The Baseball Business: Pursuing Pennants and Profits in Baltimore

The thrust of our national pastime as a business rather than merely a sport has intensified since the end of World War II, particularly during the last two decades. In this instructive study, Miller ( The United States and Italy, 1940-1950 ) looks at the marketing and economics of baseball, focusing on the Orioles of Baltimore. He examines the decline of the team's farm system, caused in part by the spread of television coverage of major league games; by the move of white city-dwellers to the suburbs with the concomitant failure of baseball to attract inner-city blacks to the ballpark; and especially by the increased power of the players as the reserve clause was ended and free agency began. The down-and-up fortunes of the Orioles make for a rich story and a profitable read. Photos. (Mar.)