Labor dispute in Major League Baseball history
The
1976 Major League Baseball lockout
occurred from March 1 to March 17.
[1]
The lockout was instituted after the expiration of the league's Basic Agreement. A primary issue addressed during lockout negotiations was the longstanding
reserve clause
and the players' desire to become
free agents
. The
lockout
did not result in any regular season games being canceled.
Background
[
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]
Following the expiration of the league's Basic Agreement between the owners and the players, there were rumors of a potential lockout due to the inability of the two sides to negotiate a new deal in a timely manner. The
Major League Baseball Players Association
asked a caucus of team owners if a lockout would happen, but the group told union director
Marvin Miller
that it "wasn't their decision to make."
Commissioner of Baseball
Bowie Kuhn
stated in a meeting with the league's 24 owners that because there was no agreement in place between the owners and players, dates and times for the upcoming
spring training
had not been set. On January 15, 1976, Miller met with the Owners-Players Relations Committee for three hours to discuss issues in an attempt to work towards a deal before a potential lockout. The league's pension plan was discussed and Miller advocated for spring training games not to be cancelled in any circumstance. No deal was met at that meeting.
[2]
One of the largest issues looming over negotiations was the prospect of
free agency
. Baseball's longstanding
reserve clause
began to fall into question as players sought to have more freedom in where they played. The first instance of the reserve clause being challenged was the
Supreme Court
case
Flood v. Kuhn
where
St. Louis Cardinals
outfielder
Curt Flood
refused to be traded to the
Philadelphia Phillies
in 1969. The court ultimately ruled against Flood in 1972, but comments made by the justices on the case were used to later nullify the reserve clause in the December 1975
Seitz decision
, effectively creating free agency in baseball. With the possibility of a lockout less than a month after the decision, free agency rules and guidelines became a key issue to be negotiated between the owners and players.
[3]
Tensions rose as the two sides could not agree to come to a new deal. Marvin Miller claimed that a refusal by the league's team owners to open spring training camps to the players would be a violation of their contracts, thus making them free agents, comparing it to the
Catfish Hunter
breach of contract scenario from 1974.
[4]
The team owners were often blamed as the agitator in the dispute, receiving criticism from various sports media members.
Newsday
writer
William Nack
wrote in a February edition that "the owners have since carried on
ad nauseam
, to put it with charity, and contrived to emerge ironically as graceless, irrational fugitives running naked through the streets of perhaps the most graceful, rational of American games."
[5]
Longtime sportswriter
Red Smith
called the owners' actions "childish" in his column for
The New York Times
.
[6]
Lockout
[
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]
The lockout was initiated by the owners on March 1, 1976. The lockout was not total as
Chicago White Sox
owner
Bill Veeck
opened spring training camp to some of his players.
[7]
MLB and the MLBPA met for five hours on March 2 in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
to discuss the reserve clause amongst other issues, but little progress was reportedly made. MLB offered that players must have eight years of service time before being eligible for an option year in their contract, a proposal that union director Marvin Miller deemed "unacceptable."
American League
president
Lee MacPhail
rebutted by saying that Miller was "making a mountain out of a molehill."
[8]
Early in the lockout, there was alleged indication that the ownership group was backing down. On March 2, the
Atlanta Braves
opened spring training camp to a handful of non-roster players, and several other teams reportedly told their players to get ready for spring training.
[9]
The two sides met again on March 3 in
Miami Beach
for two and a half hours. The players argued that they should be able to have an option year after one year of service, colloquially dubbed the "one-one rule." The owners argued that they could not allow the Seitz decision that granted
Andy Messersmith
and
Dave McNally
free agency become the norm. The owners made a revised proposal that would allow players to seek free agency after six years of service time, but Marvin Miller said that MLB was not willing to hear out the MLBPA's counter-proposal.
[10]
More owners began to ease their lockout stance;
Jim Kaat
and
Steve Carlton
were among 22 Phillies players at spring training camp by March 4.
[11]
MLB and the MLBPA conducted another meeting on March 5 in
New York City
. The meeting lasted for one hour and was abruptly ended in a reportedly negative fashion. The reserve clause was once again discussed but no notable concessions were made. Marvin Miller conducted an MLBPA press conference March 6 to address the meeting, stating that the dealings were professional but not progressive. He announced that the MLBPA was setting April 25 as a deadline for negotiations to conclude, threatening that they would argue breach of contract otherwise and seek to grant players free agency.
[12]
MLB released a statement, claiming that the players were obligated to comply in the creation of a new reserve system. Following the March 5 meeting, no further meetings were scheduled but the two sides stayed in contact through the phone.
[13]
Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn, who largely separated himself from the dispute between MLB owners and the MLBPA, began to receive calls to alleviate the problem before regular-season games were cancelled. As commissioner, Kuhn held the power to open up the spring training camps and effectively end the lockout.
[14]
By March 9, strife developed between MLBPA director Marvin Miller and several players. Some players began to call for Miller to ease up in negotiations and give more credence to the owners' stances.
Cincinnati Reds
superstars
Johnny Bench
and
Pete Rose
claimed that Miller was not listening to the players. Bench joined
Tom Seaver
and
Joe Torre
in a trio advocating for a quick resolution so that play could resume.
Montreal Expos
pitcher
Woodie Fryman
said that he did not care which way the negotiations swung, just that he wanted to play.
[15]
MLB and the MLBPA met again on March 9 in New York City to no avail. The meeting reportedly featured "raised voices" and
obscenities
coupled with no progress towards a deal. Miller alleged that MLB was misleading the players on the status of the negotiations. Despite the hostile nature of the meeting, the sides agreed to meet again in Florida on March 11 and 12.
[16]
On March 10 in
Tampa, Florida
, MLB met with a contingent of roughly 50 players for two and a half hours to discuss the situation. Johnny Bench, who was among the group of players in the meeting, shared a sense of pessimism, as did MLBPA director Marvin Miller. Bench noted that many players were training on high school and collegiate fields in Florida and paying their own housing fees because they did not have access to team facilities.
[17]
The groups reconvened in
St. Petersburg, Florida
on March 11, meeting for two hours but leaving disappointed. A group of players decided to cancel the voluntary practices they were holding at
Eckerd College
as they believed practicing during the lockout could only stand to benefit the owners.
[18]
On March 14, Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn announced that the regular season would occur and that the regular season would commence on the scheduled April 8 opening day. At the time, Kuhn stated that he had would open spring training once he saw considerable progress between MLB and the MLBPA. At a meeting, Marvin Miller made a new proposal that would institute a one-year test trial of the "one-one rule" so that the two camps could witness its cost-effectiveness and make a later decision. The meeting lasted into the night and negotiators were seen walking around the hotel premises and discussing, leading the media to believe an agreement was imminent. Another meeting was set for the morning of March 15.
[19]
On March 16, the ownership group gave their final offer which included an acceptance of the players' much-desired one-one rule. AL President Lee MacPhail said that MLB "bit the bullet" on the rule and added that spring training camps would not be opened until the deal was accepted. MLBPA Director Marvin Miller described the offer as a sudden turnaround from previously hostile negotiations and said that the players would convene to discuss the following day.
[20]
On March 17, Commissioner of Baseball Bowie Kuhn ordered that training camps be opened immediately, effectively ending the lockout. At the time, the MLBPA had not accepted or declined the owners' "best and final" offer. Miller stated that the MLBPA did not vote on the owners' proposal because it did not address issues that were important to the players' union.
[21]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
"Labor Pains"
.
Sports Illustrated
. Archived from
the original
on January 11, 2013
. Retrieved
October 7,
2011
– via
Wayback Machine
.
- ^
"Baseball lockout possible"
. Tallahassee Democrat. Associated Press. January 16, 1976. p. 19
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
Dunn, Bob (January 12, 1976).
"Arbitration ruling may avert strike"
. The Montreal Star. p. 33
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
"Lockout might free players"
. The Billings Gazette. Associated Press. January 30, 1976. p. 13
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
Nack, William (February 5, 1976).
"Baseball's owners reserve the argument to the absurd"
. Nassau, New York: Newsday. p. 127
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
Smith, Red (February 26, 1976).
"Baseball lockout childish"
. The San Bernardino County Sun. The New York Times. p. 67
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
Powers, John (March 1, 1976).
"The Sports Log - Labor Notes"
. The Boston Globe. p. 24
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
"Baseball Lockout continues"
. The Bridgeport Telegram. Associated Press. March 2, 1976
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
"Owners Backing Down on Lockout"
. The Town Talk. Associated Press. March 3, 1976. p. 22
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
"All Quiet on Southern Front"
. The Kingston Daily Freeman. United Press International. March 4, 1976. p. 15
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
Conlin, Bill (March 6, 1976).
"The Phils' Grass Menagerie"
. Philadelphia Daily News. p. 26
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
Bock, Hal (March 7, 1976).
"Players set pact deadline ? or no play"
. The Morning Call. Associated Press. p. 48
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
"Baseball still in limbo as meetings break off"
. Johnson City Press. Associated Press. March 6, 1976. p. 9
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
"The next move is Kuhn's"
. The San Bernardino County Sun. Associated Press. March 8, 1976. p. 22
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
MacDonald, Ian (March 9, 1976).
"Baseball's big guns ease hard line against owners"
. Montreal, Quebec: The Gazette. p. 22
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
"Spring, Baseball Appear a Long Way Off"
. The Kingston Daily Freeman. United Press International. March 10, 1976. p. 17
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
Bernstein, Ralph (March 12, 1976).
"Baseball Dispute In 11th Hour"
. Poughkeepsie Journal. Associated Press. p. 23
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
"Players Halt Voluntary Workouts"
. York Daily Record. United Press International. March 13, 1976. p. 13
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
LeNoir, Bob (March 15, 1976).
"Kuhn 'predicts' thaw of frozen-over spring"
. Tampa Bay Times. St. Petersburg Times. p. 29
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
"Owners Give Proposal"
. Las Cruces Sun-News. United Press International. March 16, 1976. p. 5
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.
- ^
"Kuhn orders training camps to open"
. Star-Gazette. Associated Press. March 18, 1976. p. 15
. Retrieved
March 4,
2022
.