Former chancellor's book looks at America's favorite pastime

Former KU Chancellor Gene Budig has written a book that skillfully addresses several pressing concerns facing Major League Baseball today.

The Inside Pitch… and More: Baseball's Business and the Public Trust investigates baseball's economic prosperity and the major threats to its long-term health. Budig, who served as American League President from 1994 to 2000, examines decreasing attendance rates and the problem of divergent incomes amongst the various teams. He places the emphasis on the need for reevaluation of the relationship between the sport and its fan base, noting a growing animosity caused by the perception that professional baseball players are greedy and self-promoting.

Budig served as KU's chancellor from 1981 to 1994 and his book contains some names and references familiar to Jayhawks. Prior to his tenure at KU, he also headed Illinois State University and West Virginia University. Most recently, Budig was has been a professor at Princeton University from 2000 to 2002, when he left to become a Scholar in Resident at the College Board in New York.

Budig has pledged royalties from book sales to the National Commission on Writing in America's Schools and Colleges, an initiative of the College Board to place greater emphasis on writing in the classroom. Both Budig and David Shulenburger, KU provost and executive vice chancellor, serve on the commission.