Word: contraction
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Finally, in 1975, the perpetual reserve clause was abolished by baseball arbitrator Peter Seitz. He ruled that Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally were no longer bound to their respective teams upon termination of their contract plus one additional renewal year. After that year, the players became free agents, able to offer their skills to the highest bidder. Seitz declared that the Uniform Players Contract did not grant a club a perennial option to an athlete's services. It is no wonder that this sweeping judgement, which obliterated the binding labor rules that had persisted for nearly one hundred years, thrust...
...balance relative team strengths because players still ended up working for the club for whom they were most valuable, with or without the reserve clause. Although an athlete could not offer his services to the highest bidder, one team would bargain with another to purchase a player's contract. Today negotiations take place directly with the ballplayer in question, allowing him to accrue the fruits of his labor rather than the employer...
Essentially, the effect of a prohibitive labor market was not to evenly distribute skill, but to lower salaries. If a player wanted to remain in the profession, he had no alternative but to work at the salary offered him from the franchise possessing his contract. If he was not satisfied, well, he could sell used cars...
...wake of the Seitz ruling, the roles have been reversed. Upon termination of his contract, a player can renegotiate for a new pact or decide to become a free agent, potentially available to every franchise. This past year, 26 major league players became free agents, including such celebrities as Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, and Bobby Grich. During the frenzied bidding war most major newspapers ran front page stories on the latest developments, following the bargaining sessions as closely as the Paris Peace Talks. Daily, the media announced the most lucrative contract offer ever made in the sport, only...
...press has grossly exaggerated the actual salaries baseball stars receive. Sources involved in the industry say that figures reported in the media should be discounted by one-third. Owners release inflated contract amounts to reassure the public that players are well paid. This tactic seems devised to lure the fans to management's camp, as if there were a baseball salary war and both players and owners needed the largest contingent of allies...