Q: Aren’t we near or past the 40th anniversary of the decision that rendered Major League Baseball’s reserve clause illegal? What happened to the people in that case? What was the average salary then and what is it now? What was the average ticket price then and now?
—Lance DeLoach, Thomaston
A: St. Louis outfielder Curt Flood challenged MLB's reserve clause, beginning in 1969, when he refused to be traded to Philadelphia. Flood vs. Kuhn, named for then-MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, went to the Supreme Court, which ruled against Flood 5-3 in 1972.
In 1975, pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally couldn’t agree on new deals with their teams after playing one year without contracts and the MLB Players Association filed a grievance.
Arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled in favor for the players in December 1975, saying they could become free agents. Two courts upheld Seitz’s decision and the 1976 collective bargaining agreement allowed other players to become free agents.
Flood never played for Philadelphia and retired in 1971. He died in 1997.
Messersmith signed with the Braves in 1976 and pitched two seasons for them, one with the Yankees and another with the Dodgers before retiring in 1979.
McNally retired in 1975 and died in 2002. Seitz died in 1983 and Marvin Miller, the director of the players association, died in 2012.
The average salary was $44,676 in 1975, compared to about $4 million in 2014.
The average ticket price was $10.97 in 1975, compared to $27.93 last season.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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