Baseball antitrust legislation introduced

By Ronald Blum ~ The Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Legislation was introduced in Congress on Wednesday to allow lawsuits against baseball when teams fold or relocate, and lawyers for players and owners agreed the union's grievance to save two teams will be heard next month.

Sen. Paul Wellstone, a Minnesota Democrat, and Rep. John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, introduced the Fairness in Antitrust in National Sports Act, which would limit baseball's exemption from antitrust laws, created by a 1922 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

"Our country has tremendously urgent priorities -- we have the war in Afghanistan, the war against terrorism, and our urgent need for economic stimulus legislation to keep our nation from plummeting even further into recession," Wellstone said.

"Unfortunately, however, major league baseball owners did not give us a choice on timing. They have picked a particularly inauspicious time to announce their unilateral, shortsighted and self-serving decision so we must respond."

Baseball owners voted last week to eliminate two teams by next season, and Montreal and Minnesota appear to be the most likely candidates. Wellstone and Conyers, who is from Michigan, attended a news conference along with several House members from Minnesota, hope to exert pressure on baseball owners to reverse their decision.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig said last week his sport no longer can support financially struggling teams. Wellstone called baseball's decision to fold two teams "a way for owners to divvy up profits."

"If GM, Ford and Chrysler tried that in Detroit, we would have a lot of people outraged," Conyers said.

Bill allows parties to sue

The bill would allow an "injured" party to sue for antitrust violations -- ranging from a government entity to a stadium authority to a baseball player. Other parts of baseball's antitrust exemption -- such as minor league baseball, marketing, sales and intellectual property rights -- would remain intact.

"The Minnesota Twins on the northern prairie aren't just a baseball team. They're really a way of life, said Rep. Earl Pomeroy, a North Dakota Democrat. "It's what you listen to when you plant the crop in the spring. It's what kids talk about when they go to their sandlot ball."

Congress has traditionally been reluctant to tamper with baseball's antitrust exemption. In 1998, a law was passed eliminating the exemption only for labor relations involving the major leagues.

"It's a steep mountain to climb, but we absolutely have to make the effort," Wellstone said.

Union head Donald Fehr immediately backed the legislation.

"It is unfortunate that the owners' recent actions make consideration of this legislation necessary, but it is important to make certain that the antitrust laws apply to baseball owners in order to protect the interests of baseball fans, ballpark employees, cities and, frankly, the game itself," he said.

"Some legal experts believe that ... major league baseball is already subject to the antitrust laws. I share that view. However, the commissioner and the other owners evidently continue to believe that they can operate free from scrutiny under the antitrust laws -- that the laws which apply to other Americans do not apply to them. This bill would eliminate any remaining doubt that baseball must comply with the antitrust laws, just like the other professional sports, and nearly every other industry."

In New York, lawyers for the union and the owners spoke with arbitrator Shyam Das, who will hear the grievance filed by the union, which claims the decision to eliminate two teams violated its labor contract, which expired last week.

"We have a series on dates beginning in early December," union lawyer Michael Weiner said. "We will confer and get back to him shortly."

Date will be set today or Fridays

Weiner said it was likely the date for starting the hearing will be set today or Friday.

In Minneapolis, a hearing is scheduled for Thursday before Hennepin County District Court Judge Harry Crump on a lawsuit filed against the Twins by the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission.

Judge Diana Eagon last week issued a temporary restraining order barring the Twins from being eliminated. The commission is seeking a permanent injunction to force the Twins to play in the Metrodome through the end of their lease in 2002.