THE EMPIRE STRIKES OUT How Baseball Sold U.S. Foreign Policy and Promoted the American Way Abroad

Elias’s thought-provoking book traces the intertwined history of American imperialism and organized baseball. The author spends most of his time on recent history—the Cold War and its aftermath. It’s hard to tell if Elias is angrier at major league baseball—for steroids, segregation, and the reserve clause—or at American imperialism—for invading almost every country in Central America, bombing innocent people around the world, and encouraging baseball in its wake. In the end, he sees redemption in baseball, not in empire. William Hughes’s clear tenor makes it all come to life, from the arrogance of Commissioner of Baseball Kenesaw Mountain Landis to the arrogance of President George W. Bush. Hughes tells the story without drama or accents—just the text, well presented. F.C. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2011]