Baseball and law have intersected from the very beginnings of the sport in America. In 1791, a Pittsfield, Massachusetts, ordinance prohibited ball playing near the town's meeting house. A 1794 Pennsylvania statute barred ball playing on Sundays. That intersection has continued unabated to the present day. In 2015 alone, a federal court held that baseball's exemption from antitrust laws applied to franchise relocations, another overturned the conviction of Barry Bonds for obstruction of justice, and a third denied a request by rooftop entrepreneurs to enjoin the construction of a massive video board at Wrigley Field. By recounting the long history of law's close relationship with the National Pastime-with stories about lawyers like Kenesaw Mountain Landis and Branch Rickey, the use of copyright to protect not only equipment but also ""Take Me Out to the Ball Game,"" the frequent litigation between players and owners over contracts and the reserve clause, and so many other instances in which law in some form has intertwined with baseball-this exhaustive and detailed chronology documents the profound effect law has had on the sport, both on and off the field. It makes a convincing case that knowledge of when and how baseball and law have come together is essential for anyone wishing to understand not only the game's past and present, but also its future.

A photographic commemoration of SIU Law’s milestones  The Southern Illinois University School of Law held its first class on September 4, 1973, in a temporary building on the outskirts of campus. 2023 marks fifty years since that humble beginning, and over the course of those years, the School of Law has expanded to offer eight joint-degree programs, four in-house clinics, and more than twenty student organizations. Continuing to improve the law through innovative teaching, scholarship, and advocacy has also remained a high priority as the School of Law continues to make its mark throughout Southern Illinois and beyond. Of the more than four thousand students who hold degrees from the School of Law, over one hundred and fifty are or have been federal or state judges. Other graduates practice law in forty-nine states as well as internationally. They are partners in major law firms, in-house counsel, politicians, leaders of nonprofit organizations, JAG Corps officers, hospital administrators, wealth managers, diplomats, and much more.  “Established in the public interest, serving the public good� has long served as shorthand to describe the essential mission of SIU Law—its character, its essence. This book illuminates the true meaning of that shorthand, telling the story of the events and people that shaped the SIU School of Law throughout its first fifty years. Within these pages, you will find an annotated, illustrated timeline of events, as well as a gallery filled with photographs of faculty, staff, and student life and activities. From the hiring of founding dean Hiram H. Lesar in 1972 to the hosting of the inaugural Diversity Prelaw Summer Institute in 2022, this book charts the evolution of a small, regional school to one with thousands of graduates playing leading roles throughout the country and the world.  Featuring more than one hundred photographs, complete indexed lists of full-time faculty members and deans, and identification of numerous “firsts� in the law school’s history, this detailed commemoration is a testament to the faculty, staff, students, and alumni who have paved the way for future generations.