Effects of Major League Baseball's Anti Trust Exemption

Baseball was still a fledgling business back in 1890, but ramifications from a Federal Anti-Trust Law passed that year would perpetuate itself for the next one hundred years. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 prohibited monopolies, and made the people responsible for monopolies guilty of a felony. Because of the broad and general language of the Sherman Act, the Clayton Act was enacted in 1914, it declared that "the labor of a human being is not a commodity or article of commerce" (http://www.bartleby.com). Even with the passing of the Clayton Act of 1914, "All businesses engaged in interstate commerce are subject to the anti-trust laws, all businesses except one - Major League Baseball" (Baseballplayamerica.com 5). Baseball would be ruled by court cases for years to come as salaries increased, along with the value of each franchise and Major League Baseball as a whole. Baseball's judicial exemption is quite an anomaly. It remains the only interstate commerce exempt from anti-trust la...