The History of Commissioners
in Major League Baseball
Section I: Introduce Your Topic and Keywords
Major League Baseball has an illustrious list of players and teams
that have impacted the game's history. Less glorified but equally
important to what has occurred in baseball is the actions of the
game's nine commissioners, the men whose job it has been to oversee
the game and its rules.
Commissioners have had a tremendous impact, some of which has been
recognized. The first commissioner, Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis,
placed a lifetime suspension on those members of the Chicago "Black"
Sox who were accused-yet acquitted-of fixing the 1919 World Series.
More recently, commissioners have, for example, upheld the ban preventing
Pete Rose, the game's most prolific hitter, from being elected to
the Baseball Hall of Fame.
I'd like to find more specific examples of commissioners mandating
rulings that have affected the game. How has the power of the commissioner
changed over the course of the years? Who were the most influential
commissioners? Who were the least effective ones? How about the
most popular ones?
My intended audience is not only baseball fans but also historians
of American culture. I hope to write a senior honors thesis in history
next year that is related to this very topic. Baseball is socially
significant, and the commissioners' influence on the game obviously
plays a role in what occurs-both on and off the field. I think all
sports fans would be interested to learn more about this position.
Section I-b: Keywords
UNC library catalog:
§ baseball and commission?
§ (professional sports) and baseball
Academic Universe Lexis-Nexis:
§ baseball w/5 history and commission!
§ (Professional sports) w/10 commission!
Search engine on Web <http://www.google.com>
§ baseball -fantasy
§ professional sports commissioner
Section II: Books, Videotapes and CD-ROMs from UNC-CH
libraries
Holtzman, Jerome. The Commissioners: Baseball's Midlife Crisis.
New York: Total Sports, 1998.
LOCATION: Davis -- CALL NUMBER: GV865.A1 H612 1998
Kuhn, Bowie. Hardball: The Education of a Baseball Commissioner.
New York: Times Books, 1987.
LOCATION: Davis -- CALL NUMBER: GV865.K78 A3 1987
Baseball. 1994. Produced and directed by Ken Burns. 18 hr, 14 min.
PBS Home Video. Videocassette.
UL NonPrint Videocassette -- CALL NUMBER: 65-V4766
Section III: Academic Universe Lexis-Nexis Sources
"Bud's Turn At Bat." (2000, Nov. 6) Business Week. [Online].
Available: http://eresources.lib.unc.edu/cgibin/external_database_auth?A=P|F=Y|URL=http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
[2001, Feb. 17].
Bruning, Fred. (1992, Sept. 28) "Baseball and Politics --
lessons in hardball." McLean's. [Online].
Available: http://eresources.lib.unc.edu/cgibin/external_database_auth?A=P|F=Y|URL=http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
[2001, Feb. 17].
Dortch, Shannon. (1996, April) "THE Future of Baseball."
American Demographics. [Online].
Available: http://eresources.lib.unc.edu/cgibin/external_database_auth?A=P|F=Y|URL=http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
[2001, Feb. 17].
Giamatti, A. Bartlett. (1989, Nov. 6) "Giamatti: Talking Baseball."
Newsweek. [Online]
Available: http://eresources.lib.unc.edu/cgibin/external_database_auth?A=P|F=Y|URL=http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
[2001, Feb. 17].
Leerhesn, Charles and Mary Bruno (1985, April 1) "Ueberroth
at Bat." Newsweek. [Online]
Available: http://eresources.lib.unc.edu/cgibin/external_database_auth?A=P|F=Y|URL=http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
[2001, Feb. 17].
Welling, Brenton and William C. Symonds. (1989, April 3) "Professor
Hardball." Business Week.
Available: http://eresources.lib.unc.edu/cgibin/external_database_auth?A=P|F=Y|URL=http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe
[2001, Feb. 17].
Section IV: Web Sources on Your Topic
Title of Web Page: Introduction to Commissioners
- Brief description: A Web site independent of Major League Baseball
that has biographies on all nine commissioners. Of particular importance
because, since it's not an official Web site of major league baseball,
won't sugarcoat what actually happened to spin-doctor history in
the game's favor, but rather will tell it as it is
- Source of Web site: Total Baseball
Title of Web Page: Hall of Famer Biographies
- Brief description: Many commissioners have been elected to the
Hall of Fame, and their bibliographies are included here. Induction
into baseball's Hall of Fame is considered a prestigious recognition
of service rendered to the game, proof that the commissioners make
a significant impact.
- Source of Web site: Major League Baseball Hall of Fame
Title of Web Page: John Skilton's Baseball Links
- Brief description: Provides various links to historical articles-from
factual to opinionated, from official to independent-on many topics
in baseball history. It's a great site to find other baseball articles
on the World Wide Web.
- Source of Web site: Baseball-Links.com
Title of Web Page: The Commissionership of Baseball: An Historical
Perspective
- Brief description: Provides a comprehensive historical overview
of the development of the position of commissioner, from its predecessor
to its inception to its current state. Only problem with this Web
site is that they've recently gone through a complete overhaul and
sometimes the links are bad.
- Source of Web site: Major League Baseball
Title of Web Page: Baseball Almanac - The "Official"
Baseball History Site
- Brief description: Provides a tremendous breadth of information
on a variety of topics, from team histories to stadiums to statistics.
This site is unique in the information that it provides and would
be beneficial to anyone doing any type of baseball research.
- Source of Web site: Baseball Almanac
Section V: Write a Mini-Essay on an Internet Issue!
TITLE: LPGA On Par To Score Big With Web Site Upgrade
(TOPIC AREA: Net People and Places)
On Jan. 8, the Ladies' Professional Golf Association took a giant
step forward in becoming a major player in the sports world by announcing
a partnership with Ignite Sports Media. The merger has revolutionized
the LPGA's Web site, now considered one of the best in professional
sports.
"The LPGA realized that we needed to raise the bar with our
Web site, and after a lot of research, we chose Ignite," said
Ty Votaw, LPGA commissioner. (1)
Ignite, which runs 18 Web sites for professional sports franchises
such as the Chicago Bears, White Sox and Blackhawks, has contributed
a significant upfront investment. The LPGA, too, has invested more
than $10 million of its own money over the next five years. (2)
Both expect to make money off the deal from advertising and product-branding
possibilities.
The Web site, part of a new live electronic scoring system, will
feature "real-time" scoring on a customized leaderboard
that will permit fans to monitor five golfers simultaneously. Statistics
will be regularly updated during tournaments in 22 categories. A
"gallery" area will provide fans with chat rooms, message
boards and discussions, and weekly updates will be posted in the
form of stories, features and tips. (3)
NOTES:
(1) Dave Newbart, "Chicago's Ignite Scores LPGA's Web site,"
Chicago Sun Times, 8 January 2001. Also Available [Online]: http://www.suntimes.com/output/tech/ignite08.html
[Accessed: 17 February 2001].
(2) Jennifer Lee, "LPGA to revamp Web site, unveil new high-tech
scoreboard." The Business Journal, 12 January 2001. Also Available
[Online]: http://jacksonville.bcentral.com/jacksonville/stories/2001/01/15/story7.html
[Accessed: 17 February 2001].
(3) Gene Yasuda, "LPGA Upgrades Web site," GolfWeek, 19
January 2001. Also Available [Online]: http://www.golfweek.com/articles/2001/business/news/19542.asp
[Accessed: 17 February 2001].
Title of Web page: LPGA Upgrades Web Site - GolfWeek.com
- Brief Description: Describes the site's new features of real-time
scoring, the gallery section and weekly informational updates.
- Source of Web site: GolfWeek
Title of Web page: LPGA to revamp Web site, unveil
new high-tech scoreboard
- Brief Description: A business report on the deal, including information
about the merger and what each company not only brings to the table
but also expects in return. Also goes into a brief description of
the new features.
- Source of Web site: Business Journal, serving Jacksonville and
Northeast Florida
Title of Web page: Chicago's Ignite scores LPGA's
Web site
- Brief description: Focuses on Ignite Sports Media, the company
with whom the LPGA is merging, and what they will do to the site
and what they hope to get from the site.
- Source of Web site: Chicago Sun-Times
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