Jon Pessah: How Major League Baseball's Power Brokers Destroyed a Baseball Phenomenon

Robert D Bullock: Good book, well written. Describes an era of baseball that intertwines power brokers, steroids and back room deals. Thoroughly enjoyed.

Canada on Dec 14, 2020

Jason: The 1994 baseball strike and the ensuing steroid-influenced home run faces that followed were huge events in my childhood, but I had little understanding of the inner workings, especially of the former event. This book was a good examination of those events, and helps bring a much deeper understanding of those. One can take a superficial view that the baseball players did us wrong by striking, and that they ruined the sport by engaging in steroid. After reading this, I understood a lot more how players' hands were tied by ownership that was often hypocritical - for example, while vehemently fighting for measures to equal the playing field, Selig's own Brewer's regular cut payroll after receiving revenue sharing. And one understands how the players faced a complicated situation with the steroids, where many wanted honest testing but had concerns about privacy which were shown to be valid. I liked this book a lot more than I liked Bud Selig after reading.

United States on Sep 17, 2020

History Dean: The book is obviously deeply researched and is well written. However, it's difficult to reconcile the title of the book to the content. This isn't the inside story of baseball's power brokers. It's the story of 3 men - Bud Selig, George Steinbrenner and Don Fehr. Even Fehr is somewhat marginalized as a supporting character to the other two. The book is interesting for what it covers but, unless you accept an implied premise that no one else in baseball really matters beyond Bud and George, it's difficult to accept this book as a true view of baseball's power brokers.

Selig and Steinbrenner are driving forces in the league through the period of labor issues and PEDs encompassed by this book but they aren't the only people who had impacts. The title is misleading as to what you will ultimately learn in the book. What's presented is great but the scope is far more limited than implied in the title.

United States on May 24, 2018

David M.: Nice to know that the true motives of Selig, Reinsdorf & company were always about breaking the players union, rather than working with them. Ultra greedy business men, using a unique monopoly to try and bypass established labor law and return players to mere objects.
The players union was partially to blame for failing to listen to their own members who warned them of the extent of PED's in the game, and therefore hurt the player's credibility with the public.. The owners knew and ignored it because PED''s were making them huge amounts of money and that's all they cared about (other than their ongoing quest to break the players union).

United States on May 09, 2018

H. Dyck: Great book!
If you love MLB and the business side of the sport you will love this book.

Canada on Oct 04, 2015

James Molnar: A very compelling read!

For true baseball fans this uncovers the seamy and sordid side of baseball you never read about in the newspapers or on-line websites. Too much Yankee info on George Steinbrenner for my liking (Yankee fans will love it), but overall a fascinating narrative of baseball during the steroids era, the 1994 lockout initiated by Bud Selig and an in-depth look at the antagonistic union-management relationship through the years.

This book reminded me of Jim Bouton's "Ball Four" for its candour and gossipy revelations. I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end.

Canada on Jul 24, 2015

C. Obonsawin: Well researched, well written.

Canada on May 31, 2015

Nathan K. Rothstein: My first memories of going to a baseball game is about the time of the strike. I went to Candlestick park a few weeks before the season was shut down, and I observed from afar ten years later as the MLB was marred with a steroids controversy. This was an excellent, well researched account behind the scenes of the powers that be in the game. It's impressive to think of all the research Mr. Pessah put in to report on all the details of conversations, testimonies, panel investigations and weave it in a way that makes the reading compelling and tough to put down. This book is not just for baseball fans, but anyone interested in big business and how it uses its mighty hands of influence and money to tip the balance to make them even more money. Baseball is a reflection on our modern society where inequality affects the game, except as Mr. Pessah shows that within the confines of the MLB there is space for the union to put pressure on the owners, and eventually the owners decided that a shared revenue plan is good for the greater game. During a time of enormous income disparity-- an inside-look into the most powerful in baseball-- this book give us a better picture on how our society...

United States on May 20, 2015

Michael R.: This book is a must-read for baseball fans and anyone interested in the business of sports. In The Game, Jon Pessah offers a riveting account of the modern baseball era under the reigns of Bud Selig, Donald Fehr and George Steinbrenner. Based on 5 years of research and interviews with more than 150 individuals including players, executives, former members of Congress, and even Bud Selig himself, Pessah recreates a behind-the-scenes view of the meetings, strategies, decisions, and subplots that shaped the game – and the business of baseball – as we know it.

The book is gripping from the opening scene and reads more like a novel – or even a movie script – than a typical non-fiction book. It is a formidable 630 pages which reflects the incredible depth of the research, but there isn’t a dull moment. The book is actually difficult to put down once you start. The author puts the reader in the minds of the real-life characters behind the sport – it makes you feel like you are witnessing history firsthand.

The Game chronicles all of the major events in the sport from 1992 through 2010. But in addition to the story we are familiar with from the sports pages at...

United States on May 09, 2015