[admin]

With the advent of interleague play and the realignment resulting from both the Milwaukee Brewers' jump from the American League to the National League and the creation of Central divisions, many baseball fans cried foul, claiming that their beloved game was being governed by infidels who cared nothing for tradition. These exasperated purists complained that realignment would mean the loss of existing rivalries, that interleague play would cheapen the thrill of the World Series, and that each move would contribute to the loss of statistical continuity. But change, even radical change, is nothing new to baseball.
Arguing that self-alteration is perhaps the national pastime's truest tradition, Russell O. Wright shows that it is customary for management to change not only the rules, but the ball, the franchises, and the stadiums. The author considers the key rules and rule changes, franchise moves, ball modifications, and variations in the player pool, and traces the effects each of these had on the game's statistics. The book includes charts, chronologies, and lists of logically presented statistics.
Customer Review: A Change Doesn't Mean Better!
I felt compelled to write this review in response to the author Russell O. Wright opionon that changing of the game is something we have no control over, but I feel likewise. One just has to look at the game today and wonder what it's gonna be like in another 20 years from now. But Mr. Wright does a respectable job in this work and although I feel the sport has change for the worst, fan support keeps growning, but for how much longer I'm not really sure. Baseball has come a long ways from the sport that I knew in the early 60's. I guess the bottom line is there's always gonna be somebody that's has to feel the need for change to make the sport better. But really isn't it all about money and greed? How much longer can Baseball go on with the changes it's made these last 30 years is beyond me. There have been great things happen to baseball but I feel that baseball needs to take a closer look at what has happen to the sport and wonder how much longer can it survive if it keeps going in this direction.


More...