If you’re a fan of baseball, why should you sit down and read a textbook about baseball and the law? Well, because Baseball and the Law: Cases and Materials is more than just a textbook — it’s a baseball reference book.
This is a terrific 1000-page book that contains almost 700 notes about the game. It relates baseball history to important legal issues within the sport and isn’t just a read for someone about to take a “Baseball and the Law” kind of class. Fans who aspire to have a better understanding of the legal side of things are also buying this book.
It’s this desire from fans of America’s Favorite Pastime that’s allowed the book to become one of the top 100 bestsellers on Amazon in the baseball category. After Judge Louis Schiff petitioned his dean to teach a one-day course on baseball and the law, interest has skyrocketed.
I was fortunate to grab a few minutes of Judge Schiff’s time to talk about his favorite cases that include baseball, his favorite all-time ballparks and more. Check it out below.
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Matt: What’s your favorite case involving baseball that’s covered in the textbook?
Louis: This is like asking me who is my favorite child. There are two great cases to teach from a “fun” point of view. Coomer vs. Kansas City Royals Baseball Club teaches about the “baseball rule” regarding liability for fans injured with flying objects into the stands. But in this case, Coomer is injured by a flying hot dog thrown by Sluggrr the KC Mascot.
The other fun case is Popov vs. Hayashi, also known as the Bonds home run ball case. Everyone knows the story and everyone seems to have an opinion about it. This case teaches the fundamentals of ownership of personal property.
MM: What are the top-five ballparks you’ve seen in person?
LS: 1. Yankee Stadium I
I worked for George Steinbrenner in 1975 and 1976 as an intern for the Ft. Lauderdale Yankees. This was before there really were sports internships. I had written a letter in 1975 — yes a handwritten letter — to the Ft. Lauderdale Yankees, asking if I could do PR work for them. They had no PR director, so I was the director of Public Relations for the team. I wrote a daily column in the scorecard called “Yankee Doodles”, sat in as a substitute official scorekeeper, and substitute public address announcer.
2. Shea Stadium
At age 12 (1968) my parents let me take the LIRR to Shea Stadium for baseball games. From then until I was 17 when my family moved to Florida, my summer home was Shea Stadium. The 1969 season was the best summer of baseball I’ve ever experienced to this day.
3. Marlins Park
It could be no. 2, but that ’69 Shea season can’t be topped. My seats now are the best baseball seats I have ever had and I share them with my brother.
4. Target Field
Great park and not a bad seat in the place. Loyal and true baseball fans, too.
5. Chase Field
First time I ever saw a game “indoors”.
MM: In your opinion, who is the most exciting player in baseball right now?
LS: There are three, and I get to see them on a regular basis. Jose Fernandez, Ichiro Suzuki and Giancarlo Stanton.
MM: What are your thoughts on the minor league baseball compensation issue?
LS: As a judge, I can’t give an opinion on cases that are pending, but yesterday, the court entered an order of over 100 pages, which I am trying to get through and understand. It basically looks like the court has decertified the class action and every ballplayer is on their own.
MM: Which case normally creates the most lively discussion in your classes each year?
LS: I did a section regarding women and baseball this year and scheduled about 90 minutes for that “inning”. It took a bit more than 2 hours.
MM: Who do you think is the most intriguing figure in baseball that not many people know about, as it relates to the law?
LS: This is the most difficult question you have asked because if you ask 10 baseball experts, you will probably get 15 answers. I will go with Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis, though. Most people know about him through what he did with the Black Sox scandal, but they don’t know that because of his conflict with two full-time jobs — baseball commissioner and federal judge — the American Bar Association passed the first Code of Judicial Ethics. This prohibited judges from having more than one full-time job.
MM: Are you friends with Marlins Man?
LS: No, but as it turns out we both went to the same high school, North Miami Beach Senior High School. He was one year behind me; but we have never met.
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Judging from how frequently Louis and Marlins Man attend games in South Beach, I’d imagine it’ll only be a matter of time, so we’ll have to keep tabs on that. A big thank you to Louis for taking the time to chat some baseball with me.
If you’d like to grab a copy of Baseball and the Law: Cases and Materials, head on over to Amazon and pick yourself up a copy.
Thanks for reading! If you’d like to jumpstart your sportswriting career and aren’t sure how, check out my eBook. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter so we can chat about baseball: @mmusico8.
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