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This study examines minor league baseball players' future-oriented labor by interviewing 44 baseball players and collecting data on 8,000 minor league baseball players' careers. Minor league baseball players' expectations of reaching Major League Baseball impacted how they evaluated their work in the present, leading them to tolerate unfair pay and working conditions. We show that players' expectations of reaching Major League Baseball were moderately unrealistic, partly due to managerial practices encouraging unrealistic expectations. This study contributes to labor research by showing that future-oriented labor ideology is based on unrealistic expectations that employers can promote to create opportunities for future status coercion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to a confounding decision by the Supreme Court in the 1920s, the sport of professional baseball was permitted to grow for over a century unconstrained by federal antitrust laws. As a result of this antitrust exemption, professional baseball players were forced to endure unique hardships in the area of labor relations, as compared to athletes in other professional sports. After decades of confusing litigation results and calls for legislation, Congress finally responded in 1998 through passage of the Curt Flood Act. However, despite broadly claiming to apply federal antitrust laws to the sport of professional baseball, the effect of the Act was far more limited. Therefore, Major League Baseball players have been forced to look elsewhere when seeking external influences to force concessions at the bargaining table. Unlike Major League Baseball players, Minor League Baseball players were unable to even approach the bargaining table until very recently. Thus, while Major League Baseball players spent decades achieving small victories to cumulatively improve their labor conditions, such opportunities were unavailable to Minor League Baseball players. However, recent years have seen this trend come to an end. Today, Minor League Baseball players possess union representation and a seat at the bargaining table. In light of these advances, legitimate questions have been raised as to the modern need for an antitrust exemption that places labor relations in baseball on an uneven playing field compared to other professional sports. Although the future of the exemption is unclear, recent history suggests that both the Supreme Court and Congress have taken note of these developments and are beginning to reexamine the modern justifications of an antitrust exemption for professional baseball. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pay fairness and human capital theories make different predictions about trainees' occupational turnover in situations where trainees perceive unfair pay but receive huge potential returns from training. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine how pay fairness and human capital investment combined to explain why trainees are motivated to persist in employment when they perceive unfair pay. Cross-sectional survey data from 144 minor league baseball players showed that athletes perceived unfair pay but had low occupational turnover intentions because they perceived high learning achievement and expected to play in Major League Baseball eventually. Perceptions of unfair pay only increased occupational turnover intentions under certain conditions, such as when athletes had low expectations of playing at least one game in Major League Baseball in the next 3 years. The results support a framework that combines human capital theory and pay fairness theories to explain boundary conditions for trainee motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides a historical overview of baseball in Cuba, with a focus on the Cuban Winter League. It discusses the differences between baseball in the US and the Caribbean, and the influence of American teams and players in Cuba. The article highlights the fierce competition and high level of play in the Cuban Winter League, as well as the cultural and historical significance of baseball in Cuba. It also includes a personal reflection on the author's experiences as a fan of the league in the 1950s. [Extracted from the article]

The article provides a detailed account of the Sanford Lookouts' successful 1939 season in the Florida State League (FSL). The team, led by owner Charles Bradshaw and player-manager Dale Alexander, made significant improvements from the previous season and became one of the greatest minor league teams in history. They recruited talented players, including pitcher Harry "Dopey" Dean, who won seventeen consecutive games without a loss. The Lookouts won the league championship and went on to become the best Class D team in the southeast. However, their success was short-lived, and they faced financial difficulties in subsequent seasons. The article concludes by mentioning the team's intermittent presence in the FSL until 1960 and their ranking as the fourth-best Class D team in the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues' top 100 minor league teams of all time. [Extracted from the article]

"Shoeless Joe" by W.P. Kinsella is a novel that explores themes of passion, risk-taking, and the power of dreams. The book follows Ray, the protagonist, as he builds a baseball field in his Iowa cornfield, attracting the spirits of deceased baseball players. The novel weaves together plotlines involving encounters with J.D. Salinger and a fictional character named Moonlight Graham, emphasizing the importance of hope and second chances. The author of the article shares their personal connection to the book, which led them to pursue academic research and write Kinsella's biography. They acknowledge the criticism and differing opinions surrounding the book and movie, highlighting the validity of personal taste and individual perspectives. The author also praises Kinsella's writing style for its simplicity, imaginative descriptions, and thought-provoking "what if?" factor. Overall, "Shoeless Joe" has inspired readers to pursue their dreams and reconcile with loved ones. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines Chief Justice John Roberts' comparison of judges to umpires and the reactions it has received. It explores the role of umpires in baseball and how it has evolved over time, drawing parallels to trends in the judiciary. The article highlights similarities between umpires and judges in terms of behavior, composition, education, and decision-making processes. It concludes that the analogy made by Chief Justice Roberts is accurate, suggesting that baseball has influenced the understanding of the judicial system in American culture. The article also raises questions about the impact of technology on umpiring and its potential implications for the legal system. [Extracted from the article]

Economic development practitioners often chase the next great idea to grow their economy, especially their downtowns. A project that many large cities have looked to as a panacea is the sports stadium. Smaller, mid-sized cities have also joined the stadium craze by poaching Minor League Baseball (MiLB) teams via flashy downtown stadium developments, often using the same playbook that large cities have employed. Recently, the City of Wichita, Kansas, undertook a minor league stadium project as an economic development strategy. This paper uses an urban regime theory lens to track the political deal-making and financial engineering that made it possible for Wichita to lure the "Baby Cakes" MiLB team from New Orleans. This study demonstrates that mid-sized cities use the same backroom deal-making perfected by their larger peers to push a fragile form of development that frequently makes minimal economic sense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was created during World War II, when many male major and minor league baseball players became soldiers. While the league achieved some success from various perspectives, the question remains: Was the AAGPBL able to create "a league of their own" with competitive balance comparable to the men's leagues of Major League Baseball (MLB)? We analyzed performance team data to determine whether the league had competitive balance comparable to MLB-American League (MLB-AL) and MLB-National League (MLB-NL), on three measures of within-season, three measures of across-seasons, and one measure of inter-seasonal competitive balance, for the 12 seasons of the AAGPBL. The results showed that AAGPBL created a league with competitive balance comparable to both MLB-AL and MLBNL on all seven measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approximately 90% of players in Minor League Baseball will be released at some point in their career. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore the role of individuals' basic psychological needs during the release from professional baseball and throughout their subsequent transition to a new career. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 former Minor League Baseball players. Thematic analysis generated four themes: (a) The release resulted in immediate but temporary basic psychological need thwarting, (b) the "liberating experience" of the release allowed individuals to perceive autonomy in the transition out of affiliated baseball, (c) perceptions of competence served as the foundation for a positive transition to a new career, and (d) meaningful connections fostered individuals' perception of relatedness in the transition out of affiliated baseball. The findings suggest that need fulfillment might act as a buffer between potential stressors in the transition process and athletes' cognitive, emotional, and behavioral response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigation of minor league demand is scant relative to major leagues, particularly at the game level. This presents not only a contextual gap in the research, but also a conceptual one related to demand externalities. Minor League Baseball differs from major professional leagues in that gate revenue sharing is not a fixture in league policy, and talent investment decisions are made by the parent club. Nonetheless, it may be the case that a host club benefits from characteristics of its opponent. Econometric examination of over 31,000 minor league games across multiple leagues and seasons finds proximity to an opponent's major league parent team increases attendance. Although the authors find evidence of increased demand for a top prospect from the home club, the presence of visiting top prospects is not associated with changes in attendance, prompting the question as to whether effective marketing efforts in this regard would increase home club revenues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to crystalize a single case of informal athlete leadership in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) during the 2015 season. Teammates and coaches of a Class A MiLB team voted for the highlighted participant as the best athlete leader on the team. The first author conducted 8 individual semistructured interviews with the participant, 2 coaches, and 5 teammates. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis and open-ended prompts based on leadership and athlete literature, the first author learned about the highlighted participant's emergence as a leader on a team without formal leadership titles. Findings revealed 4 main themes: navigating personal on-the-field failure, fulfilling others' expectations, helping teammates manage emotions, and fostering a fun working environment. Findings also indicated 1 foundational theme, having a philosophy, that grounded the 4 main themes. Implications for athlete leadership development and future directions for athlete leadership research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The approach to the care of baseball athletes and organizations is influenced by 2 factors that distinguish it from other sports: the number of contests and the number of players. America's pastime is a marathon that can (if successful in the regular season and postseason play) stretch over a 10-months, 162+-game schedule. In addition, unlike other major North American sports, baseball's "feeder system" is the highly-structured Minor League Baseball. This is in contradistinction to caring for 15 basketball players who arrive at the professional level through collegiate (or even high school) play or 20 hockey players that may have had an NCAA experience or come through the Junior Leagues in Canada. Even though a 53-man football roster can keep a Hand Surgery Consultant busy, it is still a limited professional level cohort that is one-third to one-fourth of the size of baseball's and is played across less than 20 contests. Granted, every sport has its own culture—which is why we have developed this format for this publication—but planning for the scope of baseball care is also influenced by the unique pace and intensity of the interactions, that is why it is called a "clubhouse," rather than a "locker room". With these fundamentals shared, let us expand on what our experience has taught us about the care for athletes that are engaged in batting, throwing, receiving, and colliding on the diamond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Design: A retrospective case series study.Objective: To analyze the epidemiology of diagnoses of degenerative cervical and lumbar spinal conditions among Major League Baseball (MLB) and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) players.Summary Of Background Data: Repetitive high-energy forces in professional baseball players may predispose them to degenerative cervical and lumbar spinal conditions. There is a lack of data concerning the epidemiology of these injuries in professional baseball.Methods: Deidentified data on spine injuries were collected from all MLB and MiLB teams from 2011 to 2016 from the MLB-commissioned Health and Injury Tracking System database. Rates of diagnoses of common degenerative spinal conditions as well as their impact on days missed due to injury, necessitation of surgery, and player participation and career-ending status were assessed. Injury rates were reported as injuries per 1000 athlete-exposures in concordance with prior studies.Results: Over 2011 to 2016, 4246 days of play were missed due to 172 spine-related injuries. 73.3% were related to the lumbar spine and 26.7% to the cervical spine. There were similar rates of surgery required for these injuries (18.3% of lumbar injuries vs. 13.0% of cervical injuries, P = 0.2164). Mean age of players with cervical injuries was higher compared with the lumbar group (27.5 vs. 25.4, P = 0.0119). Average number of days missed due to lumbar injuries was significantly higher than those due to cervical injuries (34.1 vs. 21.6 d, P = 0.0468). Spine injury rates for pitchers were significantly higher than those of other position players (0.086 per 1000 athlete-exposures vs. 0.037, P < 0.0001).Conclusion: Neurologic diagnoses relating to the cervical and lumbar spine lead to substantial disability among MLB and MiLB players as well as days missed from play. Pitchers have over double the rates of injury compared with other position players. Lumbar conditions were associated with significantly higher numbers of days missed from play.Level of Evidence: 4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A biography is presented of Mexican American minor-league baseball player Wally (Guadalupe) Rodríguez. He was born November 22, 1925 in Concepción, Texas, and his father died before he was three years old. The family moved to Benavides, Texas, where he grew up, becoming an outstanding athlete in high school playing football, basketball, and track. He enlisted in the United States Army, competing in track during the 1946 Army Olympics in Berlin, Germany. He played semi-professional baseball after getting out of the Army in 1948, retiring in 1952. He died in 2014.

Objective: To generate a summative report on the most commonly diagnosed illnesses in Major League Baseball (MLB) and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) athletes with specific attention to their impact based on time out of play. Design: Retrospective analysis. Setting: Injury and illness data from the MLB Health and Injury Tracking System. Participants: All MLB and MiLB athletes active between 2011 and 2016. Assessment of risk factors: Illnesses were defined as atraumatic medical diagnoses that occurred during the MLB or MiLB season and resulted in at least 1 day out of play. Main outcome measures: Incidence of illness diagnoses and resulting time out play. Results: Eight thousand eight hundred thirty-four illnesses were reported, representing 14.7% of all diagnoses resulting in time out of play. Total days missed (DM) due to illness were 39 614, with a mean of 4.6 (SD 9.9 days) and median 2 DM per diagnosis. The annual incidence of illness per season was 20.3 per 100 athletes. The most common diagnosis was nonspecific viral illness (15.3%), followed by gastroenteritis (13.6%), other gastrointestinal illness (8.3%), influenza (7.0%), and upper respiratory infection (6.2%). Appendicitis (15.2%) and Epstein-Barr virus/cytomegalovirus (9.1%) were the most common season-ending diagnoses. Conclusions: Illnesses represent a significant cause of time out of play in MLB and MiLB. Prevention efforts should focus on limiting the spread of communicable viral, respiratory, and gastrointestinal disease among players, as the majority of diagnoses fell into these categories. This work may be used to guide future research into illness treatment and prevention in professional baseball. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moreover, doing so would fortify the exploitative relationship already in place between New Mexico and the United States and convey a message that the state embraces further nuclear development, something that Anaya does not favor. Principally, Anaya is uneasy that terrorist cells could form in the state and turn New Mexico's nuclear technology against its people. According to Anaya and his novel Alburquerque 211 Rudolfo Anaya and the Nuclear Age Works Cited Anaya, Rudolfo. 203 Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies 46:1 Spring 2021 © University of California Re gents "Man Was Not Made to Know So Much" Rudolfo Anaya and the Nuclear Age Daniel Arbino You are driving west on Interstate 40 and see a sign for Santa Rosa, New Mexico. [Extracted from the article]