Over the course of his varied career, Gene A. Budig has served as a professor, the president of the American League of Major League Baseball, the head of three major universities, a major general in the Air National Guard, a newspaper man, and co-owner of a Minor League Baseball team. One can safely assume that Budig has met his share of interesting and inspiring people. In Grasping the Ring, he selects nine from this great array of individuals and offers candid biographical sketches of these compelling characters. Though they are very different, George Steinbrenner, Larry Doby, Tom Osborne, Roy Williams, Gale Sayers, Jerry Reinsdorf, Bob Kerrey, Al Neuharth, and Bob Dole are all exceptional people whose achievements and faults have captured the national interest. Budig writes Grasping the Ring as an insider whose acquaintance with these individuals enables him to ask the kinds of penetrating questions that make these stories intimate, honest, and revealing.

Grasping the Ring: Nine Unique Winners in Life and Sports

Biographies & Memoirs

BUDIG, GENE A.

Leaders & Notable People

Bison Books

Gene A. Budig tells the personalized stories of nine exceptional Americans—people who knew what they wanted in life and followed difficult paths to achieve admirable ends. In this sequel to his earlier book, Grasping the Ring, Budig profiles Rachel Robinson, widow of baseball’s Jackie Robinson and a remarkable woman in her own right; Bill Veeck, a showman and owner of three baseball teams who helped teach fans how to laugh and have fun at the ballpark; Bob Costas, the longtime sports announcer and commentator; Gene Autry, the “Singing Cowboy,” former owner of the California Angels, and noted philanthropist; Bob Gibson, a Hall-of-Fame pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals known as a fierce competitor; Billy Beane, a well-known baseball insider made famous in the Michael Lewis book Moneyball; Jerry West, one of professional basketball’s all-time finest players; Stan Kasten, one of the great minds in baseball and current president of the Washington Nationals; and Bud Selig, the current commissioner of Major League Baseball. What emerges in Budig’s engaging narrative is that these individuals were ahead of their time, and these essays paint a vivid and sometimes troubling picture of what they endured to become leaders of stature.

Grasping the Ring II: Nine People Who Matter

In Swinging for the Fences, Gene A. Budig offers candid biographical sketches of nine compelling individuals from the sport of baseball, including athletes, coaches, umpires, businessmen, and sportswriters. The book examines Cal Ripken Jr., Bobby Brown, George Brett, Joe Torre, Bob Feller, Mike Ilitch, Marty Springstead, Bill Madden, and Frank Robinson, all of whom the author knows well.
Former National League president Len Coleman writes a foreword that sheds new light on the legacy of Jackie and Rachel Robinson.

Swinging for the Fences: Nine Who Did It with Grit and Class

University Of Nebraska Press

After forty years of congressional service, five terms in the House and five in the Senate, George William Norris (1861–1944) was going home to Nebraska. Norris had lost the 1942 Senate race and felt the defeat keenly. But as his train rolled westward, he was forcefully reminded of what his legislative efforts had wrought, from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to the Rural Electrification Act (REA), which brought power to the land unfolding before him. It is here that authors Gene A. Budig and Don Walton begin their journey with this great statesman, perhaps the last progressive Republican, a tireless champion of “public power” and the common man. 
This book carries readers back through Norris’s career and accomplishments: the establishment of the TVA and the REA as well as the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution and the shaping of Nebraska’s unique unicameral legislature. Norris recalls the battles he waged, one of which landed him in John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage, and the alliances he formed with leading political figures of his day, from Fiorello La Guardia to Franklin D. Roosevelt. The result is a contemporary perspective on a man who fiercely defended the public interest and followed his convictions to the lasting benefit of his state and his country.

George Norris, Going Home: Reflections of a Progressive Statesman

Walton, Don

Historical

Academic Quicksand: Some Trends and Issues in Higher Education

Professional Educators Publications

The Inside Pitch and More: Baseball’s Business and the Public Trust, written by former American League President Gene Budig, investigates the human and corporate sides of our nation’s pastime. Throughout the course of this book, the author systematically engages the myriad concerns of Major League Baseball, past, present, and future.
In The Inside Pitch and More, baseball’s economic prosperity is examined, as well as issues that hinder and threaten that perpetuity. Lately, baseball has been increasingly menaced by the popularity of other athletic venues - basketball, football, etc. Budig goes through the proposed methods of revitalizing the game of baseball. He emphasizes the need for a reevaluation of the relationship between the sport and its fan base so that the baseball will resume its role as America’s favorite pastime.
Based on his six years as president of the American League, Budig has composed a fascinating book, which is written to be enjoyed by the casual baseball fan as well as the serious student of this sport or sports management in general. The book is unique in that it is the first work to really dissect the sport of baseball by a retired high-ranking official with a wealth of information on the subject.

INSIDE PITCH AND MORE: BASEBALL'S BUSINESS AND THE PUBLIC TRUST

Sports & Outdoors

Baseball

West Virginia University Press

Over a span of 35 years Gene Budig met many interesting people, some of these notable visitors included high-profile titans from business and industry, college and university presidents, labor leaders, journalists and media personalities. Singling out nine of these intriguing people for their unshakable values Budig shares their stories - people who dared confront overwhelming odds, people who dared to dream ... and succeeded. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: A recognized academic leader and writer, Gene A. Budig is the distinguished professor and senior presidential advisor of the College Board in New York City. As the head of three major state universities, Illinois State University, West Virginia University, and the University of Kansas, he was responsible for the educational programs of 520,000 students. The University of Nebraska graduate served as president of Major League Baseball's American League (1994-2000) and oversaw a period of historic growth in attendance and physical facilities.

Grasping the Ring

College and university presidents are shrouded in mystique, balancing consensus-driven leadership with bottom-line business. Grappling with the needs of trustees, students, parents, academic staff, and public policy makers, today's college and university presidents and chancellors face substantial--and risky--challenges. Here, Budig shares his insights with disarming clarity and candor. His broad experience elucidates the 'uncommon skills' required to survive, and prosper, in the little-taught and rarely understood profession of university leadership.

A Game of Uncommon Skill: Leading the Modern College and University (American Council on Education Oryx Press Series on Higher Education)

Education & Teaching

Higher & Continuing Education

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

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