Balls and Strikes: The Money Game in Professional Baseball [Hardcover]

Kenneth M. Jennings (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 1990 | ISBN-10: 0275934411 | ISBN-13: 978-0275934415

Kenneth M. Jennings examines union-management relations in professional baseball, bringing together all the information the sports fan needs to follow the issues surrounding player-management arbitration in this unique industry. Covering the history of collective bargaining action in baseball from 1869 to the 1990 season, this book examines the issues that influence those high-profile player-management-owner negotiations. Balls and Strikes reveals: how in recent years the Major League Baseball Players' Association (MLBPA) has successfully parlayed owner disunity into substantial gains for its members; that baseball, in a statistical sense, surprisingly exhibits little discrimination against black and Hispanic players; how there is very little relationship between pay and performance in professional baseball. Baseball fans and sports journalists as well as professionals in management and labor relations, will find Balls and Strikes a fresh and exciting look at America's favorite pastime. Balls and Strikes presents the confrontations and relationships between players and management from the perspective of several hundred collective bargaining participants--the union and management officials who negotiate the labor agreement and the players who must approve and live with it. Kenneth M. Jennings derives his perspective from a variety of media sources, related biographies, autobiographies, and articles. The result is a highly readable book about owners, commissioners, agents, the media, manager-player relations, player pressures including drug and alcohol problems, race and ethnic issues, and player mobility and salaries. The book discusses the history of collective bargaining action in baseball from 1869 to 1966; the year Marvin Miller became president of the MLBPA, through the 1970s and Miller's successful bargaining efforts, into the 1980s and the opening of the 1990 season. Balls and Strikes discusses key participants in the collective bargaining process--owners, agents, the media, managers, and players--and concludes with a look at contemporary industrial relations issues in professional baseball: drug and alcohol abuse; racial discrimination; and the relationship between pay and performance.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Impressively researched and well written, this valuable study by a business professor at the University of North Florida opens with a history of labor-management negotiations from the early days of organized baseball in 1869 to the present, with emphasis on the period after 1966, when Marvin Miller became president of the Major League Baseball Players' Association. Jennings traces the erosion of the reserve clause and the rise of arbitration in salary disputes, examining the participants in negotiations--players, owners, managers, agents, even commissioners--and showing the stake each has in the money game. Many striking points are made, i.e., there is no discrimination in salaries of minority players and there is little relationship between pay and performance.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“There is little doubt that this is another first-rate publication in the literature of sport management. Jennings's work has some similarities with Gerald W. Scully's recent The Business of Major League Baseball. Both of these authors reflect a growing trend to provide more in-depth information concerning the economics of sport. However, Jennings has clearly focused on the collective bargaining process in professional baseball, and his book is also very historical in nature. Needless to say, this is a most timely work in light of the difficult labor negotiations in baseball in 1990. There are some tables that provide pertinent information; the notes and references are very extensive and of high quality. The book is definitely recommended for any college library, particularly as a research reference for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in courses that cover labor relations in sport.”–Choice

“Impressively researched and well written, this valuable study by a business professor at the University of North Florida opens with a history of labor-management negotiations from the early days of organized baseball in 1869 to the present, with emphasis on the period after 1966, when Marvin Miller became president of the Major League Baseball Players' Association. Jennings traces the erosion of the reserve clause and the rise of arbitration in salary disputes, examining the participants in negotiations--players, owners, managers, agents, even commissioners--and showing the stake each has in the money game. Many striking points are made, i.e., there is no discrimination in salaries of minority players and there is little relationship between pay and performance.”–Publishers Weekly

“. . . This is a serious, professional study, filled with tables, charts and numbers--some of which lead to provocative conclusion, including Miller's conclusion that black and Hispanic players suffer from statistically measurable discrimination in either playing time or salary. Fortunately, he uses the qualifier `statistically measurable,' and notes that this statement does not include social pressure or post-baseball preference. Similar comments throughout show that Jennings is not just a number cruncher, but understands the game as well.”–The News

“A highly readable, clear, thoughtful and entertaining discussion of some of the most controversial and complex issues in modern sport. He also makes some difficult and complex material accessible to the average student, fan and non-economic specialist. In doing so he makes a valuable addition to growing body of material on the business of sport.”–The International Journal of the History of Sport

“Impressively researched and well written, this valuable study by a business professor at the University of North Florida opens with a history of labor-management negotiations from the early days of organized baseball in 1869 to the present, with emphasis on the period after 1966 when Marvin Miller became president of the Major League Baseball Players' Association. Jennings traces the erosion of the resrve clause and the rise of arbitration in salary disputes, examining the participants in negotiations--players, owners, managers, agents, even commissioners--and showing the stake each has in the money game. Many striking points are made, i.e., there is no discrimination in salaries of minority players and there is little relationship between pay and performance.”–Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 283 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers (February 15, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275934411
• ISBN-13: 978-0275934415
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,885,998 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars THE ECONOMIC REALITY OF BASEBALL, February 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Balls and Strikes: The Money Game in Professional Baseball (Hardcover)

This book is an intense and pretty thorough historical contemplation of the economic aspects of Major League Baseball. For someone interested in learning more about how baseball functions as a business and not just as a pastime, Jennings's book is a helpful starting point, because not a lot of books have been written which focus solely on the various labor and business issues in baseball. He gives many different aspects of the business of baseball their due, including a thorough analysis of the reserve clause, the aftermath of free agency, and Marvin Miller's success (with the help of the Major League Baseball Players Association) in cultivating a union consciousness among the players. I read this book right before Marvin Miller's autobiography, and it provided me with a lot of background information on free agency and the various labor disputes which have surfaced in baseball over the years. Jennings has a flair for writing history, and integrating his analysis with anecdotes which draw the reader into the reality of the business world of baseball. Jennings's one downfall in this book is that he kind of leaves it blowing in the wind- I would have liked for him to speculate more on the future of the economics of baseball. After such a thorough critique of the various elements and events which have become pivotal in baseball's business, I expected him to carry it further. Still, I would reccommend it to anyone interested in examining baseball from a more business or labor-oriented perspective.