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

by Andrew S. Zimbalist

"Once again, Andy Zimbalist proves that no one understands the mysterious inner workings of the best game on earth better than he does. With energy, thoughtfulness, and passion, he has parsed the complicated world of baseball and shown how important its business side is to its soul—and its survival."
—Ken Burns "By looking at baseball from the perspective of the commissioner's office and its many challenges, Professor Zimbalist has been able to use his scholar's eye and his fan's heart to see the game as an ongoing enterprise that needs refreshment. The fair but unsparing portrait of Bud Selig he paints is of a man who is nobody's fool and nobody's tool—and now, those of us who love the game need him to start the rally that will restore baseball in America's esteem."
—Scott Simon, host of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday and author of Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball and Home and Memoir of a Fan "Baseball books, like the game itself, are often replete with errors. But Andrew Zimbalist has written a carefully researched yet lively review of the record of the nine commissioners that is both fair and accurate. It is long overdue and a superb read."
—Fay Vincent, former commissioner of baseball "Tremendously enjoyable and a must-read for baseball fans. Guaranteed to raise the level of discourse on sports-talk radio."
—Jim Bouton, former 20-game winning pitcher for the Yankees and author of Ball Four "Andrew Zimbalist has done a very credible, eminently readable, and engaging job describing MLB's commissioners, particularly Bud Selig, who easily has become the most significant figure in baseball in decades. While Selig will not necessarily share all of Zimbalist's views about the game, In the Best Interests of Baseball? has thoughtfully, and perhaps uniquely, tracked many of the thorny issues that Selig confronted during baseball's new golden era."
—John Moores, owner of the Padres and member of MLB's Executive Council "I always thought Yogi Berra was the wisest source on baseball, but Zimbalist has hit a grand slam here."
—Tom Werner, owner of the Red Sox and former owner of the Padres

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Business

250 pages, Hardcover

First published February 17, 2006

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zimbalist argues that Selig has shepherded in -- despite a dysfunctional culture among the owners -- many of the advancements of the last few decades (interleague play, revenue sharing, the wild card, centralized revenue through the internet, etc). You can count on Zimbalist to point why MLB owners are the scum of the earth (are you listening David Glass?), and this book is no exception. I thought the book was more difficult to get through than his other two books on baseball economics. I also thought that he was too sympathetic to Selig, who has presided over a considerable amount of progress, but who also has let the big problems (revenue disparities and the unwillingness of certain owners to compete) fester.

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

The question mark at the end of the title is misleading. This is NOT an impartial view of Bud Selig's regime.

Revolutionary, my --uh-- eye. Like just about every commissioner before him -- and perhaps even more so, given how he got the job-- Selig is a hypocrite and an enabler of obscenely rich men. I get queasy every time one of these clowns invokes that "best interests" clause, because they confuse their masters'-- the owners'-- best interests with those of the game. Zimbalist ought to revise this with a chapter on Selig's relative handling of the McCourts and the Wilpons.

[Kurt Humbertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the historical aspect of this book as it describes how MLB ended up with the commissionership and a surface look at each commissioner up to Selig. I also enjoyed the detailed look at the changes to the game from the mid-90’s to 2006 (when the book was published). This was a period of time that my own interest in the National Pastime had been shelved. Selig presided over the league during such a volatile time and helped to see so many positive changes adapted. It would be interesting to see an updated version of this book through the Manfred years. The game had had so many changes implemented on the heels of the Selig era.

[Glenn Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! A history of the governance of baseball and the commissioners. Bio's of Judge Landis, Happy Chandler and all the others up to Bud Selig. Self serving Bud. While the title implies this book is just about Bud, the chapters on the previous commissioners point out the flaws, warts and weaknesses of each. So much more could have occurred in baseball if the commissioners were better leaders. The color line could have ended much earlier for one. The anti-trust exemption has been more detrimental to baseball than beneficial and the fans are the ones that have suffered. While dated, I enjoyed this book a great deal.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read, but I would have appreciated a bit more depth on... well, everything. It glosses over a lot of interesting areas rather than doing a deeper dive into the history of Bud Selig's reign. (For reference, it felt like over half the book is spent on describing the history of the commissioner's role.)

This book could have used a historian--or at least someone with a more historical bent--involved in the writing, or as a coauthor. It's still a good reference on Selig's controversial tenure.

[Jack Connolly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Felt more like a term paper than a book, honestly. The information was interesting, but I felt the author rushed a ton of material to fit everything in under 220 pages. I personally would rather the author spent another 100 pages or so to air out the information he's providing. I could read whole books about the 94 lockout or the selling of the Expos and they would've been great. But I felt the author undermines himself when trying to compress the information and then try and bring concluding thoughts he felt were earned. I'm the author also half heartedly combs over the preceding commissioners in a way I felt wasn't truly connected in the desired narrative within this book. There's a lot of interesting (and terribly frustrating) things that happened in Selig's tenure. There is also a proper way to present it in literary medium, but this is not it. An unfortunate missed opportunity here.