Dave McNally and Andy Messersmith, the Death of the Reserve Clause

For a period of ten years, Dave McNally was one of the finest lefthanded pitchers in baseball. In his first major league start in September 1962, he pitched a shutout against the Kansas City A’s. He joined the Baltimore Orioles rotation the following year. What followed were 184 victories, two world championships, four pennants and five American League East titles, forming one of the great dynasties of the post-war era. From 1969-71 the Orioles joined a short list of teams that have won 100+ games in three consecutive years.

McNally went 13-6 in 1966 and shut out the Los Angeles Dodgers to complete the World Series sweep. In 1968 he posted his first of four straight 20+-victory seasons, at one point winning fifteen in a row. From 1968-71 he won 87 games with 644 strikeouts and a 2.82 ERA. The slugger homered in Game 5 of the World Series loss to the Miracle Mets of 1969.

In 1970, he led the league with 24 wins and 40 starts. The 3-time All-Star won Game 3 in that year’s World Series defeat of Cincinnati, adding a grand slam of his own. The following year McNally was one of four Baltimore pitchers to win 20+ games, a feat matched only one other time in history. The southpaw won two more games in the World Series versus the Pirates; though, Pittsburgh, led by Roberto Clemente, won in seven.

In mid-1971 McNally began experiencing arm trouble which eventually led to retirement in 1975. A tiff with Baltimore management concerning the arbitration process prompted the Orioles to trade him to Montreal in December 1974, a coup for the Orioles that brought over Ken Singleton and Mike Torrez.

In 1975, McNally planned retirement because he felt that the Expos had reneged on promises they made him, his arm was hurting and to focus on his car dealership. Before he left, though, he made baseball history.

Los Angeles Dodger righthander Andy Messersmith, a wholly underrated pitcher, and McNally played the 1975 season without signing their contracts. Management wasn’t concerned because they had just won the Curt Flood case and, simply, relied on their ever binding reserve clause. Marvin Miller, head of the Major League Baseball Players Association, thought otherwise.

Arbitrator Peter Seitz reviewed the case over the winter. In December Seitz declared the two players free agents. It was the players union’s greatest victory. Now, ballplayers could enjoy the right that every other American worker, in theory, shared – the ability to negotiate for the best wage and circumstances of employment.

Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, management’s point man, immediately fired Seitz but it was too late, baseball was forever changed. The reserve clause was found to be non-binding. Seitz did what the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Congress could not; he eliminated a hundred years of perpetual player servitude to a major league club. (Actually the reserve system was merely modified through collective bargaining and survives today.)

All one had to do was play a year without signing his contract and he could attain free agency. Marvin Miller had to step up. He realized that if only few attained free agency each year, all would benefit. The larger the number that declared free agency, the weaker their position during negotiations. If there were a lot of free agents, few would gain substantial contracts.

Messersmith immediately capitalized, signing a $1.5 million, 5-year contract with Ted Turner’s Atlanta Braves. Many would follow. McNally retired as planned, ending with an impressive 184-119 record, 3.24 ERA and 1,512 Ks. The lefthander poured it on in the postseason, notching a 4-2 record, 2.34 ERA in four World Series and a 3-2 record, 2.68 ERA in five American League Championship Series.

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