A Whole Different Ball Game: The Inside Story of the Baseball Revolution

Excellent read from start to finish, exposed the incompetence of the owners and commissioners throughout his term as Baseball's union leader, it sounded too easy for the union!The players should be truly thankful for Marvin Miller!

Very informative book, especially for a fan during the 1960's and 70's. Miller was a fabulously successful executive director of union. And, his hiring by the players union was one of luck and good fortune for the players. He out maneuvered MLB negotiators who were in over their head, because they either had no collective bargaining/labor law experience or, if they did, they were never matched up against such a smart guy on the union side. He took a very weak union against what should have been a very powerful employer and basically flipped the power over about 18 years.Miller provides an apparently candid account, but he is ruthless in attacking his perceived enemies, e.g. Bowie Kuhn, and anyone else who did not agree with him or sufficiently appreciate him. Miller is unnecessarily mean to people. Nonetheless, a fascinating and generally well written book.

Marvin Miller was one of the most important and influential person in the history of the north american professional sports business. His biography is a must if you want to understand how MLB and other major sports became what they are today.

This book was an enjoyable read about the modern history of baseball labor issues. I believe him when he notes that baseball players were treated very unfairly until he came along. I will definitely want to know more about what the owners “claim” about their profitability, etc. in any future mlb labor negotiations and strikes. Also, on a more personal level, I will now always question the success of my beloved 1987 and 1991 Twins. Can those wins be at least partially attributed to collusion amongst the owners? (Perhaps, but maybe that collusion also made my Dad’s $3 ticket that included a bunch of free “knot hole” seats all the more easy for the owners to offer back then.) The last 2% of the 1991 book was afterword from 2004 that hasn't aged well. Marvin Miller’s thoughts on steroid use. I will always see that era as a stain on the game. In 2004, he saw it as an affront to the players.

Excellent book. Very insightful text on the ideological underpinnings of the business of baseball and labour relations in general. Miller was a very smart man who in my mind personifies a pre-media frenzied, bookish culture that is now so hard to find. He writes in a precise and straightforward style that occasionally dabbles with clever rhetoric in order to relate the complexity of certains situations.

I gained an appreciation for player unions and labour unions. Miller’s fight for salary arbitration and free agency explains why it is so essential to North American professional sports. This book is an essential to understanding today’s player compensation.