The Baseball Trust: A History of Baseball's Antitrust Exemption
"Splendid... [A] valuable corrective to the widely held view that the romance of baseball was the main reason that courts have treated it with special solicitude... Mr. Banner, who teaches law at the University of California, Los Angeles, is himself a sure-footed historian and a legal writer of exceptional grace and clarity." --Adam Liptak,New York Times"Among the most compelling baseball books this season..." -David Ulin,Los Angeles Times"Stuart Banner, a law professor and noted legal historian, explores the history that led to baseball's being the only sport exempt from antitrust laws. Through the use of extensive primary materials, Banner leads the reader through the history of the decisions that ultimately led to 'such a weird state of affairs'...The Baseball Trustis a well-researched and entertaining look at how antitrust law has affected the national pastime." --Library Law Journal"One of the great puzzles of the history of both baseball and anti-trust law is the 'exemption' granted to the baseball industry from anti-trust law. Nearly everyone agrees that the exemption, which is not available to other professional sports, makes very little sense as a matter of law or economics. Stuart Banner demonstrates that the exemption was not intended to serve the usual reason for avoiding anti-trust laws, but rather to preserve baseball's 'reserve clause,' which bound players indefinitely to their clubs and thereby reduced the players' leverage. By following shrewd advice from lawyers, organized baseball was able to convince both the courts and Congress that replacing the reserve clause with free agency would undermine competitive balance. Even though this turned out not to be the case, baseball's anti-trust exemption remains in place. Banner's book will be the place to start in understanding that curious anomaly." --G. Edward White, author ofCreating the National Pastime"In this important study, Banner provides extensive treatment of organized baseball's battle with antitrust regulations... [A] decidedly strong contribution to the literature on organized baseball and the law." --Library Journal"This is the best single-volume history of baseball's antitrust exemption. Prof. Banner does an excellent job mining primary sources to show how savvy lawyers and baseball officials laid the groundwork for 'baseball's bizarre monopoly.' Banner brings a lawyer's rigor, a historian's discerning eye, and a baseball fan's ear to this very important work of baseball and American legal history.  This is a tale that needed to be told." --Brad Snyder, author ofA Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood's Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports