Blazing The Trail

Say the name Andy Messersmith and you will for the most part get some blank stares your way. The name has some sort of familiar ring to a few but most will say, "Who?". What most people don't realize is that in many, many ways, Andy Messersmith is responsible for the modern structure of sports teams today and all the athletes making millions and millions of dollars have Andy Messersmith to thank.

Messersmith played major league baseball from 1968-1979. He played for the California Angels, LA Dodgers, Atlanta Braves and the NY Yankees. He had a lifetime ERA of 2.86, had four All-Star appearances and appeared in the 1974 NLCS and the World Series. A decent career but nothing spectacular. It was what he did off the field that made history. Before 1975 baseball operated under what was then known as the reserve clause. It meant that even though a player had completed his contract to a particular team, the team still owned the rights to that player. The player could negotiate a contract with his current team or asked to be released but could not negotiate with another team. It was, in the purest sense of the word, slavery. When Curt Flood of the St. Louis Cardinals was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1969, flood challenged the reserve clause section of his contract. He lost the case and ruined what had been an outstanding career.

After the 1974 season, Messersmith went to negotiate his contract with then Dodgers GM Al Campanis. Messersmith asked that a no-trade clause be inserted into his contract and Campanis and the Dodgers refused. The negotiations became so acrimonious that Messersmith finally refused to deal with Campanis and said he would only negotiate with Dodgers team president Walter O'Malley. Messersmith ended up pitching the 1975 season without a contract. He led the league in complete games, shutouts and finished second in ERA while also winning his second Gold Glove. Messersmith filed a grievance with the support of player's union president Marvin Miller against MLB, asking for the reserve clause to be eliminated from his contract. Arbitrator Peter Seitz agreed with Messersmith and Messersmith signed a three year deal with the Atlanta Braves for $1,000,000. Ironically, the arbitrator Seitz, who had been hired by the owners to arbitrate for them, was fired the day after the ruling. The rest of Messersmith's career was marred by injuries. He resigned with the Dodgers in 1979 and retired after he was released.

After the Seitz decision, the other major sports in the U.S. followed suit, albeit more slowly. Players were able to become free agents, negotiate with other teams, negotiate opt outs, options, no-trade clauses and the like. No longer were players the indentured property of the owners of their teams. They were free to test the waters and to try and both professionally and financially better themselves. After the Seitz decision came down Messersmith said:

"I did it for the guys sitting on the bench, the utility men who couldn't crack the lineup with (the Dodgers) but who could make it elsewhere. These guys should have an opportunity to make a move and go to another club. I didn't do it necessarily for myself because I'm making a lot of money. I don't want everyone to think, 'Well, here's a guy in involuntary servitude at $115,000 a year. That's a lot of bull and I know it"

There are people who will say that free agency has ruined professional sports, that athletes make too much money, that there is no loyalty in sports, players jump from team to team, etc. But make no mistake, sports have always been and will continue to always be a business, and in business the bottom line is making money. Slavery was abolished in this country in 1865. It only baseball another 110 years to catch up.