver   "There are great truths within, of the kind usually unspoken. And as he expresses them, Dirk Hayhurst describes himself as 'a real person who moonlights as a baseball player.' In much the same manner, while The Bullpen Gospels chronicles how all of us face the impact when we learn reality is both far meaner and far richer than our dreams--it also moonlights as one of the best baseball books ever written."--Keith Olbermann   "A bit of Jim Bouton, a bit of Jim Brosnan, a bit of Pat Jordan, a bit of crash Davis, and a whole lot of Dirk Hayhurst. Often hilarious, sometimes poignant. This is a really enjoyable baseball read."--Bob Costas   "Fascinating. . .a perspective that fans rarely see."--Trevor Hoffman, pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers   "The Bullpen Gospels is a rollicking good bus ride of a book. Hayhurst illuminates a baseball life not only with wit and humor, but also with thought-provoking introspection."--Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated  "Dirk Hayhurst has written a fascinating, funny and honest account on life in the minor leagues. I loved it. Writers can't play baseball, but in this case, a player sure can write."--Tim Kurkjian, Senior Writer, ESPN The Magazine, analyst/reporter ESPN television  "Bull Durham meets Ball Four in Dirk Hayhurst's hilarious and moving account of life in baseball's glamour-free bush leagues."--Rob Neyer, ESPN.com "If Holden Caulfield could dial up his fastball to 90 mph, he might have written this funny, touching memoir about a ballplayer at a career--and life--crossroads. He might have called it 'Pitcher in the Rye.' Instead, he left it to Dirk Hayhurst, the only writer in the business who can make you laugh, make you cry and strike out Ryan Howard."--King Kaufman, Salon  "The Bullpen Gospels is a funny bone-tickling, tear duct-stimulating, feel-good story that will leave die-hard baseball fans--and die-hard human beings, for that matter--well, feeling good."--Bob Mitchell, author of Once Upon a Fastball (edited by author)

The book, the second West-published Sports Law book to be written by the former Chief Legal Officer at IMG, synthesizes the major legal precedents that have shaped the evolution of America's three ;major leagues; -- Major League Baseball (MLB); the National Football Leaugue (NFL); and the National Basketball Association (NBA). In so doing, it traces the impact of MLB's ;antitrust exemption in juxtaposition to the non-statutory labor exemption that applies to the NFL and NBA. In particular, the legal history of each league's Constitution/By Laws; Collective Bargaining Agreements (and related work stoppages); and its Uniform Player Contracts are examined through illustrative hypothetical group negotiation and drafting exercises. Initial legal challenges to each of the (now familiar concepts) including the amateur draft, free agency, age eligibility, and the leagues players intellectual property rights; demonstrate the unpredictable outcomes created by the intrusion of external legal authorities (e.g., courts, arbitrators, etc.) upon the current structure of each league and its related Commissioner's authority. The book concludes by recounting the tortured history of franchise relocation law, as well as the importance of first obtaining, and then carefully drafting, a naming rights agreement for any newly constructed major league venue.

Why should Americans shell out millions in taxes to subsidize the wealthy owners of professional sports teams? Dazzled by visions of economic growth and enhanced prestige for their communities, state and local government leaders have created a veritable welfare system for major league sports. This system has pampered owners by providing them with new stadiums and arenas, investment opportunities, luxury suites, and practice facilities. Why should the public fund these franchises when the sports industry is so successful? In Major League Losers, Mark S. Rosentraub explains the history of this practice and reveals the surprising fact that cities gain little from hosting a major league ball club. He provides government officials and taxpayers with a clearer understanding of how a city can, and should, negotiate with sports franchises. This new, concise edition includes a discussion of the recent fight by the New York Yankees and other teams to gain new stadiums.