Major League Baseball Contraction and Antitrust Law

On November 6, 2001, two days after one of the most memorable World Series in recent baseball history, Bud Selig, the Commissioner of Major League Baseball ("MLB"), announced that two teams may be eliminated, or "contracted," from the league before the start of the 2002 season.'This would be MLB's first contraction since the 1899 season when the National League cut the number of teams from twelve to eight by disbanding baseball franchises in Baltimore, Cleveland, Louisville, and Washington. 2 Before Selig had the opportunity to name the two teams, however, baseball's plans to contract were diverted.3 Within days of Selig's announcement, two lawsuits were filed in Minnesota and Florida challenging the owners' rights to contract the two teams.4 In addition, the Major League Baseball Players As-