In the Best Interests of Baseball?: The Revolutionary Reign of Bud Selig

Since 1992, Major League Baseball's owners have adopted a revenue sharing program, realigned their leagues, restructured the playoffs and put aside some of the bitter conflicts that hampered efforts to build a fan base and deal with a well-organized players union. Credit (or blame, depending) for these changes largely belongs to baseball commissioner Bud Selig. As Zimbalist, an economist at Smith College and a leading sports-business authority, argues persuasively, Selig's consensus-building leadership style and status as (now former) owner of the Milwaukee Brewers made it possible for him to drag the most hidebound of sports into the modern era. Zimbalist applies his considerable knowledge to explanations of financial issues that go underreported by mainstream media: the benefits and flaws in baseball's revenue sharing plan, the machinations behind several franchise sales, the hidden tax implications of some of baseball's business practices and some intriguing solutions to the money gap between large- and small-city teams. Zimbalist's treatment of Selig is even-handed, though he takes a harder line when discussing Zelig's conflicts of interest (in his dual role as team owner and commissioner) and describing the ways Selig used his power to help cronies and punish owners who failed to toe the line. Readers expecting a successor to Helyar's Lords of the Realm will be disappointed-Zimbalist is an economist, not a storyteller. Still, this book is a must-read for anyone who is interested in the way the game has been run during an era of considerable upheaval.