Swings and Misses von Kenneth M. Jennings

In this follow-up to Balls and Strikes: The Money Game in Professional Baseball (Praeger, 1990), Jennings examines the state of professional baseball's labor relations during a nearly 25 year period, focusing on the background and the outcome of the 1994 baseball strike. Jennings concludes by suggesting ways to improve future labor relations in the sport. While the entire professional sports industry generates less revenue than sales of Fruit of the Loom underwear, a lengthy strike in professional baseball assures a national notoriety far beyond its economic impact. When the 1994 strike was underway, scores of members of Congress were involved in related investigations and legislation, while President Clinton invoked the public interest in his efforts to resolve the dispute.

KENNETH M. JENNINGS is Richard deRaismes Kip Professor of Industrial Relations at the University of North Florida. He is a recognized authority on labor relations whose earlier publications include Labor Relations at the New York Daily News (1993), Balls and Strikes: The Money Game in Professional Baseball (1990), and Labor Management Cooperation (1986), all published by Praeger.