num_pages: 303
description: Fifty years ago as baseball faced crises on and off the field two larger-than-life figures took center stage each on a quest to reinvent the national pastime In the late 1950s baseball was under siege. Up-and-coming cities that wanted teams of their own were being rebuffed by the owners and in response Congress was threatening to revoke the sports antitrust exemption. These problems were magnified by what was happening on the field as the New York Yankees were winning so often that true competition was vanishing in the American League. In Bottom of the Ninth  Michael Shapiro brings to life this watershed moment in baseball history. He shows how the legendary executive Branch Rickey saw the games salvation in two radical the creation of a third major leaguethe Continental Leagueand the pooling of television revenues for the benefit of all. And Shapiro captures the audacity of Casey Stengel the manager of the Yankees who believed that he could bend the game to his wishes and remake how baseball was played. Their stories are interwoven with the on-field drama of pennant races and clutch performances culminating in three classic World Series confrontations. As the tension built on and off the field Rickey and Stengel would find themselves outsmarted and defeated by the team owners who held true backroom powerdefeats that would diminish the game for decades to come. Shapiros compelling narrative reaches its stunning climax in the seventh game of the 1960 World Series when one swing of the bat heralds baseballs eclipse as Americas number-one sport.
language: English
title: Bottom of the Ninth: Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball from Itself
publisher: Times Books