Who to Blame? Fire the GM or the Manager

The baseball playoffs are in full swing, which usually means the teams that ended up in the basement of the standings are starting to make changes to their managerial staffs. Teams this postseason shopping for a new manager include the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers, as the Arizona Diamondbacks just hired Chip Hale, who was the Athletics bench coach. Although the Rangers lost manager Ron Washington to personal reasons, the Astros let Bo Porter go for needing someone to lead them in a "new direction." But wouldn't you expect everybody to lead their teams in the same direction, a winning direction?

MLB Labor Lessons in 'Ball Four'

In the current day of free agency, eye-popping contract terms and super agents like Scott Boras, it's hard -- and for some of us, not possible -- to recall a point in time where these things didn't exist. It's even harder to recall a time when the major league minimum salary was in the four figures and the reserve clause was still holding players hostage.

What do you think it was like to be a player back in those times?

Jim Bouton's Ball Four illustrates exactly what it was like. And so much more.