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Publication Date

2009

Abstract

Over the past five years, allegations and admissions of steroid abuse by professional baseball players have tarnished the image of "Our National Pastime." Although the players are ultimately responsible for using performance-enhancing drugs, they are not solely to blame. Major League Baseball and its franchise owners knew about the abuse and did nothing to stop it-mostly because the threat to home run records had begun refilling the seats that had been lost from the 1994-1995 labor strike. But this steroid scandal has called into question many of those new records and caused outrage among the media, the fans, and even Congress. But the general public has not been the only group harmed by the scandal. Many minor league players, some with the talent to play at the major league level, never got their "call up to the bigs" because they obeyed the law and refused to use performance-enhancing drugs. These players were denied their opportunity because steroid abuse allowed less-talented players and players past their prime to perform at a higher level. This Note explores the contours of a potential antitrust class action by minor league baseball players against Major League Baseball. The evidentiary burden under antitrust law is difficult to overcome because MLB has long enjoyed an anomalous exemption from liability under antitrust law as well as the benefit of the judicially-created non statutory labor exemption. Despite the many challenges and obstacles faced by the class of minor league players, this Note shows that these obstacles are not insurmountable. These players have been robbed of their potential chance at glory and lucrative contracts-they should sue and they can win.

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