History of MLB Since WWII - MSLB

SLN #: 21397
Course Prefix: SLB-598
Course Section: 001
Credit Hours: 3
Instructor(s): Gibson;Selig
Course Books: View List of Books

Course Description:
This seminar examines the history of major league baseball in the context of the successive waves of change that overtook American society following World War II. Rather than focusing on the themes that preoccupy most histories of professional sport—winners, losers, stars, dynasties, etc.—our seminar will examine and discuss the ways in which major league baseball reflected deeper-running currents in postwar America. Perhaps no event exemplified this interaction more profoundly than the topic of our second meeting, the integration of African-American athletes and the breaching of the “color bar” heralded by Jack Robinson’s entry into the National League as a Brooklyn Dodger in 1947; within a decade or so, African-Americans would be joined by a growing cadre of Latino players, most from outside the USA. These once-excluded groups would become fixtures in the major leagues. The same Dodgers, along with their Manhattan rival New York Giants, signaled yet another epochal shift in postwar America when they relocated to California, dramatically altering the geographical balance of professional sport and inaugurating a new era in the business side of baseball, developments we will follow in our third and subsequent meetings. During the course we will also address such diverse topics as the impact of the Sixties on the sport, shifting media relations, questions of franchise location and the finances of stadium construction, labor relations—especially strikes and free agency— and the issues that marked the tenure of Commissioner Allan H. “Bud” Selig from the early 1990s until the end of 2014. Throughout the course, we will work to connect these historical trends to current issues in Major League Baseball, including potential franchise relocations and the newly agreed to CBA.

Additional Information:
Credit Hours: 3
Grading Option: Letter Grade Only
Graduation Writing Requirement: No
Flexible/Upper-Level Writing Requirement: No
Skills Requirement: No
Simulation Course: No
Experiential Learning: No
Seminar: No
Special Withdrawal Course: No
Final Exam Given: Yes
Final Exam Type: In-Class
Attendance Policy: Per Statement Of Student Policies

* The law school has a policy that is used to calculate credit hours. Please see the Statement of Student Policies.