Product Description

From his perspective as a journalist and a true fan, Bob Costas, NBC's award-winning broadcaster, shares his unflinching views on the forces that are diminishing the appeal of major league baseball and proposes realistic changes that can be made to protect and promote the game's best interests.

In this cogent--and provocative--book, Costas examines the growing financial disparities that have resulted in nearly two-thirds of the teams in major league baseball having virtually no chance of contending for the World Series. He argues that those who run baseball have missed the crucial difference between mere change and real progress. And he presents a withering critique of the positions of both the owners and players while providing insights on the wild-card system, the designated-hitter rule, and interleague play. Costas answers each problem he cites with an often innovative, always achievable strategy for restoring genuine competition and rescuing fans from the forces that have diluted the sheer joy of the game.

Balanced by Costas's unbridled appreciation for what he calls the "moments of authenticity" that can still make baseball inspiring, Fair Ball offers a vision of our national pastime as it can be, a game that retains its traditional appeal while initiating thoughtful changes that will allow it to thrive into the next century.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #478208 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-03
• Released on: 2001-04-03
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 8.00" h x .60" w x 5.20" l, .40 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 220 pages

From Amazon.com

This isn't a commentator's diatribe against the sport, but rather a fan's case for baseball. What do I want? I think the same thing that most baseball fans want: To see the game prove worthy of our devotion.

Bob Costas loves baseball. And he's worried about the state of the game--superstar players abandoning the teams that helped them rise to greatness, the awkward interleague play system, the pennant-race-weakening wild cards, and the payroll disparity that effectively eliminates two-thirds of the teams in the league from having any chance to win the World Series--even before opening day. Costas addresses these problems and offers provocative solutions in Fair Ball.

Costas makes it clear from the outset that he's not a romantic, baseball-should-be-played-in-flannel traditionalist; indeed, some of his ideas--comprehensive revenue sharing and salary caps and floors--will be seen as radical by many team owners and players. Others are more standard--no more wild card, and farewell to the DH--but all are thoughtful and cogently argued.

Throughout Fair Ball Costas's affection for the national pastime softens his occasionally strident tone. Ultimately, all baseball fans want the same thing; Costas's ideas, if adopted, would go a long way toward returning the game to full health. --Sunny Delaney

From Publishers Weekly
Costas isn't the first announcer to write a manifesto on what's wrong with baseball, nor is he the only person to think the game's soul has been debased by hyper-escalating salaries, bonehead revisions to the league and shortsighted owners toeing the bottom line. But he is one of the more persuasive and eloquent. Costas firmly grasps the game's economics, and he marshals mounds of evidence and countless wise insights to show why the sport needs revenue sharing, a salary cap and a salary minimum to restore competitive balance. Next, he dissects other gimmicks of 1990s baseball, such as interleague play, the wild card, the oft-proposed radical realignment. Thankfully, Costas never sits back and says, "It was better when...." Instead, he carefully shows that these gimmicks have been implemented poorly, that they've achieved nothing they were supposed to and that they've instead made pennant races obsolete. In the last frame, Costas briefly pushes a few more hot buttons--umpire oversight, Pete Rose, the DH--and offers what may prove his most controversial opinion: he advocates using instant replay during the playoffs. Throughout, Costas remains evenhanded. If he blames most of the game's problems on the owners, he's no less critical of the superstars and their union lackeys, who, he argues, care more for a few huge paychecks than all the guys making minimum. Author tour. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Costas, NBC sports analyst, is nationally known for his insightful commentary and has long made no secret that of all the sports he has covered, baseball is his favorite. Here he offers nostrums to the deep-seated problems affecting baseball in a book with thoughtful but easy-to-read chapters. He explains that only big-market teams can compete anymore and that revenues and resources of baseball can and should be more evenly spread so as to increase competition. An equitable distribution of profits would certainly give fans of small-market teams reason for hope in the spring. Costas does not like the so-called innovations of the past several decades, including the use of the designated hitter in the American League. He provides an eloquent voice for the everyday fan who is becoming more obsolete owing to the increased costs of visiting a ballpark. This quality volume will circulate well in all public libraries. Highly recommended. [Originally scheduled for release in 1998, this book was covered in the Baseball Roundup, LJ 2/1/98.--Ed.]--Paul Kaplan, Lake Villa Dist. Lib., I.
---Paul Kaplan, Lake Villa Dist. Lib., IL
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.