Lawyerball

Charles H. Martin

An owners’ fight over an “inside baseball” arbitration splitting cable television profits spills into a New York City trial court. Lawyerball traces this dispute from the baseball antitrust exemption to the implications of the judge’s rulings for the baseball business, the game, its fans, and ordinary Americans.

Lawyerball tells the story of the monopolization of baseball as an American business, and its disappearance from much of American life. It has lessons about the shrinking rights of Americans to go to court with their grievances. It also has lessons about the vanishing freedom of Americans to choose their work. This story about the future of baseball might foretell the future of America.