User:AntBrito55/Baseball law

''' NOTE: Bold paragraphs are my original work. Anything unbolded is from the original page. '''

Baseball law refers to the various civil statutes, local ordinances, and court decisions pertaining to the game of baseball and its institutions, as distinguished from the Rules of Baseball, which are a private codification of rules governing the internal workings of baseball games. These laws include "Blue" laws, the reserve clause, the "Baseball Rule" safety rulings, and the effect of Jim Crow on baseball as a whole.

 Nineteenth-Century Baseball Rules 

Both the early rules (which act as the laws of the game) and the legal cases surrounding the sport impact the way baseball is played to this day. Documentation of early baseball law exists but has been rarely studied. Nonetheless, its presence in legal disputes and records indicate that it was an important part of American life before 1900.

'''In general, the first documented iteration of rules for baseball were officially created in 1845 by the Knickerbocker Club of New York. These rules are "the only documented, unbroken line between baseball played in its current form and any other prior version of the sport." These rules are considered to be the basis of the rules of the modern game of baseball. The National Association of Base-Ball Players (NABBP), on March 14, 1860 in New York, amended the rules to include ones that are still seen in the game today. For example, section 7 states "When the baulk is made by the pitcher, every player running the bases is entitled to one base, without being put out."  This is seen in the game of Baseball today, where if a pitcher "Balks," every runner automatically moves up one base.'''

 "Blue" laws 

In America's past, "blue" laws prohibited business from taking place on the Sabbath. This was an issue for baseball teams who were playing for spectators on Sundays. On April 30, 1891, Tim O'Rourk and 19 others were the subject of a criminal complaint that pertained to them playing baseball for an audience of about 3,000 in Lincoln Park the previous Sunday. The case of State v. O'Rourk ensued.

It was illegal at the time for anyone over age 14 "engage in sporting" on a Sunday. The penalty for which was "a fine of $20, incarceration for 20 days, or both." The accused argued that baseball did not fall under the category of "sport" and that they were remotely located enough so as not to have offended those observing the Sabbath. The presiding judge dismissed the case on those grounds. However, Chief Justice Maxwell of the Nebraska Supreme Court disagreed.

'State v. O'Rourk'' showed that there was a growing class of people willing to depart from tradition and attend baseball games on a Sunday. It also indicated that there were those who adamantly resisted such change. Twelve years later, the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed this ruling in the case Seay Et Al. v. Shrader. In this case, the Supreme Court of Nebraska noted that baseball is in fact considered "sporting." '''

'''More states have "blue laws" enacted. Blue laws are also known as "Sunday Closing laws." South Carolina, a state with a long history of enforcing "blue laws," has specific statutes describing blue laws. For example, the statute states "On the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, it shall be unlawful for any person to engage in worldly work, labor, business of his ordinary calling or the selling or offering to sell ... to the consumer any goods, wares or merchandise ... excepting work of necessity or charity." Additionally, the statute notes that "No public sports or pastimes, such as bearbaiting, bullbaiting, football playing, horse racing, …hunting, shooting, chasing game or fishing, shall be used on Sunday by any person whatsoever." In 1985, this law was amended so that the law no longer applied after 1:30pm.'''

 Free Agency and the Reserve Clause 

"Free agency" did not exist as it does today in baseball until the 1970s. Instead, players were bound to their teams by something called the "reserve clause." John "Monte" Ward was the first to oppose this in November 1889. He was a star player for the National League's New York Giants, but was also an author and lawyer.

The "reserve" clause did not specify terms of contract, salary or agreements between player and teams. A judge ultimately ruled that with such fundamental questions left unanswered, the clause could not reasonably be enforced. The reserve clause was a provision that was included in the contracts of all baseball players. '''This clause restricted the players from negotiating with anyone but their current teams. '''

'''The reserve clause was effectively ended after the 1975 baseball season. After this season, the contracts of pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally ended. Their cases went to an independent arbitrator, and later had a case that upheld the ending of the reserve clause. In this case, Kansas City Royals Baseball Corp. v. Major League Baseball Players Assoc., the United States Western District Court of Missouri held that because there was no contract between the players and the teams, the teams had "no right or power ... to reserve their services for their exclusive use."'''

 The Baseball Rule 

In 1913 a Missouri appeals court heard Crane v. Kansas City Baseball & Exhibition Co., a tort case where a spectator at a Kansas City Blues game who had been struck and injured by a foul ball alleged the team had been negligent. But since he had chosen to sit in an unprotected area of the park, even though tickets were general admission and seats were available behind the backstop, the court held for the team per the contributory negligence and assumption of risk doctrines.

This holding was adopted by courts hearing similar cases in other states, and by the 1920s it had understood that as long as teams made enough protected seats available to meet reasonably anticipated demand, they had met their duty of reasonable care to spectators and could not be held liable for most foul ball injuries to them. Now known as the Baseball Rule, this holding remains good law in many states today, even after comparative negligence became the primary doctrine of tort law in most states.

The baseball rule is also known by the name "limited liability rule." This rules states that a baseball team has a duty to provide screens for the area behind home plate and to "as many spectators as would normally request such seats on an ordinary occasion." Once a "sufficient" amount of screened seating is provided to spectators, the duty has been met and releases of any team or owner of any liability. '''Throughout the United States, this rule has been applied with mixed results. The following section details three separate cases and the rulings regarding the baseball rule.'''

" Baseball Rule" Cases
In the case Mayes v. La Sierra University, Monica Mayes was struck in the face with a foul ball while watching a baseball game in 2018. She was seated behind the dugout down the third base side, which was not covered by protective netting. Mayes suffered multiple injuries from the foul ball including skull fractures and brain damage. Because of Mayes' arguments that the University had a duty to install protective netting, warn spectators of seats having no protective netting, providing more screened seats, and the duty to provide crowd control, the Court of Appeals reversed the holding for Summary Judgment for La Sierra University.

In the case Ludman v. Davenport Assumption High School, Spencer Ludman played on the baseball team. He was at the farthest end of the dugout watching the game when the ball was hit. He heard the ball being hit and saw the ball in his peripheral vision before being struck. Due to being struck in the head, Ludman was hospitalized and received speech therapy, motor skills therapy and treatment for depression and anxiety. The Supreme Court held that the high school owed a duty of care to Ludman.

In another case, Edward C. v. City of Albuquerque, the family was seated in the stadium's picnic area over the left field wall. The family sat down and, unannounced to them, a baseball hit the son, Emilio, in the head fracturing his skull. The Supreme Court of New Mexico reviewed baseball spectator injury decisions from other jurisdictions and held that baseball stadium owners have a duty to not increase the risk of a spectator being hit by a baseball. This included creating protective netting beyond just home plate.

 "Jim Crow" Baseball 

Hispanic, black and white Americans have all played baseball since the sport began. In the early days of the sport, integrated teams were not uncommon, with players of color able to play alongside their white counterparts.

However, dating back to as early as 1867, the racism of the post-Civil War era crept into the national pastime. Jim Crow laws were present from Reconstruction into the 1960s and in some instances directly applied to Major League Baseball.

'''After the freeing of the slaves, Black Code laws were created. Southern states passed laws to "control and limit the newly freed slaves' rights to be free." These laws were designed to maintain a similar type of power enjoyed during slavery and the ultimate purpose of these laws was to put the newly freed slaves in the same position as before the civil war. Essentially, these laws separated Black ball players from their white counterparts. These laws bled into sports, particularly baseball.'''

In 1858, the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) was created, thus formalizing Baseball. In 1867, there was a clause in the NABBP constitution which said "It is presumed by your committee that any clubs who have applied are composed of persons of color or any portion of them; ... and the unanimously report against the admission of any club which may be composed of one or more colored person." '''This provision banned Black players from playing baseball. In the 1871 version of the constitution, this provision was not included. Instead, in 1887, the white owners created a "Gentleman's Agreement" in order to separate white athletes from Black athletes.'''

'''In part because of this agreement between the white owners, the Negro League was created. The Negro Leagues were created in 1920 by Rube Foster and other Midwestern team owners in Kansas City Missouri. The Negro Leagues gave birth to many stars including Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Monte Irvin, and Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson, who played in the Negro Leagues, was the first Black baseball player to break the color barrier. Throughout his years in the Major Leagues, Jackie Robinson faced extreme racism due to the Jim Crow laws still in place in many states. As time went on, many other players from the Negro Leagues joined Jackie in the Major Leagues, thus fully integrating the sport.'''

Lawlessness[edit]
It can be argued that early baseball law was lax compared to the standards of today. As with so many other examples, the development of baseball law mirrors the arc of America's history at large. Numerous assaults and "battings," (wherein the batter would beat the pitcher with the baseball bat when he was struck by a pitch) as they were called, led baseball to be nicknamed the "Wild West Activity." Despite the many cases and legal examples, historians Robert M. Jarvis and Phyllis Coleman have suggested that "early baseball was a lawless place, just like America itself."

Baseball and the legal profession[edit]
Baseball is highly legalistic, as It is governed by an elaborate set of rules. At the professional level, a highly trained multi-judge panel of umpires must implement and interpret the rules. Offensive and defensive plays require rulings by the umpires These include when a pitch is thrown and when a ball is hit. These plays are legal rulings of the game and become part of the official record. Just like the American legal system, each umpire presides over a jurisdiction. The home plate umpire rules a fair or foul ball before it reaches a base. The first or third base umpire makes a call once the ball in play is beyond their bag. In the World Series, extra umpires are present on the field. This creates a mini-Supreme Court or superior court, which provides new pairs of eyes to scrutinize plays in the outfield.

Innumerable American lawyers and judges have played baseball – amateur or professional – since the game coalesced in the 19th century. Perhaps the iconic legal publication regarding baseball is the article "The Common Law Origins of the Infield Fly Rule", written by Philadelphia attorney William S. Stevens and published in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review in 1975.

Five of Major League Baseball's ten Commissioners of Baseball have been lawyers: Major league managers who are known to have attended law school: MLB players who practiced law after their playing careers: