Does the cheerleading ever stop? Major league baseball and sports journalism

Journalism and Mass Communication Quaterly

Volumn 78, Issue 2, 2001, Pages 355-382

  Anderson, William B ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0040432949     PISSN: 10776990     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/107769900107800210     Document Type: Article

References (94)

1. Fred Lieb, Baseball As I Have Known It (NY: Ace, 1977), 181
2. Hugh Fullerton, "The Fellows Who Made the Game," Saturday Evening Post, 21 April 1928, 184.
3. Bruce Garrison with Mark Sabljak, Sports Reporting 2d ed. (Iowa State University Press, 1993), 5. See also John Stevens, "The Rise of the Sports Page," Gannett Center Journal 1 (fall 1987): 1-11.
4. Bruce Garrison with Mark Sabljak, Sports Reporting 2d ed. (Iowa State University Press, 1993), 5. See also John Stevens, "The Rise of the Sports Page," Gannett Center Journal 1 (fall 1987): 1-11.
5. Will Grimsley of the Associated Press as quoted in John Consoli, "Have Sportswriters Ended the Era of Heroes?" Editor & Publisher, 5 June 1982, 44.
6. Bill Surface, "The Shame of the Sports Beat," Columbia Journalism Review 10 (1972): 49.
7. Lee Becker, "Community Press," in Communication, Culture, Community, ed. Ed Hollander, Coen van der Linden, and Paul Rutten (Rotterdam: Omslagentwerp, Ineke de Groen, 1995).
8. Michael Novak, "The Game's The Thing: A Defense of Sports As Ritual," Columbia Journalism Review 15 (1976): 38.
9. Howard Cossell with Peter Bonventure, I Never Played the Game (NY: William Morrow, 1985), 14.
10. Wick Temple, Associated Press general sports editor, as quoted in Celeste Huenergard, "No More Cheerleading at the Sports Pages," Editor & Publisher, 16 June 1979, 11.
11. David Shaw, "Sports Page: Look, Ma, No Decimal Point," Los Angeles Times, 7 February 1975, sec. III, p. 1.
12. Bruce Garrison and Michael B. Salwen, "Sports Journalists Assess Their Place in the Profession," Newspaper Research Journal 15 (1994): 37-49. Also see a similar study described in Bruce Garrison and Michael B. Salwen, "Newspaper Sports Journalists: A Profile of the 'Profession'," Journal of Sport and Social Issues (1989): 57-68.
13. Bruce Garrison and Michael B. Salwen, "Sports Journalists Assess Their Place in the Profession," Newspaper Research Journal 15 (1994): 37-49. Also see a similar study described in Bruce Garrison and Michael B. Salwen, "Newspaper Sports Journalists: A Profile of the 'Profession'," Journal of Sport and Social Issues (1989): 57-68.
14. Garrison, Sports Reporting, xi.
15. Albert Spalding, America's National Game: Historic Facts Concerning The Beginning, Evolution, Development, And Popularity Of Base Ball, With Personal Reminiscences Of Its Vicissitudes, Its Victories, And Its Votaries (NY: American Sports Pub. Co., 1911), 169-79.
16. James B. Dworkin, Owners Versus Players: Baseball and Collective Bargaining (MA: Auburn House Pub. Co., 1981), 44-45.
17. In between 1890 and 1953, the players organized the League Protective Players Association in 1900, which failed after two years due to player apathy. From 1912 to 1918, players could join the Baseball Players' Fraternity, but it dissolved due to indifference. The players remained without a union until 1946, when Robert Murphy formed the American Baseball Guild, which failed when the owners met the players' demands. For more detail, see Lee Lowenfish, The Imperfect Diamond: A History Of Baseball's Labor Wars, rev. ed. (NY: Da Capo Press, 1991).
18. For more information on the 1975-1976 labor dispute, see, e.g., John Helyar, Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball (NY: Villard Books, 1994); Kenneth Jennings, Balls and Strikes: The Money Game in Professional Baseball (NY: Preager, 1990); Lowenfish, The Imperfect Diamond; Marvin Miller, A Whole Different Ball Game: The Sport and Business of Baseball (NJ: Carol Pub. Group, 1991); and Gerald Scully, The Business of Major League Baseball (University of Chicago Press, 1989).
19. For more information on the 1975-1976 labor dispute, see, e.g., John Helyar, Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball (NY: Villard Books, 1994); Kenneth Jennings, Balls and Strikes: The Money Game in Professional Baseball (NY: Preager, 1990); Lowenfish, The Imperfect Diamond; Marvin Miller, A Whole Different Ball Game: The Sport and Business of Baseball (NJ: Carol Pub. Group, 1991); and Gerald Scully, The Business of Major League Baseball (University of Chicago Press, 1989).
20. For more information on the 1975-1976 labor dispute, see, e.g., John Helyar, Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball (NY: Villard Books, 1994); Kenneth Jennings, Balls and Strikes: The Money Game in Professional Baseball (NY: Preager, 1990); Lowenfish, The Imperfect Diamond; Marvin Miller, A Whole Different Ball Game: The Sport and Business of Baseball (NJ: Carol Pub. Group, 1991); and Gerald Scully, The Business of Major League Baseball (University of Chicago Press, 1989).
21. For more information on the 1975-1976 labor dispute, see, e.g., John Helyar, Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball (NY: Villard Books, 1994); Kenneth Jennings, Balls and Strikes: The Money Game in Professional Baseball (NY: Preager, 1990); Lowenfish, The Imperfect Diamond; Marvin Miller, A Whole Different Ball Game: The Sport and Business of Baseball (NJ: Carol Pub. Group, 1991); and Gerald Scully, The Business of Major League Baseball (University of Chicago Press, 1989).
22. For more information on the 1975-1976 labor dispute, see, e.g., John Helyar, Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball (NY: Villard Books, 1994); Kenneth Jennings, Balls and Strikes: The Money Game in Professional Baseball (NY: Preager, 1990); Lowenfish, The Imperfect Diamond; Marvin Miller, A Whole Different Ball Game: The Sport and Business of Baseball (NJ: Carol Pub. Group, 1991); and Gerald Scully, The Business of Major League Baseball (University of Chicago Press, 1989).
23. Richard Mandell, Sport: A Cultural History (Columbia University Press, 1984), 219;
24. Harold Seymour, Baseball: The Golden Age (Oxford University Press, 1971), 60.
25. Frank Luther Mott, American Journalism: 1690 to 1960 (NY: Macmillan, 1962).
26. Sporting Life, 28 May 1884, Sports Journalism File, National Baseball Hall of Fame Library (hereafter referred to as NBHFL).
27. Sporting Life, 28 May 1884; The Sporting News, 7 February 1887; 26 May 1888, Sports Journalism File, NBHFL.
28. Sporting Life, 28 May 1884; The Sporting News, 7 February 1887; 26 May 1888, Sports Journalism File, NBHFL.
29. Alan Trachtenberg, The Incorporation of America: Culture and Society in the Gilded Age (NY: Hill and Wang, 1982), 122-130.
30. Alfred Henry Spink, "Baseball Troubles," The Sporting News, 10 May 1890, 4.
31. David Quentin Voigt, American Baseball: From Gentlemen's Sport to the Commissioner System (Penn State University Press, 1983), 197.
32. Frank Luther Mott, "Trends in Newspaper Content," The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 219 (January 1942), 61-62.
33. "'Inside' Baseball from an Owner's View-Point," Literary Digest, 8 April 1922, 42.
34. Will Spink, "Display Advertising," The Sporting News, 22 September 1932, 4.
35. William H. Nugent, "The Sports Section," American Mercury 16 (February 1929): 338; American Society of Newspaper Editors, Problems of Journalism: Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Meeting (Washington, DC, 1929), 26.
36. William H. Nugent, "The Sports Section," American Mercury 16 (February 1929): 338; American Society of Newspaper Editors, Problems of Journalism: Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Meeting (Washington, DC, 1929), 26.
37. Mott, American Journalism, 712; Susan Greendorfer, "Sport and the Mass Media: General Overview," Arena Review 7 (1983): 3. Newspaper circulation was at 39 million in 1930 to 38 million in 1935 to 41 million in 1940, according to Melvin DeFleur, Theories of Mass Communication 3d ed. (NY: David McKay Co., 1975), 30.
38. Mott, American Journalism, 712; Susan Greendorfer, "Sport and the Mass Media: General Overview," Arena Review 7 (1983): 3. Newspaper circulation was at 39 million in 1930 to 38 million in 1935 to 41 million in 1940, according to Melvin DeFleur, Theories of Mass Communication 3d ed. (NY: David McKay Co., 1975), 30.
39. Mott, American Journalism, 712; Susan Greendorfer, "Sport and the Mass Media: General Overview," Arena Review 7 (1983): 3. Newspaper circulation was at 39 million in 1930 to 38 million in 1935 to 41 million in 1940, according to Melvin DeFleur, Theories of Mass Communication 3d ed. (NY: David McKay Co., 1975), 30.
40. Will Spink, "Need of Insignia," The Sporting News, 24 August 1933, 4.
41. Fans had spent a prewar high of $21.5 million on professional baseball in 1939, and by 1948 that spending had risen to $68.1 million. See Memorandum prepared by Charles F. Schwartz, assistant chief of the national income division, Department of Commerce, Office of Business Economics, Hearings Before the Subcommittee on the Study of Monopoly Power, House of Representatives, 82nd Congress, First session, Part 6, Organized Baseball (1951), 960.
42. Stanley Woodward, Sports Page (NY: Simon and Schuster, 1949), 35.
43. Jack Lang, "Baseball Reporting," Total Baseball 3d ed. (NY: HarperPerennial, 1993), 507-512.
44. See also Shaw, "Sports Page," Los Angeles Times, p. 1.
45. In 1950, each team averaged $210,000 from television revenues; in 1971, this average was $1,335,000. In 1975, MLB local TV revenue totaled $31 million. See Ira Horowitz, "Sports Broadcasting," in Government and the Sports Business, ed. Roger G. Noll (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1974), 287-88.
46. For more on changes in journalism and sports coverage during this era, see Michael Schudson, Discovering the News: A Social History of American Newspapers (NY: Basic Books, 1978);
47. Garrison, Sports Reporting, 10;
48. Shaw, "Sports Page," Los Angeles Times, p. 1.
49. David Voigt, "From Chadwick to the Chipmunks," Journal of American Culture 7 (fall 1984): 34.
50. Garrison, Sports Reporting, 9-10.
51. Francis Richter, "Spalding's Hands in the O'Neill-Nimick Controversy," Sporting Life, 27 December 1890, 3.
52. MLB owners paid Chadwick to be the editor of the industry's official organ, Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide. Henry Chadwick, "Professional Baseball," Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide, 1891, 13.
53. MLB owners paid Chadwick to be the editor of the industry's official organ, Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide. Henry Chadwick, "Professional Baseball," Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide, 1891, 13.
54. Douglas S. Looney, "O.K., What's the Pitch," Sports Illustrated, 8 March 1976, 46.
55. Henry Chadwick, 26quot;The Professional Season of 1890," Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide, 1891.
56. Statement by August A. Busch, Jr., president, St. Louis Cardinals, Players Meeting at Al Lang Field, St. Petersburg, Florida, 24 March 1972, August A. Busch File, NBHFL.
57. Lowenfish, The Imperfect Diamond, 41-43.
58. Looney, "O.K., What's the Pitch," 47.
59. Alfred Henry Spink, "The Labor Situation," The Sporting News, 28 September 1889, 4. The editor also boasted, " The Sporting News is the only sporting paper in America not controlled by the League bosses. Quite naturally, then, it is the only one to stand by the players in their fight for right and liberty." "Caught on the Fly," The Sporting News, 6 October 1889, 4.
60. Alfred Henry Spink, "The Labor Situation," The Sporting News, 28 September 1889, 4. The editor also boasted, " The Sporting News is the only sporting paper in America not controlled by the League bosses. Quite naturally, then, it is the only one to stand by the players in their fight for right and liberty." "Caught on the Fly," The Sporting News, 6 October 1889, 4.
61. Alfred Henry Spink, "The Labor Situation," The Sporting News, 28 September 1889, 4. The editor also boasted, " The Sporting News is the only sporting paper in America not controlled by the League bosses. Quite naturally, then, it is the only one to stand by the players in their fight for right and liberty." "Caught on the Fly," The Sporting News, 6 October 1889, 4.
62. Francis Richter, "The Brotherhood's Secession - Its Status and Effects," Sporting Life, 13 November 1889, 4.
63. "PL and NL in Negotiations," Sporting Life, 18 October 1890, 1.
64. "The Reasons For It," The Sporting News, 8 November 1890, 4.
65. Robert Markus, "Start the Season Without the Club Owners?" Chicago Tribune, 7 March 1976, sec. 3, p. 3.
66. Robert Markus, "Baseball Ruling May Mean A Strike," Chicago Tribune, 25 December 1975, sec. 6, p. 1.
67. Red Smith, "Christmas Spirit," New York Times, 24 December 1975, p. 16.
68. John B. Oakes, "Don't Kill the Umpire," New York Times, 25 December 1975, p. 20.
69. Jeff Meyers, "It Helps to be a Cynic to Find Humor in Sports," Sf. Louis Post-Dispatch, 26 February 1976, sec. C, p. 2.
70. "Practical Working of the Reserve Rule," Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide, 1890, 18.
71. Comments from bartender Bob Ryan and telephone agent Jack Kubin in Leo Zainea, "Fans Don't Like Baseball Squabble," Chicago Tribune, 17 March 1976, sec. 4, p. 2.
72. "Baseball," New York World, 19 November 1890, p. 8.
73. David Condon, "Greed of Players, Owners Ruining Box Office," Chicago Tribune, 10 February 1976, sec. 4, p. 3.
74. John McCutcheon, "Baseball Faces the Inevitable," Chicago Tribune, 25 December 1975, sec. 3, 2.
75. Jim Murray, "Ho-Ho-Ho! Santa Leaves Baseball Holding Bags," Los Angeles Times, 25 December 1975, sec. III, p. 1.
76. "Messersmith and McNally Declared Free Agents," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 23 December 1975, sec. C, p. 1.
77. "The Professional Season of 1890," Spalding's Official Base Ball Guide, 1891, 15.
78. Henry Chadwick, "Reserve Rule Benefits," Chicago Tribune, 23 March 1890, p. 7.
79. "Caught on The Fly," The Sporting News, 18 October 1890, 4.
80. Charles Maher, "Messersmith Ruling Imperils the Reserve Clause," Los Angeles Times, 24 December 1975, sec. III, p. 1.
81. Murray, "Ho-Ho-Ho! Santa Leaves Baseball Holding Bags."
82. Peter Bonventre, "Off the Reservation," Newsweek, 5 January 1976, 51.
83. Jeff Meyers, "Spring Without Baseball Is ... Um... Ah... Thinkable," St. Loui's Post-Dispatch, 25 February 1976, sec. C, p. 2.
84. Red Smith, "Golden Age of Press Agentry," New York Times, 8 March 1976, p. 35.
85. For instance, one study found that the latter twentieth-century sports journalist seemed to have more journalism experience than the 1890 counterpart. Of 106 sports journalists studied, sixty-three had at least one year of nonsports experience, six had six to ten years and nine had eleven or more years. See J. Sean McCleneghan, "Sportswriters Talk About Themselves: An Attitude Study," Journalism Quarterly 67 (spring 1990): 115.
86. Douglas Anderson, "Sports Coverage in Daily Newspapers," Journalism Quarterly 60 (autumn 1983): 498.
87. In most cases, the sources the sports journalists in this study used for their articles and columns came from the baseball establishment. For instance, during the 1975-1976 dispute, union director Marvin Miller and the players' union chief negotiator Dick Moss spoke most often for labor; Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, American League President Lee MacPhail, and the owners' chief negotiator John Gaherin spoke most often for management. Journalists would also quote players and MLB owners and officials from the local team. The author could not find an instance when the journalist quoted a labor expert from outside the baseball industry, such as a college or university labor law professor. The only time that journalists went outside the baseball establishment for a source was when they quoted a judge or judges presiding over MLB legal action. For example, journalists quoted Judge Gerald W. Heaney's decision when the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the owners' appeal of the Messersmith-McNally verdict: "Certainly, the parties are in a better position to negotiate their differences than to have them decided in a series of arbitrations and court decisions." See Murray Chass, "Baseball Owners Lose Again," New York Times, 10 March 1976, p. 29; and "Baseball Owners Lose Messersmith Appeal," Chicago Tribune, 10 March 1976, sec. 6, p. 3.
88. In most cases, the sources the sports journalists in this study used for their articles and columns came from the baseball establishment. For instance, during the 1975-1976 dispute, union director Marvin Miller and the players' union chief negotiator Dick Moss spoke most often for labor; Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, American League President Lee MacPhail, and the owners' chief negotiator John Gaherin spoke most often for management. Journalists would also quote players and MLB owners and officials from the local team. The author could not find an instance when the journalist quoted a labor expert from outside the baseball industry, such as a college or university labor law professor. The only time that journalists went outside the baseball establishment for a source was when they quoted a judge or judges presiding over MLB legal action. For example, journalists quoted Judge Gerald W. Heaney's decision when the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the owners' appeal of the Messersmith-McNally verdict: "Certainly, the parties are in a better position to negotiate their differences than to have them decided in a series of arbitrations and court decisions." See Murray Chass, "Baseball Owners Lose Again," New York Times, 10 March 1976, p. 29; and "Baseball Owners Lose Messersmith Appeal," Chicago Tribune, 10 March 1976, sec. 6, p. 3.
89. Normand Burgeois, "Sports Journalists and Their Sources of Information: A Conflict of Interests and Its Resolution," Sociology of Sport Journal 12 (1995): 195-203. See also an article by Mark D. Lowes, who wrote that work routines employed in the daily manufacture of sports news - including a reliance on sources such as athletes, coaches, and spokespersons - tend to privilege major commercial sports organizations. In Lowes, "Sports Page: A Case Study in the Manufacture of Sports News for the Daily Press," Sociology of Sport Journal 14 (June 1997): 143-59.
90. Normand Burgeois, "Sports Journalists and Their Sources of Information: A Conflict of Interests and Its Resolution," Sociology of Sport Journal 12 (1995): 195-203. See also an article by Mark D. Lowes, who wrote that work routines employed in the daily manufacture of sports news - including a reliance on sources such as athletes, coaches, and spokespersons - tend to privilege major commercial sports organizations. In Lowes, "Sports Page: A Case Study in the Manufacture of Sports News for the Daily Press," Sociology of Sport Journal 14 (June 1997): 143-59.
91. W. Lance Bennett, News: The Politics of Illusion, 2d ed. (NY: Longman, 1988), xii.
92. Voigt, "From Chadwick to the Chipmunks," 31.
93. Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times, 7 February 1975, as quoted in Voigt, "From Chadwick to the Chipmunks," 36.
94. Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times, 7 February 1975, as quoted in Voigt, "From Chadwick to the Chipmunks," 36.