Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Preface Introduction Chapter 1. Baseball in the Post-Landis Era 1. Commissioner's Powers Diminished after Landis's Death (1945) 2. Branch Rickey on Selection of Happy Chandler as Commissioner (1945) 3. Rickey, O'Malley Purchase Half-Interest in Dodgers (1945) 4. Report of the Mayor's Committee on Baseball (1945) 5. Major League Baseball Addresses the "Race Question" (1946) 6. Players, Owners Agree on Changes in Contracts, Game (1946) 7. Minor Leagues Prepare for Future (1946) 8. Reporter Alleges Strike Threat against Jackie Robinson (1947) 9. "Pitch Spahn and Sain, Then Pray for Rain" (1948) 10. Indians, Bearden Win Playoff Game to Claim American League Pennant (1948) 11. Negro National League Disintegrates (1948) 12. Chandler Reinstates Mexican League Jumpers (1949) 13. Jackie Robinson v. Paul Robeson (1949) 14. Yankees Win Pennant in Dramatic Fashion (1949) Chapter 2. Controversies over Antitrust, Airwaves 15. Organized Baseball, Government Quarrel over Broadcast Regulations (1949) 16. The Effect of Television on Minor League Baseball Attendance (1951) 17. Baseball Asked to Reinstate Joe Jackson (1951) 18. Willie Mays Joins the New York Giants (1951) 19. Celler Committee Begins Investigation of Antitrust Exemption (1951) 20. Robinson's Heroics Put Dodgers in Playoff (1951) 21. Bobby Thomson Home Run Clinches Miracle Pennant for Giants (1951) 22. The Responsibilities of a Team Statistician (1952) 23. Minor Leaguer Fans Twenty-Seven in a Nine-Inning Game (1952) 24. Minor League Head Forbids Signing of Female Players (1952) 25. New Bonus Rule Enacted (1952) 26. O'Malley Promotes Pay Television (1953) 27. Boston Braves Move to Milwaukee (1953) 28. Community Organization Pressures Yankees to Integrate (1953) 29. Umpires Accused of Showing Off on Television (1953) 30. Mantle Hits Tape-Measure Home Run in Washington (1953) 31. Robinson's Interracial Barnstorming Team Banned by Bull Connor (1953) 32. Supreme Court Upholds Baseball's Antitrust Exemption (1953) Chapter 3. Baseball Moves West 33. Major League Owners Consider Ending Player Pension Plan (1953) 34. Minor League President Warns of Slow Games (1954) 35. Major League Baseball Players' Association Formed (1954) 36. Mays, Rhodes Lead Giants to Victory in Series Opener (1954) 37. Frick Updates Owners on Recent Baseball Litigation (1955) 38. Ted Williams Fined $5,000 for Spitting (1956) 39. Don Larsen Pitches Perfect World Series Game (1956) 40. Review of The Fireside Book of Baseball (1956) 41. Don Newcombe Wins the First Cy Young Award (1956) 42. DeWitt Named Administrator of "Save the Minors" Fund (1956) 43. O'Malley Buys Los Angeles Minor League Team and Ballpark (1957) 44. Supreme Court Decision Casts Doubt on Baseball Antitrust Exemption (1957) 45. Montgomery, Alabama, Institutes Racial Segregation in Sport (1957) 46. Herb Score Seriously Injured by Line Drive (1957) 47. Frick Overturns All-Star Game Vote (1957) 48. Feller Defuses Controversy over Congressional Testimony (1957) 49. Giants Agree to Move to San Francisco (1957) 50. Burdette, Braves Interrupt "Normalcy" by Beating Yankees in World Series (1957) Chapter 4. Continental Divides 51. Mayor's Baseball Committee of the City of New York Established (1957) 52. Richard Nixon Advocates True "World" Series (1958) 53. Roy Campanella Paralyzed in Car Accident (1958) 54. L.A. Voters Narrowly Approve Stadium in Chavez Ravine (1958) 55. Frick on the State of Baseball (1958) 56. mlbpa Report on Salaries (1958) 57. Dixie Series Threatened by Birmingham Racial Laws (1958) 58. Second All-Star Game Approved (1959) 59. Haddix Pitches Twelve Perfect Innings and Loses (1959) 60. Formation of Continental League Announced (1959) 61. Negro American League Nearing the End (1959) 62. Los Angeles Wins Playoff, Goes to Series (1959) 63. Review of Baseball: The Early Years (1960) 64. Mazeroski Home Run Lifts Pirates to Stunning Series Win over Yankees (1960) Chapter 5. Legislating Baseball 65. nl Upholds Promise, Awards Franchises to Two cl Teams; al Reneges (1960) 66. The Major League Perspective on Congressional Investigations (1961) 67. Frick Places "Distinctive Mark" on 162-Game Home Run Record (1961) 68. Satchel Paige mvp in Last East-West Negro All-Star Game (1961) 69. Roger Maris Establishes Record with Sixty-First Home Run (1961) 70. Major Leagues Vote Down Return of Spitball (1961) 71. Giants Rally in Ninth to Beat Dodgers in Playoff (Again) (1962) 72. American Association Latest Minor League to Be Dismantled (1962) 73. Marichal Bests Spahn in Sixteen-Inning Pitching Duel (1963) 74. Preview of tv Special "A Man Named Mays" (1963) 75. nl Wins Only Latin All-Star Game (1963) 76. Charlie Finley Suggests Playing Night Games during World Series (1963) 77. Jim Bunning Throws First nl Perfect Game of Century (1964) 78. Dodgers to Experiment with Pay Television (1964) 79. "Phillies 6 Up With 12 to Play" (1964) 80. Draft Approved, Commissioners' Powers Restored at Winter Meetings (1964) Chapter 6. Baseball Confronts Modernity 81. Design Flaws in Houston Astrodome Revealed (1965) 82. Marichal Attacks Dodgers' Roseboro with Bat during Game (1965) 83. Emmett Ashford Becomes First Black Major League Umpire (1965) 84. William "Spike" Eckert Elected as New Commissioner (1965) 85. mlbpa Executive Director Position Approved by Majors (1966) 86. Baseball Press Release Costs Majors in Wisconsin Antitrust Suit (1966) 87. "Chipmunks": New Breed of Sportswriter Emerges (1966) 88. Koufax, Drysdale Agree to End Joint Holdout (1966) 89. Review of The Glory of Their Times (1966) 90. Red Barber Fired by Yankees (1966) 91. Sandy Koufax Retires at Age Thirty (1966) 92. Red Sox Complete Miracle Season, Win al Pennant (1967) 93. mlbpa, Owners Sign First Basic Agreement (1968) Chapter 7. The Era of Labor Unrest Begins 94. Major Leagues Agree on Divisional Play, Playoffs (1968) 95. McLain Wins Thirty-First Game while Allowing Mantle's 535th Home Run (1968) 96. Two al Umpires Fired after Planning Union (1968) 97. Changes in Rules, Pitcher's Mound Approved at Winter Meetings (1968) 98. Teams to Experiment with "Wild-Card" Hitter in Spring Training (1969) 99. Bowie Kuhn, nl Lawyer, Elected as Interim Commissioner (1969) 100. Baseball Encyclopedia Research Adds 715th Home Run to Ruth's Total (1969) 101. Curt Flood Threatens to Retire after Being Traded (1969) 102. New York Mets Stun Baseball, Win World Series (1969) 103. National Labor Relations Board Rules Baseball Subject to Its Jurisdiction (1969) 104. Flood to File Antitrust Suit against Baseball (1969) Chapter 8. Counting Numbers, Dollars, and Rights 105. "Baseball Seminar": The First Fantasy Baseball Game? (1970) 106. Seymour Siwoff and the Statistics Revolution (1970) 107. Owners Grant Players Independent Arbitration in New Basic Agreement (1970) 108. Reaction to Jim Bouton's Ball Four (1970) 109. Rose Crushes Fosse to Win All-Star Game for nl (1970) 110. Umpires Strike during League Championship Series (1970) 111. Hall of Fame Establishes Negro Leagues Committee (1971) 112. Washington Senators Forfeit Franchise's Final Game (1971) 113. Cardinals' Owner Lectures Players on Virtues of Proposed Pension Plan (1972) 114. Comment on the Supreme Court Ruling against Curt Flood (1972) Bibliography Acknowledgments Index

About the Author

Dean A. Sullivan is the editor of Early Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1825–1908 and Middle Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball, 1900–1948, both available in Bison Books editions.

Reviews

"Sullivan's selection is intelligent and significant, and it chronicles the major engines of change in baseball in the face of financial, geographic, and cultural upheaval. The three volumes together present a very useful basic documentary history of the national pastime."—Choice

"Spanning the era from the close of World War II to the 1972 U.S. Supreme Court ruling rejecting Curt Flood's bid for free agency, this book presents a documentary examination of major league baseball. The materials include official pronouncements by baseball's own high court, sharp accounts of ball games and pennant races, and references to some of the finest histories of the sport."—Library Journal

"Throughout, he prefers to let the collected sources tell baseball's history for him—an effective strategy for a sport that inspired much of the century's best journalism. Though a bit specialized for general readers, a goldmine for students and fans of baseball history, as well as readers with interests in mid-20th-century race and labor issues."—Kirkus Reviews

“There is much to like in this volume, from the emergence of improved statistical analysis by Seymore Siwoff and his Elias Sports Bureau to the ill-fated idea of playing two All-Star Games per season to the charmed existence that the sport of baseball has enjoyed with the U.S. Supreme Court. This volume is a must for any person who is a student of baseball history.”—Bill Kirwin, Nine

"Sullivan, editor of Early Innings, which cover 1825-1900 and 1900-1948 respectively, does a fine job of gathering representative pieces that show baseball as a work in progress, ever-growing, ever-changing."—bookreporter.com