I'm not sure why the author's former student thinks this book contains "suspect" research and conclusions. In the absence of any specific examples, we ought to conclude it's just sour grapes. The authors do a great job of reviewing the existing literature on the subject of racism in baseball. The footnotes and bibliography are extensive. The book is not intended as a history of baseball, but is rather a look at a narrow subject -- how racism has affected baseball.The authors discuss the various research techniques and statistical methods used in previous studies, and why those different approaches produce different results.Following a substantial amount of theoretical discussion, the authors took a look at the current state of baseball, reviewing the racial/ethnic demographics of active major league players. Readers are left to draw their own conclusions, but what they found was fascinating for those who are interested in the subject.As someone who has researched and written on this subject, I can state with certainty that this book is indispensible to a study of race issues within baseball.Those that find the book "dry" or "boring" clearly aren't interested in a serious academic text.