You're here because you want to know when baseball is coming back. But maybe you're also the type who wonders why it's delayed, who's actually to blame, and how a sport founded in the 1800s still can't figure out how to split the money.
Baseball's relationship between players and owners is one of the longest-running labor battles in American history. It's also one of the pettiest. Billionaires and millionaires fighting over who gets more of your money while you sit here refreshing a countdown timer. Classic.
The definitive book on baseball's business side. Covers everything from the reserve clause to the 1994 strike that cancelled the World Series. The New York Times called it "the ultimate chronicle of the games behind the game." If you read one book on this list, make it this one.
Listed by SABR as one of the 50 essential baseball books. Spans from 1879 through the 2000s—the full sweep of how players went from property to partners.
The author was chairman of the National Labor Relations Board and literally cast the deciding vote to end the 1994 strike. An insider's perspective you won't find anywhere else.
Focuses on 1966-1981: the birth of the MLBPA, Curt Flood's challenge to the reserve clause, and the emergence of free agency. The origin story of the modern player's union.
The 1919 Black Sox scandal is really a story about labor exploitation. Underpaid players, a cheapskate owner, and a system that gave workers no recourse. Sound familiar? The roots of everything that followed.
For when you're stuck in traffic, pretending to work, or staring at the ceiling wondering why you care this much about a sport that doesn't care about you.
The gold standard. Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley cover baseball with an analytical bent—serious when it matters, absurd when it doesn't. They've done deep dives on labor history, the economics of tanking, and the Players' League of 1890. Over 2,400 episodes and counting. If you listen to one baseball podcast, make it this one.
Host Justin McGuire interviews authors who've written about baseball history, labor disputes, and the game's cultural impact. Great companion to the books listed above.
The Athletic's flagship MLB podcast. Rumors, analytics, prospects, and interviews with people who actually know things. Good for staying current during the season.
Comedians doing American history—and their baseball episodes are legendary. Start with Ten Cent Beer Night (60,000 beers, 19 streakers, a riot, and a forfeit) or The Rube (Rube Waddell: Hall of Fame pitcher who wrestled alligators and chased fire trucks). Warning: explicit language.
Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, is one of the best storytellers in sports. This podcast brings the Negro Leagues to life—the players, the barnstorming, the innovation, the injustice. Essential listening.
Deep-dive storytelling from MLB.com. The series on how the 2009 Draft changed modern baseball and the one on Mariano Rivera's cutter are both worth your time.
Buster Olney's daily podcast covers trades, free agency, and what's actually happening around the league. Good for the offseason when you're wondering why your team still hasn't signed anyone.
Jake and Trevor cover the week's biggest stories with energy and humor. More accessible than Effectively Wild if you want entertainment first, analysis second.
Where baseball never sleeps and neither do the people arguing about WAR at 2am.
For when reading feels like too much work but you still want to feel intellectually superior to other fans.
Yes, it's 18+ hours. Yes, you'll cry at least twice. Yes, it's worth it. The definitive visual history of the game, weaving baseball into the broader American story. Clear your weekend.
Burns' follow-up covering 1994-2010: the strike, the steroid era, and baseball's slow rebuild of trust. Essential context for understanding why fans are still bitter about... gestures vaguely at everything.
The 2004 Red Sox comeback. Not directly about labor, but a reminder of what the game means when they actually play it. (Yankees fans: maybe skip this one.)
The Negro Leagues documentary that should have been a full series. A reminder of baseball's complicated history with race, labor, and who gets to play.
Warning: these sites will ruin casual conversations. You'll become the person who says "well, actually, his xwOBA suggests..." at parties. You've been warned.
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