Arbitrator Seitz Rules Messersmith and McNally Are Free Agents

On December 23, 1975, arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled that pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally were free agents, demolishing baseball's reserve clause and creating the modern free agent era. The decision reshaped the economics of professional sports.

The case hinged on contract language. The reserve clause, as traditionally interpreted by owners, bound a player to his team in perpetuity. Messersmith, a Dodgers pitcher who had won 19 games in 1975, played the entire season without signing a new contract, testing whether the clause meant "forever" or "one additional year." McNally, who had retired from the Expos midseason, joined the grievance to strengthen the legal argument.

Seitz ruled that the clubs had no right to reserve the players' services beyond the single renewal year specified in the contract. The owners had spent decades insisting the clause meant permanent ownership of a player's career. Seitz read the actual language and found otherwise.

The owners fired Seitz the same day. They appealed the ruling in federal court and lost. They appealed again and lost again. By the spring of 1976, they had no choice but to negotiate a new system with the Players Association, led by Marvin Miller, that included free agency after six years of major league service.

Player salaries, which had been artificially suppressed for a century, began to reflect actual market value. The average salary in 1975 was $44,676. Within a decade it had grown tenfold. Messersmith signed with the Braves for $1.75 million over three years. McNally never played again, having retired before the ruling. The structure of baseball's labor market had changed permanently, three days before Christmas, in a ruling that fit on a few pages.