First, I wish to thank Sal Tuzzeo and his team of statisticians at Nielsen Sports for breaking out numbers from Nielsen’s 2014, 2015, and 2016 year-end sports reviews to give me greater insight into the demographics of baseball fans who watch the game on television and mobile devices. The volume of statistics is staggering, and the Nielsen staff’s cooperation was indispensable to me.
Many who work in the business of baseball provided me with a different kind of help by arranging interviews—sometimes during the baseball season itself, when everyone involved with the game is overwhelmed by such requests. Pat Courtney, assistant to the commissioner of Major League Baseball, and Greg Bouris, director of communications for the Major League Baseball Players Association, were especially helpful.
Alex Lee, a political scientist with extensive knowledge about the statistics and politics of baseball, provided me with a wealth of ideas about the attitudes of various generations toward the game.
This is the sixth book I have written and researched in the Frederick Lewis Allen Room of that great institution, the New York Public Library. I owe special thanks to Carolyn Broomhead and Melanie Locay, who oversaw the research rooms for writers while I was working on this book.
At Yale University Press, I owe so much to so many people. First, the Press’s director, John Donatich, took the time, when he was under a great deal of pressure, to read every word of Why Baseball Matters and make several invaluable suggestions. Dan Heaton edited the manuscript meticulously, and—I hate to admit this—knows more about baseball than I have forgotten. Sonia Shannon designed the perfect jacket. Danielle D’Orlando, acquisitions department manager, seemed to do just about everything to keep production moving smoothly.
My friends Hank Burchard and Mark Lee, who are not ardent baseball fans, nevertheless listened to me talk endlessly about this book. They listened, I should emphasize, when some other nonbaseball friends would have hung up on me.