Baseball (27 page)

98 “I don't know which”: Smith,
Voices of the Game
, p. 12.

98 “rough around the edges”: Ibid., p. 20.

99 “Aunt Minnie”: Ibid., p. 76.

99 Barber and “Arabian horse”: Gerald Ensley, “Red Barber's Career Marked by Pride, Accuracy and Integrity,” Knight-Ridder, October 25, 1992.

100 “good and dark”: Jerome Holtzman, “An Enlightening Journey Through Night-Game Annals,”
Chicago Tribune
, August 8, 1988.

101 Joe Bowman: Les Bowen, “Wrigley Field Sees the Light,”
Philadelphia Inquirer
, August 8, 1988.

101 percentage of night games: Telephone interview with Bob Waterman, Elias Sports Bureau, 2005.

102 “The Rembrandt of Re-creation”: Isaacs, “Baseball's Radio Pioneers.” 102 Barbar, NBC, 1939: Smith,
Voices of the Game
, p. 40.

106 first peacetime draft: Richard Goldstein,
Spartan Seasons: How Baseball Survived the Second World War
(New York: Macmillan, 1980), p. 3.

XI: WAR

109 sign of weakness: Richard Goldstein,
Spartan Seasons: How Baseball Survived the Second World War
(New York: Macmillan, 1980), p. 37.

109 “green light” letter: Ibid., p. 19.

110 over 100 major-leaguers in uniform: Leonard Koppett,
Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball
(New York: Carroll & Graf, 2004), p. 212.

110 Chandler and baseball: Goldstein,
Spartan Seasons
, p. 202.

111 Moreland and Mexico: Jules Tygiel,
Baseball as History
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2000).

112 Gedeon and O'Neill: Goldstein,
Spartan Seasons
, p. 249.

112 Bert Shepard: Ibid., pp. 212–13.

113 Harry Walker: Ibid., p. 252.

114 Pesky and DiMaggio: telephone interviews with George Vecsey, October 17, 2002.

115 O'Doul in Japan: Lawrence Ritter,
The Glory of Their Times
(New York: William Morrow, 1984), p. 278.

115 MacArthur and O'Doul: Japanese ambassador to the United States, Ryozo Kato, speech, Washington, D.C., January 17, 2006.

XII: JACKIE ROBINSON

119 “snowflake”: Jackie Robinson, as told to Alfred Duckett,
I Never Had It Made
(New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1972), p. 63.

120 Robinson and newspapers: Interview with Jackie Robinson by George Vecsey,
Newsday
, 1967.

120 Lester Rodney: Jack Epstein, “Baseball's Conscience Finally Gets His Due,”
San Francisco Chronicle
, July 10, 2005.

121 Dykes and tryout: John B. Holway, “A Vote for Chandler, an Ignored Pioneer,
New York Times
, March 1, 1981.

121 “on his lips”: John B. Holway, “A Vote for Chandler, an Ignored Pioneer,”
New York Times
, March 1, 1981.

121 “my predecessor”: Joseph Durso, “Aaron, Robinson Inducted and Honored as Pioneers,”
New York Times
, August 2, 1982.

121 Robinson in Boston: Glenn Stout, “Tryout and Fallout: Race, Jackie Robinson and the Red Sox,”
Massachusetts Historical Review
, Volume 6, 2004.

122 Charles Thomas: James A. Riley,
The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues
(New York: Carroll & Graf, 1994), pp. 121–22.

122 “guts enough not to fight back”: Arnold Rampersad,
Jackie Robinson: A Biography
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997), p. 126.

122 “vindictive spikes”: Ibid., p. 127.

123 Cardinal boycott threat: Harold Rosenthal, “The Story Behind the Story,”
New York Times
, May 4, 1997.

124 Sisler and Robinson: Rampersad,
Jackie Robinson
, p. 208.

124 Shuba anecdote: Letter to George Vecsey, circa 1982.

XIII: BASEBALL HITS
THE INTERSTATE

132 Veeck and Phillies: John B. Holway, “A Vote for Chandler, an Ignored Pioneer,”
New York Times
, March 1, 1981.

132 Veeck and attendance: John Helyar,
Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball
(New York: Villard, 1994), p. 235.

133 Veeck and television: Jules Tygiel,
Baseball as History
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 155.

133 attendance figures: Ibid., p. 303.

134 Dodger television revenue: Henry D. Fetter,
Taking On the Yankees
(New York: W. W. Norton, 2003), p. 230.

XIV: FREE AGENCY ARRIVES

141 Flood background: Thomas Boswell,
How Life Imitates the World Series
(Garden City: Doubleday, 1982).

141 Flood and oil painting: Brad Snyder,
A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood's Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports
(New York: Viking, 2006), pp. 9, 10, 67.

141 union history: Major League Baseball Players Association,
MLBPlayers.com
.

142 “deep hatred and suspicion”: Bowie Kuhn,
Hardball: The Education of a Baseball Commissioner
(New York: Times Books, 1987), p. 77.

142 “aberration, a temporary irritation”: Marvin Miller,
A Whole Different Ball Game
(Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2004), p. 91.

143 $1,000 raise in twenty years: John Helyar,
Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball
(New York: Villard, 1994), p. 10.

143 “slaves and pieces of property”: Murray Chass, “A World of Change in the Money Game,”
New York Times
, December 30, 1979.

144 Flood trial: Joseph Durso, “Curt Flood Is Dead at 59,”
New York Times
, January 21, 1997.

144 Flood's childhood friend: Curt Flood, with Richard Carter,
The Way It Is
(New York: Pocket, 1972).

144 Garagiola on Flood: Murray Chass, “Flood Was a Man for Every Season,”
New York Times
, January 21, 1997.

145 “I don't think”: Miller,
A Whole Different Ball Game
, p. 194.

145 Thurgood Marshall dissent:
Flood v. Kuhn
, 407 U.S. 258 (1972),
laws.findlaw.com/us/407/258.html
.

145 “I did a double take”: Miller,
A Whole Different Ball Game
, p. 41.

145 no tax deduction for Finley: Helyar,
Lords of the Realm
, p. 137.

146 Hunter and free agency: Ibid., p. 140.

146 “before the ink was dry”: Miller,
A Whole Different Ball Game
, p. 251.

146 payroll increases: Helyar,
Lords of the Realm
, p. 349.

146 “anti-management bias”: Kuhn,
Hardball
, p. 157.

146 cable television revenue: Helyar,
Lords of the Realm
, p. 372.

147 strike insurance ran out: Koppett,
Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball
, p. 391.

147 salaries, 1976–1985: Miller,
A Whole Different Ball Game
, pp. 286, 318.

147 salaries, 1989–1991: Helyar,
Lords of the Realm
, p. 455.

147 “Mickey Mantle made $100,000”: Murray Chass, “A World of Change in the Money Game,”
New York Times
, December 30, 1979.

147 Boras: Tom Verducci, “Big Deals,”
Sports Illustrated
, June 14, 1993.

147 “first ballplayer who made sacrifices”: Joseph Durso, “Aaron, Robinson Inducted and Honored as Pioneers,”
New York Times
, August 2, 1982.

148 Flood and sobriety: Snyder,
A Well-Paid Slave
, p. 337.

148 Flood on free agency: Steve Jacobson, “His Fight for Freedom Cost Him Dearly,”
Newsday
, January 21, 1997.

148 1997 salaries: Murray Chass, “Believe It or Not: Steinbrenner Is Being Outspent,”
New York Times
, April 2, 1998.

XV: WHY
THE YANKEES EXIST

152 Ruppert management: Henry D. Fetter,
Taking On the Yankees
(New York: W. W. Norton, 2003), p. 9.

153 Yankee–Kansas City transactions: John Thorn, with Pete Palmer, Michael Gershman, and David Pietrusza,
Total Baseball: The Official Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball
, Sixth Edition (New York: Macmillan, 1999), pp. 2371–2579.

154 Yankee attendance: Fetter,
Taking On the Yankees
, p. 8.

155 sale to CBS: Ibid. 156 three firings: Jack Mann,
The Decline and Fall of the New York Yankees
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1967), pp. 205–17.

158 value of Yankees: Richard Sandomir, “Big Spending by Yankees Is Not Proof of Big Profits,”
New York Times
, January 6, 2005; Fetter,
Taking On the Yankees
, p. 304.

159 Yankees worth $1.026 billion: Michael K. Ozanian and Lesley Kump, “Steinbrenner's Tax Shelter,”
Forbes
, May 8, 2006.

159 Manfred rebuts
Forbes
: “MLB Objects to
Forbes
' Estimates,” Associated Press, April 22, 2006.

XVI: THE WORLD CATCHES UP

163 baseball in China: Joseph A. Reaves,
Taking In a Game: A History of Baseball in Asia
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2000), pp. 14–16, via
faroutliers.blogspot.com/2004
.

163 Wilson and Hiraoka: Ibid.

164 first game in Japan: Akio Nikaido, in
Mainichi Shimbun
, May 7, 2000, citing research by Masanori Hirota, posted by Robert Whiting on
faroutliers.blogspot.com
.

164 O'Doul and Japan: Lawrence Ritter,
The Glory of Their Times
(New York: William Morrow, 1984), pp. 276–78.

165 Arakawa and Oh: Sadaharu Oh, with David Falkner,
A Zen Way of Baseball
(New York: Times Books, 1984), pp. 81, 111–35.

166 “never really friends”: Ibid., p. 75.

166 Oh and Nagashima: Robert Whiting,
The Chrysanthemum and the Bat: Baseball Samurai Style
(New York: Dodd, Mead, 1977), p. 110.

169 “coffee-colored Cubans”: Michael M. Oleksak and Mary Adams Oleksak,
Beisbol: Latin Americans and the Grand Old Game
(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Masters Press, 1991), p. 22.

169 record of 32-32-1: Ibid., p. 23.

169 “olive-skinned”: Ibid., p. 26.

169 Luque and “Mardy”: Sal Maglie with Dick Schaap, “I Always Threw Bean Balls,”
Cavalier
, September 1959.

170 Minoso family name: Ibid., p. 56.

171 Clemente hidden: Jack Mann,
The Decline and Fall of the New York Yankees
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1967), p. 17.

171 Clemente's No. 21: Interviews with Roberto Clemente, Jr., and Luis Clemente, March 2006.

172 Ichiro: Timothy Egan, “As Suzuki Chased History, the Hits Just Kept On Coming,”
New York Times
, October 3, 2004.

172 Sisler: John McGrath, “Sisler Reheated,”
Tacoma News Tribune
, September 2, 2004.

173 “If my grandfather”: Art Thiel, “Ichiro Fashions Link to Baseball's Immortals,”
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
, October 2, 2004.

173 “so little time”: Larry Larue, “The Hit King,”
Tacoma News Tribune
, October 2, 2004.

173 Rangers bow to Ichiro: Ibid.

173 international baseball: Interview with Sadaharu Oh, January 17, 2006, Washington, D.C.

174 Antonio Castro: Jack Curry, “Son of Fidel Castro Is Making a Name for Himself with Cuba's Team,”
New York Times
, March 9, 2006.

XVII: SAME GAME, YUPPIFIED

178 innovations (unless otherwise noted): Don Jensen,
The Timeline History of Baseball
(New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).

178 “When we arrived in Jacksonville”: Brian Schmitz, “A Swing Through Spring Training,”
Orlando Sentinel
, February 23, 2003.

179 Bresnahan batting helmet: Kate Ledger, “Safety Did Not Come First Even After a Fatal 1920 Beaning,”
Sports Illustrated
, July 14, 1997.

179 the Babe's trainer: Marshall Smelser,
The Life That Ruth Built
(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993), pp. 326–28.

179 amplifier: Leonard Koppett,
Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball
(New York: Carroll & Graf, 2004), p. 186.

179 uniform numbers: Smelser,
The Life That Ruth Built
, p. 391.

180 Pirates wear helmets: Ledger, “Safety Did Not Come First Even After a Fatal 1920 Beaning.”

180 Veeck proposed interleague play: Koppett,
Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball
, p. 487.

180 bad-taste uniforms: Patricia Leigh Brown, “The Champions and Cellar-Dwellers of Fashion,”
New York Times
, July 18, 1993.

182 “Marberry as an intimidator”: Shirley Povich, “Baseball No Longer Speaks Same Language,”
Washington Post
, March 20, 1996.

186 SkyDome: John Helyar,
Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball
(New York: Villard, 1994) p. 447.

XVIII: WHO'SIN CHARGE?

Source of information in this chapter, unless otherwise noted: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum yearbook.

191 “Well argued”: Richard Goldstein, “Wellington Mara, Patriarch of N.F.L., Dies at 89,”
New York Times
, October 26, 2005.

196 Ueberroth tried to force centralization: Ibid., p. 407.

196 Giamatti and Rose: Ibid., p. 408.

XIX: FOUR SCANDALS

202 “like jelly beans”: Lee Jenkins with Juliet Macur and Bill Pennington, “A Chance for Baseball to Settle Its Drug Score,”
New York Times
, December 12, 2004.

202 Hernandez testimony: Associated Press, “Met Testifies of ‘Romance’ Between Players and Drugs,” September 6, 1985.

203 collusion and 1985 Collective Bargaining Agreement: Leonard Koppett,
Koppett's Concise History of Major League Baseball
(New York: Carroll & Graf, 2004), p. 415.

203 Dawson salary: Murray Chass, “Baseball: Big Collusion Winners: Clark, Parrish, Dawson,”
New York Times
, December 15, 1992.

204 Settlement for $280 million: Richard Sandomir, “Players Association Priority: Taking Care of Business,
New York Times
, August 11, 1991.

204 Curt Flood Act: “Antitrust Exemption Is Partly Revoked,” Associated Press,
New York Times
, October 28, 1998.

205 Rose at World Series: Richard Sandomir, “All-Century Became All About Rose and Gray,”
New York Times
, October 31, 1999.