The Cal 100: No. 46 -- Andy Messersmith

Messersmith was a second-team All-American at Cal, and his challenge of the reserve clause led to free agency in pro baseball

We count down the top 100 individuals associated with Cal athletics, based on their impact in sports or in the world at large – a wide-open category. See if you agree.

No. 46: Andy Messersmith

Cal Sports Connection: Messersmith was a member of Cal’s baseball team from 1964 through 1966 and was a first-round pick in the 1966 major-league draft.

Claim to Fame: He was a second-team All-America selection at Cal in 1965, and he was named to the All-Star Game four times in his 12-year major-league career. He challenged the reserve clause and won, paving the way for free agency.

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John Alexander "Andy" Messersmith was an outstanding pitcher at Cal and in major-league baseball, finishing in the top five in Cy Young Award voting three times. But those are footnotes to his greatest achievement in sports, which was challenging baseball’s reserve clause and winning, paving the way for free agency and changing the structure of professional baseball.

You could argue that no act has had a greater impact on major-league baseball, and the Society for American Baseball Research called Messersmith’s challenge of the reserve clause “the most important labor arbitration decision of all time.”

His road to the major leagues started at Cal. He was 8-2 with 1.63 earned run average as a sophomore in 1965, when he pitched a no-hitter, was named to the second-team All-America squad and was selected in the third round of the major-league draft. But he remained at Cal for another year, and finished with a career ERA of 2.00, third-best in Cal history.

Andy Messersmith. Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

Messersmith was a first-round pick (12th overall) in the 1966 draft by the California Angels, starting his outstanding pro career.

He was named to four All-Star Games (1971, 1972, 1975, 1976) and was the National League’s starting pitcher in the 1974 All-Star Game. He won 20 games twice, won two Gold Gloves, finished among the top five in the Cy Young Award voting in 1971, 1974 and 1975, including second in 1974, and finished with a career ERA of 2.86, which is the sixth lowest of any pitcher whose career began after the Dead-Ball Era (1920).

He had a 2.29 ERA in 1975, a season he played without a signed contract because the Dodgers refused to agree to his demand for a no-trade clause.

It was after that season that Messersmith challenged the reserve clause that had tied players to teams at the whims of team owners. Messersmith wanted to have a no-trade clause in his contract, but the only way to fight for that was to challenge the reserve clause.

Curt Flood, who took his case (unsuccessfully) to the Supreme Court, had laid ground work for the erosion of the reserve clause, and Marvin Miller played a major role in that pursuit as well, even encouraging Messersmith and Dave McNally to challenge the reserve clause.

It was Messersmith and McNally who broke through.

The decision by arbitrator Peter Seitz came down to the word “one” in the reserve clause, regarding the number of years teams had control of their players, and he awarded the decision to the players, negating the reserve clause. 

Jim “Catfish” Hunter had become a free agent the previous season, but that was because of a violation of his contract with the Oakland A’s. McNally had decided after the 1975 season that he would retire, so Messersmith became the first active player to enter free agency as a result of the ruling on the reserve clause.

Owners and a lot of observers thought the decision would ruin baseball. Obviously it didn't, although it did increase the earning power of players considerably. Messersmith did not benefit financially, though.

Owners banded together and no one offered Messersmith a contract approaching Hunter’s $3 million deal until two days into the 1976 regular season when Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner offered him a three-year deal worth $1 million.

Messersmith video two days after he signed with the Braves

Although he began the 1976 season with a 9-6 record and 2.37 ERA, Messersmith never had the success with the Braves, Yankees and Dodgers after the ruling that he had had previously. An arm injury that required surgery led to his retirement after the 1979 season with a career record of 130-99.

After retiring from baseball, Messersmith, now 77, moved to Soquel, a small California town near Santa Cruz. He was the head baseball coach for Cabrillo College from 1986 through 1991 and from 2001 through 2009.

The Cal 100: No. 47 -- Brandi Chastain

Cover photo of Andy Messersmith courtesy of Cal Athletics

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