best baseball players
Unionization in baseball goes back almost as far as the professional game itself. Opposed to baseball’s reserve clause and a growing movement led by Albert Spalding to cap players’ salaries, John Montgomery Ward and eight other players in 1885 formed the first players union in baseball -- the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players.
That was nine years after the creation of the National League and six years before the American League came into existence. Other attempts to organize players included the creation of the Players' Protective Association in 1900, the Fraternity of Professional Baseball Players of America in 1912, and the American Baseball Guild in 1946.
None of those efforts proved sufficient in bringing an end to the reserve clause, which bound players to their respective clubs.
Players, however, regrouped again in 1965 and sought outside expertise to help their cause. Their search led them to Marvin Miller, a highly respected economist for the United Steelworkers of America, who immediately began to mold the players into a bona fide labor union. His first steps were to shore up the union’s finances by beginning a group licensing program and educating the players about the fundamentals of organizing and solidarity.
In 1968, Miller helped players negotiate the first-ever collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in professional sports. The agreement raised the minimum salary in baseball from $6,000 – the level at which it had been stuck for two decades – to $10,000 and set the tone for future advances. In 1970, Miller helped players negotiate the right to arbitration to resolve grievances – an achievement Miller considers the most significant of the union’s early years because the process paved the way for future gains.
The successful founding of the MLBPA changed the landscape of professional sports forever, serving notice that highly skilled athletes would seek the same basic employment rights that people in other professions had long taken for granted.
Miller served as the MLBPA's executive director from 1966 through 1983, and during his tenure base salaries, pension funds, licensing rights and revenues were brought to new levels, laying the groundwork that helped create what is widely considered one of the strongest unions in the country.
Among the many milestones achieved under Miller's watch was the advent of free agency rights.
Curt Flood’s unsuccessful challenge of the reserve clause started the ball rolling toward free agency. Funded by his fellow players, Flood sued Major League Baseball privately. Flood eventually lost his case in the U.S. Supreme Court, but the battle educated countless players and millions of Americans about the fundamental inequity of the reserve system, which perpetually renewed a player's contract, essentially binding the player to one club for life, or until that club decided to get rid of the player.
Just three years after Flood vs. Kuhn, players Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally once again challenged the reserve clause. This time, instead of a trial in a court of law, an independent arbitrator heard the case. And in December 1975, the players finally won the right to free agency, when arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled that the reserve clause granted a team only one additional year of service from a player, putting an end to perpetual renewal right the clubs had claimed for so long.
It was during the Messersmith/McNally hearing, and the clubs’ attempt to overturn the ruling, that Miller met Don Fehr, the MLBPA's current executive director. Fehr assisted the MLBPA's defense as a Kansas City-based attorney, and two years later, in 1977, Miller hired Fehr to join the Association as general counsel.
Fehr served in this capacity until 1986, when the players named him executive director. Fehr has continued Miller's legacy of keeping the players united, by keeping them informed and educated on the issues that involve not only their professional lives.
The strength of the Association can be measured in its gains, and despite work stoppages of various lengths during eight CBA negotiations, the solidarity and resolve of the players has never been stronger. Each generation of players has passed along a legacy and a responsibility to the next generation - a legacy built on equality, loyalty and fair play.
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