Danny Gardella, challenged reserve clause

A major footnote in the history of Major League Baseball labor negotiations, Danny Gardella has died at the age of 85.

In October 1947, unable to get a baseball job in the United States after playing with the Vera Cruz team of the Mexican League, Gardella sued the baseball hierarchy and the Giants in United States District Court in New York, seeking $300,000 in damages.

His lawyer, Frederic A. Johnson, charged that baseball was unlawfully depriving Gardella of his livelihood and that it was violating federal antitrust law through the reserve clause, which bound a player to his team until he was traded or released.

The case was dismissed in July 1948 by a federal judge who cited a 1922 Supreme Court ruling that found baseball was not a business engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of federal antitrust law. But in February 1949, a federal appeals court, in a 2-to-1 ruling, sent the case back to District Court and ordered a full trial on Gardella's contentions.

In June 1949, faced with the prospect of a courtroom defeat, Chandler offered amnesty to the players who had gone to Mexico. Four months later, warned by his lawyer that he faced a long and costly legal battle, Gardella dropped his lawsuit. He said later that he received a $60,000 settlement from baseball.