Assignment 1. Summary (A Life in Baseball)

Date : 16th September 2019 Presented By : Priyanshu Tamta Professor : Kim Grimes

Spending his entire life in baseball, Bill Giles has always had an ability to foresee the game of baseball in the future. As an undergraduate student at Denison University in Ohio more than fifty years back, he wrote a thesis of organised baseball. He named his theory as “A study of Economic Aspects of Organised Baseball.” His thesis predicted some things which were meant to change in the near future of baseball as a sport. He predicted that the television will be more popular than ever before when it comes to baseball. He also outlined some historic changes that were to come to the game like franchise expansion and relocation, and the impact of ever rising player salaries. It was not just the existing academic exercise but he went on to play a vital role in making the changes he forecasted happen. Spending nearly seventy years in the sport, there is nothing that Giles didn’t have experience in. He had been a radio broadcast and scouting assistant, public relations man, travelling secretary, marketing executive, vice president of business operations, team owner and currently is the chairman emeritus of the Phillies. He wasn't the prime mover in the baseball industry like his close friend Bud Selig but often operating as the behind the scenes player Giles had been a key factor in shaping how baseball is presented both on television and in ball parks. Giles had been a part of a number of historical events and promotions in the baseball industry. His Friend Selig believed that he was well ahead of other people at his time in different ways. His father, the late Warren Giles, was also a baseball industry icon for almost three decades. His father was a general manager and president of the Cincinnati Reds winning the 1940 world series and then the president of the National League on the way to enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Giles grew up in and around Crosley Field and spent several summers working for the reds. Giles ties with his father tightened further when his mother passed away when he was just seven years of age. It was just them when bill grew up in Cincinnati. MLB’s elder Statesman said that bill and baseball were joined at the hip and that bill was born into baseball. His father never forced him into a life in baseball. His father always told him that “I don't care what you do, but to be the best in whatever you do.” Giles eventually did choose a life in baseball, and wanted to be a general manager like his father. After working in military service for a while and then for some minor leagues, he became a traveling secretary for the Reds. This was the foundation of his Career.

Comments Being a Sports and Entertainment Sales and Marketing Post Grad Student, Bill’s Story is like an eye opener for me. He particularly understood the power of TV and the power of Marketing and the impact it would have on the baseball industry long before anyone did. With the advent of digital media, the impact would be more powerful than traditional marketing and television and I would love to be a part of something that can make an impact on the sports industry the same way as Bill had on Baseball industry.