Sign-In
Cart
Wins, Losses, and Empty Seats: How Baseball Outlasted the Great Depression
Paperback
Baseball & SoftballSports General
ISBN13: 9780803271791
Publisher: Univ Of Nebraska Pr
Published: Oct 1 2013
Pages: 446
Weight: 1.15
Height: 1.20 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.40
Language: English
Organized baseball has survived its share of difficult times, and never was the state of the game more imperiled than during the Great Depression. Or was it? Remarkably, during the economic upheavals of the Depression none of the sixteen Major League Baseball teams folded or moved. In this economist's look at the sport as a business between 1929 and 1941, David George Surdam argues that although it was a very tough decade for baseball, the downturn didn't happen immediately. The 1930 season, after the stock market crash, had record attendance. But by 1931 attendance began to fall rapidly, plummeting 40 percent by 1933.
To adjust, teams reduced expenses by cutting coaches and hiring player-managers. While even the best players, such as Babe Ruth, were forced to take pay cuts, most players continued to earn the same pay in terms of purchasing power. Off the field, owners devised innovative solutions to keep the game afloat, including the development of the Minor League farm system, night baseball, and the first radio broadcasts to diversify teams' income sources.
Using research from primary documents, Surdam analyzes how the economic structure and operations side of Major League Baseball during the Depression took a beating but managed to endure, albeit changed by the societal forces of its time.
1 different editions
Also available
Wins, Losses, and Empty Seats: How Baseball Outlasted the Great Depression
Surdam, David George
Hardcover
Also in
Baseball & Softball
Dick Bremer: Game Used: My Life in Stitches with the Minnesota Twins
Bremer, Dick
Bruton, Jim
Hardcover
The Magical Game: The Spirit and History of Baseball's Superstitions, Rituals, and Curses
Baird, Addy
Hardcover
Fans First: Change The Game, Break the Rules & Create an Unforgettable Experience
Cole, Jesse
Paperback
The Bosses of the Bronx: The Endless Drama of the Yankees Under the House of Steinbrenner
Vaccaro, Mike
Hardcover
Unhittable: How Technology, Mavericks, and Innovators Engineered Baseball's New Era of Pitching Dominance
Friedman, Rob
Hardcover
The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball
Miller, John W.
Hardcover
It's a Numbers Game! Baseball: The Math Behind the Perfect Pitch, the Game-Winning Grand Slam, and So Much More!
National Geographic Kids
Buckley
Hardcover
True Blue: The Dramatic History of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Told by the Men Who Lived It
Delsohn, Steve
Paperback
October Men: Reggie Jackson, George Steinbrenner, Billy Martin, and the Yankees' Miraculous Finish in 1978
Kahn, Roger
Paperback
Royal Treatment: Jackie Robinson, Montreal, and the Breaking of Baseball's Color Barrier
McLaughlin, Sean J.
Hardcover
The Pressure Code: How Elite Performers Align Their Energy, Emotions, and Environment
Stacy, Jason
Hardcover
Brain Games - To Go - Facts & Fun: Baseball: Info, Stats, Puzzles, Quizzes & More
Publications International Ltd
Brain Games
Paperback
The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II
Keene, Anne R.
Paperback
The Chosen City, The Owner, the Players, and the New Hampshire City that Integrated Baseball in the United States
Ranauro, Bill
Paperback
Fenway Punk: How a Boston Indie Label Scored Big on Baseball's Greatest Rivalry
Wrenn, Chris
Hardcover
Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball
O'Brien, Keith
Paperback
A Year of Playing Catch: What a Simple Daily Experiment Taught Me about Life
Bryan, Ethan D.
Paperback
The Franchise: San Francisco Giants: A Curated History of the Orange and Black
Pavlovic, Alex
Paperback
One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season
Ballard, Chris
Paperback
In the Japanese Ballpark: Behind the Scenes of Nippon Professional Baseball
Fitts, Robert K.
Hardcover
Out of This World: How the Los Angeles Dodgers Captured Back-To-Back World Series Championships
Los Angeles Daily News
Paperback
The Rocket That Fell to Earth: Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality
Pearlman, Jeff
Paperback
The National Baseball Hall of Fame Collection: Celebrating the Game's Greatest Players
Buckley Jr, James
Hardcover
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City
Mahler, Jonathan
Paperback
Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game
Schwartz, Peter J.
Sexton, John
Oliphant, Thomas
Paperback
The Last Best League, 10th Anniversary Edition: One Summer, One Season, One Dream
Collins, Jim
Paperback
America's Classic Ballparks - Revised Edition: Celebrating Parks Past and Present
Buckley Jr, James
Hardcover
L.A. Story: Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and a Season for the Ages
Plunkett, Bill
Hardcover
We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball: How the Czech Republic's Amateur Underdogs Became World Baseball Classic Heroes
Clair, Michael
Hardcover
Weird Moments in Cleveland Sports: Bottlegate, Bedbugs, and Burying the Pennant
Guerrieri, Vince
Paperback
Summer of the Cheap Wieners: What the 1941 Phillies Were Up to While Joe Dimaggio Was Making History
Klugh, Justin
Paperback
The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty: The Game, the Team, and the Cost of Greatness
Olney, Buster
Paperback
The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It
Ritter, Lawrence S.
Paperback
They Said It Couldn't Be Done: The '69 Mets, New York City, and the Most Astounding Season in Baseball History
Coffey, Wayne
Paperback
Coaching with Purpose: The Game Plan That Helps Coaches Build Winners on and Off the Field
Madison, Keith
Paperback
Crazy '08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History
Murphy, Cait N.
Paperback
America's Ballparks: A Trip Across the Country to Visit Baseball's Playing Fields, Old and New
Hajeski, Nancy J.
Hardcover
Legendary Ballparks: Moments and Memories from America's Most Storied Stadiums
Enders, Eric
Hardcover
Hot Foot: My Hijinks and Upside-Down Life with the World Champion New York Mets
McDowell, Roger
Feldmann, Doug
Hardcover
Baseball's Greatest Pitchers: Icons of Excellence from the Baseball Hall of Fame
Aretha, David
Hardcover
The Baseball Book of Why: The Answers to Questions You've Always Wondered about from America's National Pastime
McCollister, John
Paperback
Tenacious and True: Coastal Carolina's 2016 Championship and the Rise of a Baseball Power
Pleasant, Scott
Hardcover
The Incredible Philadelphia Phillies Trivia Book: 300 Questions for the Super-Fan
Spaeder, Ryan
Reavy, Kevin
Paperback
Glory Days in Tribe Town: The Cleveland Indians and Jacobs Field 1994-1997
Hamilton, Tom
Pluto, Terry
Paperback
Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic: Reggie, Rollie, Catfish, and Charlie Finley's Swingin' A's
Turbow, Jason
Paperback
Slider: A baseball story that throws love, murder, drugs and corruption into the game.
Alderman, Peter
Paperback
Back When We Were Colored, Helping Black Athletes During Segregation, and Being Helped By Some 'Decent White Men' Along the Way
Woolfolk, Virgal Tyrone
Paperback
Brain Games - Baseball Goats (Greatest of All Time) Word Search: Players, Managers, Games, Mascots, & More!
Publications International Ltd
Brain Games
Paperback
The Ultimate Baseball Trivia Challenge: Over 600 Quiz Questions for Die-Hard Baseball Fans
Patton, Hank
Paperback
The Making of Major League: A Juuuust a Bit Inside Look at the Classic Baseball Comedy
Knight, Jonathan
Paperback
Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball
Epplin, Luke
Paperback
Second to None: A Coach's Message of Love & Selflessness Propels Tiny El Segundo to a Dramatic Little League World Title
Boehle, Danny Joseph
Coonan
Paperback
The Texas Rangers and Me: A Baseball Writer's Thirty-Two Years in Arlington
Sullivan, T. R.
Hardcover
Baseball as It Was: Building Champions Before Free Agency Changed Everything
Ferling, John E.
Hardcover
Bleacher Seats and Luxury Suites: Democracy and Division at the Twentieth-Century Ballpark
Tannenbaum, Seth S.
Paperback
Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season
O'Nan, Stewart
King, Stephen
Paperback