Hightower Lowdown

Big-league baseball rigs the game. Not the game on the field, where the players continue to thrill the fans with great play—but the game in the executive suites, where the owners keep playing a shell game with their finances.

Whether they’re trying to abandon cities that won’t build luxurious stadiums for them, bust the players union, or hang onto their monopoly status, the constant refrain from the billionaires who own the teams is that they’re broke.

Baseball commissar Bud Selig appeared before Congress last December, whining that owners should get special breaks because they provide a public service at great financial loss to themselves. He asserted that the industry suffered $232 million in operating losses last year and that 21 of the 30 teams were money-losers. Of course, he refused to open baseball’s books, saying Congress should simply trust him.

But now comes a report that says Selig lied. Forbes magazine—famous for being a corporate cheerleader—ran baseball’s numbers and came up with a far different score: Only 10 of the 30 teams lost money and, instead of an overall loss, the industry enjoyed a $75 million profit. “A few teams are struggling,” says a senior Forbes editor, “but baseball as an industry is in strong financial shape.”

When players are caught cheating, they’re thrown out of the game. Shouldn’t this rule apply to owners, too?