The Story Of The MLB In 'The Bottom Of The Ninth'

The noted baseball author Michael Shapiro of Columbia University has a new book out this month called Bottom Of The Ninth: Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball from Itself and is it plays right into today’s pro sports scene, because without baseball waking up in the early ‘60s, it would never be the enormous industry that it is today.

In the innocent days of the late '50s, when all seemed right with the world, sleepy Major League Baseball, its ballparks growing old, its attendance flat, was losing its foothold in America. The NFL was about to overtake it in popularity, (and indeed, still surpasses it today). The Cowboys and Vikings brought expansion to the NFL; the majors resisted.

This is the story of how retired, 78-year old Branch Rickey, who conjured up a third major league, was ultimately duped by his partners who only wanted an expansion franchise for themselves – and they got it. But in the end, the man who was right about Jackie Robinson, was also right about how to save baseball.

For more on Bottom Of The Ninth and Shapiro, visit www.michael-shapiro.com.