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Title details for The Great Baseball Revolt by Robert B. Ross - Available

The Great Baseball Revolt

by Robert B. Ross
ebook
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The Players League, formed in 1890, was a short-lived professional baseball league controlled and owned in part by the players themselves, a response to the National League's salary cap and "reserve rule," which bound players for life to one particular team. Led by John Montgomery Ward, the Players League was a star-studded group that included most of the best players of the National League, who bolted not only to gain control of their wages but also to share ownership of the teams.
Lasting only a year, the league impacted both the professional sports and the labor politics of athletes and nonathletes alike. The Great Baseball Revolt is a historic overview of the rise and fall of the Players League, which fielded teams in Boston, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Though it marketed itself as a working-class league, the players were underfunded and had to turn to wealthy capitalists for much of their startup costs, including the new ballparks. It was in this context that the league intersected with the organized labor movement, and in many ways challenged by organized labor to be by and for the people.
In its only season, the Players League outdrew the National League in fan attendance. But when the National League overinflated its numbers and profits, the Players League backers pulled out. The Great Baseball Revolt brings to life a compelling cast of characters and a mostly forgotten but important time in professional sports when labor politics affected both athletes and nonathletes.
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Publisher: Nebraska

Kindle Book

  • Release date: April 1, 2016

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9780803294783
  • File size: 1474 KB
  • Release date: April 1, 2016

EPUB ebook

  • ISBN: 9780803294783
  • File size: 1474 KB
  • Release date: April 1, 2016

Formats

Kindle Book
OverDrive Read
EPUB ebook

subjects

Sports & Recreations Nonfiction

Languages

English

The Players League, formed in 1890, was a short-lived professional baseball league controlled and owned in part by the players themselves, a response to the National League's salary cap and "reserve rule," which bound players for life to one particular team. Led by John Montgomery Ward, the Players League was a star-studded group that included most of the best players of the National League, who bolted not only to gain control of their wages but also to share ownership of the teams.
Lasting only a year, the league impacted both the professional sports and the labor politics of athletes and nonathletes alike. The Great Baseball Revolt is a historic overview of the rise and fall of the Players League, which fielded teams in Boston, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. Though it marketed itself as a working-class league, the players were underfunded and had to turn to wealthy capitalists for much of their startup costs, including the new ballparks. It was in this context that the league intersected with the organized labor movement, and in many ways challenged by organized labor to be by and for the people.
In its only season, the Players League outdrew the National League in fan attendance. But when the National League overinflated its numbers and profits, the Players League backers pulled out. The Great Baseball Revolt brings to life a compelling cast of characters and a mostly forgotten but important time in professional sports when labor politics affected both athletes and nonathletes.
Expand title description text
Sports & Recreations Nonfiction
  • Details

    Publisher:
    Nebraska

    Kindle Book
    Release date: April 1, 2016

    OverDrive Read
    ISBN: 9780803294783
    File size: 1474 KB
    Release date: April 1, 2016

    EPUB ebook
    ISBN: 9780803294783
    File size: 1474 KB
    Release date: April 1, 2016

  • Creators
  • Formats
    Kindle Book
    OverDrive Read
    EPUB ebook
  • Languages
    English
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