Which 1975 decision by Judge Seitz helped end the baseball reserve clause and paved the way for free agency?

• A. Flood v. Kuhn (1972)
• B. Seitz decision
• C. Grove City College v. Bell (1984)
• D. NCAA v. Board of Regents (1984)

Answer: (B)

The crucial point is that a 1975 arbitration ruling by Peter Seitz declared that the baseball reserve clause could not bind a player to one team beyond the end of his contract. This decision effectively ends the long-standing mechanism that kept players tied to a single franchise for life, because once a contract expired, players could negotiate with other teams and become free agents. That shift opened the door to free agency and the market-driven salaries that followed.

Flood v. Kuhn, decided earlier in 1972, upheld baseball’s antitrust exemption and did not strike down the reserve clause, so it’s not the ruling that ended the clause. The other cases listed (Grove City College v. Bell and NCAA v. Board of Regents) deal with different antitrust or regulatory issues and are not about Major League Baseball’s reserve clause or free agency.