411: "Make Me Commissioner" - With Jane Leavy

Good Seats Still Available

Content provided by Tim Hanlon. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Tim Hanlon or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.

1M ago 1:36:32

MP3•Episode home

Few writers have illuminated baseball’s legends with the depth, rigor, and heart of renowned sports journalist and author Jane Leavy. From Sandy Koufax to Mickey Mantle to Babe Ruth, her biographies of the game’s greatest figures don’t just recount their lives — they reveal the eras each helped to define.

Now, with her new book Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong with Baseball and How to Fix It, Leavy turns her sharp eye and seasoned reporting toward the sport itself, asking what’s broken, what’s worth preserving, and how its lost magic might be restored.

In this episode, we sit down with Leavy for a wide-ranging conversation that blends her unparalleled knowledge of baseball history with a candid assessment of its present challenges — analytics overload, youth development crises, dwindling diversity, and the struggle to balance spectacle with spontaneity. She also shares her imaginative, sometimes provocative, ideas for how the game could evolve in the years ahead.

For longtime fans, casual observers, and anyone who cares about the soul of America’s pastime, this episode delivers a masterclass in baseball storytelling — and a glimpse into the possible futures of the game from one of its finest chroniclers.

PLUS: Your chance to win a copy of "Make Me Commissioner"!

+ + + SUPPORT THE SHOW:

BUY THE BOOK (AND SUPPORT THE SHOW!):

"Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong with Baseball and How to Fix It": https://amzn.to/4paR6iX

SPONSOR THANKS (AND SUPPORT THE SHOW!):

Royal Retros (10% off promo code: SEATS): https://www.503-sports.com?aff=2
Old School Shirts.com (10% off promo code: GOODSEATS): https://oldschoolshirts.com/goodseats

FIND AND FOLLOW:

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/GoodSeatsStillAvailable
Web: https://goodseatsstillavailable.com/
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/goodseatsstillavailable.com
X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoodSeatsStill
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@goodseatsstillavailable
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@goodseatsstillavailable
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodseatsstillavailable/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoodSeatsStillAvailable/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/good-seats-still-available/

450 episodes

#Baseball #Basketball #Defunct #Football #Hockey #Nostalgia #Soccer #Volleyball #Tim Hanlon #History #Society #Sports