Legal Decisions That Shaped Modern Baseball

This work takes a look at the cases that have had a significant influence on the game of baseball, such as Flood v. Kuhn and Garvey v. MLB, which either made it to the U.S. Supreme Court or brought up major legal issues in baseball. Also included are cases that explore legal issues in baseball but are not as well known and cases that appear in most sports law books. For each case, the historical and legal significance of the decision is discussed.

The late Patrick K. Thornton was a professor in the sports management department at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

Patrick K. Thornton
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 240
Bibliographic Info: 12 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3780-1
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8633-5
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments vi

Preface 1

1. Popov v. Hayashi

    The Legal Battle Over the Barry Bonds 73rd Home Run Ball 5

2. Metropolitan Exhibition Company v. Ward

    Baseball’s First Significant Legal Case 21

3. Philadelphia Ball Club v. Lajoie

    Napoleon Lajoie Bolts to the American League 41

4. O’Connor v. St. Louis American League Baseball Co.

    The Legendary Dispute Over the 1910 American League

Batting Title 59

5. People v. Cicotte

    The Black Sox and Baseball’s Most Famous Trial 77

6. Rose v. Giamatti

    The All-Time Hit Leader Is Banned from the Game 109

7. The Arbitration Case of John Rocker

    John Rocker Speaks His Mind About Race Relations 126

8. New York State Division of Human Rights v. New York– Pennsylvania Professional Baseball League

Postema v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs

Bernice Gera and Pam Postema Try to Break Baseball’s Glass Ceiling 140

9. Flood v. Kuhn

    Curt Flood Takes His Challenge Over Baseball’s Reserve Clause to the U.S. Supreme Court 158

10. Andy Messersmith/Dave McNally Arbitration Case

     Players Win Their Freedom in Arbitration 178

11. Baseball’s Collusion Cases

     Free Agents Take On the Owners 194

12. Schentzel v. Philadelphia Baseball Club

Benejam v. Detroit Tigers, Inc.

     A Day at the Ballpark Isn’t Always a Can of Corn 217

13. C.B.C. Distribution and Marketing v. Major League Baseball Advanced Media

     Baseball’s Battle for the Box Score: A Constitutional Question 233

14. The Arbitration Case of Steve Howe

     Testing Baseball’s Patience 251

Chapter Notes 269

Bibliography 319

Index 331