Can Baseball Be Saved?

Esquire, April, 2000 by Tim Wendel

THIS IS PAUL BEESTON'S Gospel of the Game: That baseball is the last of the civilized sports. That we are not doomed to repeat history, that just because the labor wars between the owners and players stretch back as far as a generation of fans can see doesn't mean it must always be so, forever and anon. That baseball has the potential to become the most international of sports. That lucrative deals with the networks similar to those enjoyed by the NFL and the NBA can be won. And that baseball takes a backseat to no sport; not even God-almighty football, and anyone who forgets that will someday have to pay and pay and pay.

You won't find Paul Beeston's Gospel of the Game hanging on his office wall in Now York. He's not the kind of guy who puts much credence in corporate...

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