This book examines labour regulation and labour mobility in two professional baseball leagues: Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan. Through vivid comparative study, Matt Nichol explores how each league internally regulates labour mobility and how this internal regulation engages with external regulation from the legislature, statutory authorities and the courts. This comparison of two highly restrictive labour markets utilizes regulatory theory and labour regulation and suggests a framework for a global player transfer system in baseball. Each system of labour regulation can be viewed as an autopoietic system of law that utilizes voluntary self-regulation as the basis for regulation. While the regulatory systems in each league govern labour mobility in a similar manner using labour controls such as the draft, the reserve system and free agency, the two systems operate differently in terms of the level of labour mobility enjoyed by players. Formal rules, informal rules and normative practice result in MLB having relatively high levels of labour mobility for free agent players while similar players enjoy limited mobility in NPB. The book's engaging, multifaceted focus and comparative nature make it an excellent resource for lawyers, academics and advanced students interested in labour law, sports law, and Asian and European law.

"In my mind lie a box and a silent world, that I try desperately to escape from, every moment, of every day." Matthew Mark Nichols-May 1988

"Fifteen minutes at a time." That is the world of Matt Nichols, a thirty-seven-year-old writer, elementary teacher, filmmaker, and parent. He is a small percentage point of a growing population living with the form of mental illness known as bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic-depression. He has also been diagnosed with ADD (attention deficit disorder), OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), SAD (social anxiety disorder), SMD (seasonal mood disorder), and if you throw in a few more letters he'd be 3-D (three-dimensional).

There are many wonderful self-help and success story autobiographies that have been written to illustrate a life with bipolar disorder. Yet, none like this. Nichols uses a unique blend of "I am" poetry, sketches, anecdotes, and life experiences to show a world, which is thought from inside the box. His observations are remarkably accurate, thought provoking, and beautifully written.

Topics range from the darkest issues of suicide, anger, humiliation, and failure, to the inspirations of parenting, family, nature, hope, and love. There is something for everyone. Nichols' writing engages readers to share empathy, reflection, and common experiences that weave their way throughout each of their own lives, as it relates to nineteen years of his own experiences.