This study examined the use of historical names vs. corporate names of stadiums by newspapers in Major League Baseball game stories. The study includes a sample of stories from seven major league teams from the first season that each team played in a corporate-named stadium after playing the preceding year in a historically-named park. A content analysis of 725 newspaper articles was performed. The hypotheses and exploratory questions tested the frequency of use comparing the corporate name to the historical name and also examined where in the sports section the names were appearing and where the names were being used in the stories. Also tested was how hometown newspapers of teams were handling the change. The study found the corporate name was used nearly 70 percent of the time. Thirty percent historical may be a large enough number to concern corporations spending tremendous sums of money on naming rights.

The ability to successfully switch hit, or hit a baseball from both sides of the plate, requires a great amount of practice and coordination bilaterally. This study used three-dimensional kinematic and kinetic data to examine the swing patterns of skilled switch hitters in baseball. Three male minor league and division I collegiate switch hitters participated. Subjects stood on force plates and hit baseballs off a tee while their swings were recorded with a three-dimensional optical motion capture system. Each subject performed twenty total swings, ten from the right and ten from the left. The swings were digitally analyzed and the dependent measures were compared side-to-side. The swing was broken down into specific events and temporal phase parameters were obtained. Peak vertical ground reaction force of each foot and stride length of each swing were also obtained. All variables were statistically analyzed using paired t-tests. The subjects displayed surface swing characteristics side-to-side that appeared identical and statistically there were no significant differences in the swing variables side-to-side. However, each subject had slight internal pattern differences side-to-side that are reported and discussed. Switch hitters are an excellent example of skilled practitioners that can provide insight into questions pertaining to dominance and motor control. Further research is needed with more subjects to explore side-to-side similarities and differences in well-established patterns.

Latin-Americans have become major contributors in Major League Baseball, but face many challenges acculturating to living and playing in the United States. This research examined the acculturative support provided to Latin-American players by teams in the South Atlantic League of Minor League Baseball and whether or not people involved think that support was effective. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with front-office members and Latin-American former players, and transcriptions were analyzed for emerging themes using QDA Miner content analysis software. Three main themes emerged from the interviews: the language barrier, interaction between Latin-American and Anglo-American teammates, and the youth of Latin-American prospects. These themes were identified both as presenting the biggest challenges to the acculturation of players and also areas where assistance should be focused in order to be of the most benefit. All interview subjects believed the support currently provided for Latin-American players was effective, but that there are still areas where improvements can be made. Future research should explore acculturation from current players‟ perspectives, instead of taking a front-office approach, and would not only provide information on the player‟s opinions of current acculturative practices, but also their attitudes and beliefs about acculturation and whether they view it as a positive or negative experience.

This dissertation explores the development of commercial entertainments and film exhibition in the urban South around the turn of the last century through the growth and decline of Jake Wells Enterprises. A former professional baseball player, Wells invested in a wide variety of public amusements, with the core of his early business centered on establishing and organizing a string of vaudeville, popularly priced, and legitimate theaters throughout the largest cities in the region, a network he later transitioned to showing exclusively motion pictures. A thorough analysis of period newspapers, trade journals, and some business records covering Wells’ career provides much-needed evidence for film and cultural historians wishing to understand the genesis and evolution of public amusements in the region, and its negotiation of traditional social and cultural institutions. In the 1890s, Wells played and managed several professional baseball teams in the South. The sport educated players and spectators alike to both the values and creed of New South progress, and to rising tensions confronting the intersection of modern and traditional forms of culture. Using his experiences and contacts gained in baseball, Wells helped foster a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation required for the progress of media industries in the region, establishing social networks of knowledge and improving distribution flows of entertainment. The dissertation explores how race and the genteel emerged as regional characteristics most influential to the success of this conversion in many urban areas. Protestants and evangelical culture served as the bulkhead supporting opposition to new amusements. Wells’ expansion plans and violations of Sabbath day laws evoked a “spatial” battle between commercialism and religion where political, social, and cultural power drawn from place and identity were challenged and reconfigured. Another chapter explores the exhibition and reception of early Civil War films in the region. Wells and other exhibitors were influential in their production and circulation nationwide, and positioned cinema as an alternative shrine to commemorate the Lost Cause in many communities. The last chapter shows how Wells failed to meet local demands and consumer desires in competition with the rise of national chain theaters and Hollywood’s vertical integration.

This paper examines the underlying drivers of MLB franchise value. Using panel data for MLB teams from 2000-2010, I find that a team’s ballpark and metro-area market are significant determinants, yet revenues truly drive value. Further, I find that incremental increases in winning percentage by a particular team has an insignificant effect on total revenues and has no marginal impact on the value of the team, particularly if the team recognizes consistent revenue streams every year. Finally, I show that the modern sabermetric approach to player management negatively impacts firm value, suggesting that although small market teams have been successful using this strategy to increase their on-field performance, its use in isolation is not financially beneficial to the organization in the long run.

On a brisk fall night in Detroit, after watching the San Francisco Giants celebrate the 2012 World Series championship live, baseball agent, Michael Moye, hailed a cab for the airport – the post season had ended and free agency was underway. Moye, who had years of experience managing players, knew that this off-season would be different from the rest. He was heading to Westlake, Texas, to meet his star client, outfielder Josh Hamilton, who had entered free agency after five years with the Texas Rangers.

This dissertation is an exploration, development and application of a theory on the effects of managerial succession on organizational performance in the public sector. Public management is a field of study within public administration that is gaining momentum and is strengthening both its theoretical and empirical bases. In this dissertation I build upon the very small literature on managerial (or executive) succession to develop a theory of the effects of managerial succession on performance. I posit that in the short-term performance will decrease; however, over time organizations that have had a succession event will see an increase in performance. I employ the use of three unique datasets: Texas school district superintendents, British local education authorities, and Major League Baseball field managers. All datasets have particular strengths that allow for a more complete empirical analysis. What we find is that, while there appears to be no significant relationship between managerial succession and performance in the year following the succession event, there is a positive and significant event over time. Furthermore, in the British analysis, which is designed to test a similar organization to the Texas analysis yet in a vastly different organizational structure, we find no significant relationship between performance and succession.

The African American consumer represents a valuable market segment in the United States. This target market possesses both substantial purchasing power and future growth potential. Yet, baseball marketers have failed to secure the African American target market as a viable consumer base. As such, marketers should understand what factors encourage African Americans to consume sport, and what factors deter African Americans from consuming baseball. Thus, the purpose of my study was to advance the literature by investigating the factors influencing African American baseball consumption. African American participants were surveyed in order to ascertain the motivational aspects they perceived to be present (or absent) in both a favorite sport and baseball. Results suggest that African American participants believed baseball failed to contain the following motivational factors: skill, drama, aesthetic value, group entertainment, family value, escape, and cultural affiliation. Still, of the factors measured, results suggest that the factors, ‘skill’ and ‘drama’ were the two most influential factors motivating participants to consume sport. The current study utilized a set of focus group interviews to identify what factors, if any, deterred baseball consumption amongst African Americans. Results suggest two broad categories best represent the reasoning for a lack of baseball consumption: perception of baseball and socio-cultural dynamics. Within these two categories, six general dimensions were found that best characterized the reasons for not consuming baseball: A perceived lack of excitement in baseball, a perceived lack of skill in baseball, a distaste towards baseball’s structure, a lack of access for young African Americans, African American player representation, and African American players in pop-culture. The current study examined African American attitudes towards baseball consumption by investigating the role of perceived fit and its association with the theory of reasoned action. The study utilized an experimental design to investigate if racial identification and identifiable motivational factors would influence perceived fit. Results from the study indicate that advertisement setting (i.e., advertisements containing identifiable motivational factors) was not influential upon perceived fit; yet, endorser race did moderate the relationship between advertisement setting and perceived fit. Subsequently, perceived fit was found to be influential upon attitudes and subjective norms. Furthermore, these factors – attitudes and subjective norms – were significantly related to intentions to consume baseball.

This thesis argues that since baseball is "America's National Game" and Muncie, Indiana, is commonly perceived as "Middletown USA," that Muncie baseball should be very reflective of the national game and serve as a microcosm for both national and local social changes. A detailed historical account of baseball in Muncie, Indiana, from 1876 to 1953 is provided which serves as an excellent model of the importance of semi-professional baseball in a small city.This project has uncovered some interesting facts about the role of sports because baseball was actually treated in Muncie more as entertainment than as a sport. The real reason for the success of Muncie baseball was the constant availability of quality baseball parks and that appears to be an important criteria for a successful semi-professionalbaseball club.Muncie was very reflective of the "National Game" as the Pittsburgh Pirates held spring training during World War II in Muncie and the Cincinnati Reds supported a Class "D" farm club from 1946 to 1950. Such national attention from major league clubs was a product of a very rich Muncie baseball tradition. / Department of History

Past work in sports economics has examined evidence of how the incentives created by contract structure influence player performance, specifically looking at two types of behavior. The contract year phenomenon refers to an increase in production in the final year of a player’s contract. The shirking effect refers to a reduction in performance in the early years of long-term contracts. While previous studies have investigated these effects separately, they are interrelated and should be integrated into a common analysis. I begin by testing for evidence of each effect independently, using various performance measures. I then combine my test of these phenomena into a single examination. Separate analysis produces weak evidence of a contract year phenomenon and strong evidence of a shirking effect. However, in the combined analysis, the contract year phenomenon drops out while the shirking effect persists. This suggests that the contract year phenomenon does not exist, and that evidence of it found in some previous studies may actually be due to a failure to incorporate the shirking effect in the analysis.