For the Good of the Game: The Inside Story of the Surprising and Dramatic Transformation of Major League Baseball (Hardcover)
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Staff Reviews
Bud Selig loves the game of baseball. That's very clear throughout the book, and nobody seems more qualified to tell an insider's story about how the game has changed over the last 50 years. From his childhood ballpark excursions across the country with his mother to his time after leaving the Commissioner's job and entering the Hall of Fame, Selig has seen it all. He's effusive in praising the people he loves, both inside and outside the game, but the most compelling aspect of this memoir is how honest he's willing to be about his frustrations and the people who caused them. One perfect example of this is Selig's expression of deep friendship with Henry Aaron and the irritation he felt with representing baseball as Commissioner to witness Aaron's iconic home run record being broken by Barry Bonds, a man he obviously does not like. This book is genuine and fast moving, and I was fascinated by it. I admit to a bias. I was lucky to have lived across the street from the first field manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, Dave Bristol, for the three summers his family stayed in Milwaukee. I went to lots of games with his kids and played in the County Stadium clubhouse and bullpen. They even let us kids shag batting practice in those days. That all happened because of Bud Selig! He brought us baseball again after the Braves left. With a warm forward by baseball fan and master historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, this book is a one of a kind look at America's Pastime from a proud man who has always called Milwaukee his home.
— TimDescription
A New York Times bestseller
Foreword by Doris Kearns Goodwin
The longtime Commissioner of Major League Baseball provides an unprecedented look inside professional baseball today, focusing on how he helped bring the game into the modern age and revealing his interactions with players, managers, fellow owners, and fans nationwide.
More than a century old, the game of baseball is resistant to change—owners, managers, players, and fans all hate it. Yet, now more than ever, baseball needs to evolve—to compete with other professional sports, stay relevant, and remain America’s Pastime it must adapt. Perhaps no one knows this better than Bud Selig who, as the head of MLB for more than twenty years, ushered in some of the most important, and controversial, changes in the game’s history—modernizing a sport that had remained unchanged since the 1960s.
In this enlightening and surprising book, Selig goes inside the most difficult decisions and moments of his career, looking at how he worked to balance baseball’s storied history with the pressures of the twenty-first century to ensure its future. Part baseball story, part business saga, and part memoir, For the Good of the Game chronicles Selig’s career, takes fans inside locker rooms and board rooms, and offers an intimate, fascinating account of the frequently messy process involved in transforming an American institution. Featuring an all-star lineup of the biggest names from the last forty years of baseball, Selig recalls the vital games, private moments, and tense conversations he’s shared with Hall of Fame players and managers and the contentious calls he’s made. He also speaks candidly about hot-button issues the steroid scandal that threatened to destroy the game, telling his side of the story in full and for the first time.
As he looks back and forward, Selig outlines the stakes for baseball’s continued transformation—and why the changes he helped usher in must only be the beginning.
Illustrated with sixteen pages of photographs.
About the Author
Bud Selig was the ninth commissioner of baseball. A lifelong baseball fan and long-term baseball executive, he's known for his numerous contributions to America's Pastime, including reform of drug testing policies and labor relations, and has been tenured for more than two decades. He lives with his wife, Sue, and they have three daughters.
Praise For…
“Entertaining and important, For the Good of the Game is filled with details and up-close insights into the business, the competition, and the innovation challenges and successes of Major League Baseball, offering a depth of understanding that fans rarely get.” — - Tony La Russa
“Bud Selig’s career in baseball demonstrates the power of persistence. From the highest levels of our great game, he has always remained a loyal fan first. Bud’s insights on a life in our National Pastime are unlike any other.” — —Hall of Famer JOE TORRE, MLB’s chief baseball officer and four-time world champion manager of the New York Yankees
“Bud and I have been the best of friends for more than sixty years. I am so proud of Bud for writing the book. It shows why he is in the Baseball Hall of Fame.” — - Hank Aaron
“I’ve never met an owner, or a commissioner, who loves the game, and cares for it, more than Bud Selig. In this book he reveals how he modernized baseball’s economics and repaired the game when steroids threatened it, with fascinating details and admirable perspective.” — - Tim Kurkjian, ESPN baseball analyst
“This in-the-trenches memoir provides us with Bud’s full take on the controversies, regrets, and many significant achievements that marked the tenure of one of sports most consequential commissioners.” — - Bob Costas
“Charming, informative and even entertaining. Selig’s book is about the best memoir you can hope to read from a powerful professional sports insider. Much of that is due to the deep love and respect that Selig carries for the game of baseball.” — - NPR
“Selig’s testimony is a necessary addition to baseball history.” — - Washington Post
“Baseball fans will appreciate Selig’s coverage of the key issues that arose during his tenure, the financial resurgence of baseball, and the spread of the game around the world.” — Kirkus Reviews
