Neil Lanctot has set out to trace the national development of the black baseball business from the Depression through the Civil Rights movement. He does so by relying heavily on primary sources, including interviews with former players, an exhaustive examination of black newspapers and archival sources and court and federal records. The thoroughness of his research is apparent in the 77 pages of endnotes. As a historical overview of the Negro Leagues during this period, Lanctot's book is a success. As an addition to the economic understanding of this institution, it is a starting point for anyone wishing to continue the research. It is certainly, however, not the final word on the subject.

Though Lanctot has canvassed the existing archival sources in his research, he either found little, or used little economic information. The book is frustrating in its paucity of economic data, despite occasional teasers that Lanctot drops into the odd chapter. For example, he makes a compelling argument that one of the primary obstacles faced by black teams in their attempt at financial success was the lack of adequate playing fields. Most teams could not afford to build their own stadiums, and therefore were reduced to leasing facilities. This proved to be difficult in depression era segregated America. The result was that the best venues and dates were difficult to come by. Lanctot gives a hint as to what might have been when he shows how well these teams drew when they had the advantage of quality parks and lucrative Sunday dates, even outdrawing white professional teams in their own parks. However, he repeatedly frustrates the reader by not citing all of his data sources. Even when the sources are cited, they are not always going to be easy for the future researcher to use. Lanctot does not cite individual items, but rather, puts endnotes at the end of paragraphs. The result can be overwhelming. For example, in the first chapter he discusses salary information for several players (p. 16). At the end of a three-paragraph discussion, the first endnote appears. When flipping to the back of the book, you will be greeted by a list of 17 sources for the three-paragraph discussion, with no indication where any of the information came from.

The overarching problem that Lanctot constantly returns to is the inability of the leagues to form an efficient organizational structure. Unlike the white professional leagues, the owners were never truly able to overcome their own self interests and focus on the good of the league as a whole. As the Negro leagues demonstrate, a cartel is only as strong as its members allow it to be. In the white professional leagues, the individual owners subsumed their personal interests to those of the league as a whole through a series of rules and agreements that ultimately made the league one of the most successful cartels in American history. The Negro Leagues were never able to do that. Reading the first few chapters, one wonders how the league ever survived, because it certainly seems to have done so in spite of itself.

When the Major League color barrier was finally breached in 1947 with the historic appearance of Jackie Robinson with the Brooklyn Dodgers, the irony was clear: the success of black players in achieving the highest rung of professional baseball would spell the ultimate doom of the Negro Leagues. They were too successful in getting recognized as a legitimate league—their best players were siphoned off by the white major leagues, and their fans followed suit, preferring to follow the exploits of black players in the major leagues to the remaining players in the Negro Leagues. The still shaky organizational aspects of the Negro Leagues did not help matters. Sporadic or nonexistent statistical reporting made it difficult for the fans to know how the players were doing, or even who the best players were. The frequent scheduling of exhibition games on league off days meant that fans, and even players, were not always certain which games counted in the league standings, which were only occasionally reported anyway.

Ultimately, Lanctot argues, Negro League players gained through integration. At its peak, the Negro leagues employed roughly 200 players in the mid 1940s. More than that were employed by the major and minor leagues a decade later. In addition, the standard of living and the possibility of upward player mobility were enhanced. The fans certainly did not mourn the demise of the Negro leagues, as few were attending by the 1950s anyway. What was lost was control of their own sporting life. In the 1950s there were no black managers or executives in organized white ball. Even half a century later there are few African Americans in these positions.

Although Lanctot leaves unanswered many questions economists would love to explore, he does provide a rich and thorough background for anyone looking to study this important but largely overlooked institution in African American history. Despite the reservations I have expressed, this book will be a welcome addition to my library.