Mexican League Banned Players

During the mid-1940s Jorge Pasqual, a very wealthy Mexican customs broker, and his four brothers used approximately fifty million dollars of their money to build the Mexican League which they hoped could compete directly against Major League Baseball. The Pasqual brothers approached current Major League players and offered them larger salaries, unique gifts, and various incentives to play baseball in the newly created league. Commissioner Happy Chandler stepped in after St. Louis Browns shortstop Vern Stephens left, played in two games then returned home (thus he was not part of the banned player list), and ruled that each player who jumped ship to the Mexican League would be banned from Major League Baseball for a five-year period if they did not return before his imposed deadline.

The Mexican League went bankrupt during the early 1950s and what players were left merged with the Class C Arizona-Texas League, but during that time frame many Major League players did accept higher salaries & lucrative signing bonuses despite the ruling put forth by Chandler.

News of poor living and playing conditions reached those considering to leave and prompted the league to have catcher Mickey Owen release the following statement, "I'm perfectly happy here. My wife likes Mexico and we moved into this super-modern apartment today and everything is dandy." Players came & went and in 1949 Danny Gardella - along with others - left the Mexican League then sued Major League Baseball on antitrust grounds for reinstatement. The owners did not want a challenge to the reserve clause being heard in court so they chose to lift the ban and paid off Gardella $60,0000.

The Major League players who left to play in the Mexican League are listed below. Those who returned to the big leagues and those involved in known lawsuits are identified as well via checkmarks in the columns following their names. Sources vary as to who was and was not part of the Mexican League so we've included a column that shows where players were named as part of the Mexican League.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"It was a time when you couldn't get butter, you couldn't get stockings, you couldn't get a girdle. Not that she (his wife) needed a girdle, she was pretty well built." - Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto in his Hall of Fame Induction Day Speech (On nearly leaving to the Mexican League for $10k and a Cadillac)

Mexican League Banned Players

by Baseball Almanac

Ace Adams (2) (3) (5) (6) Mexican League Banned Player
Alex Carrasquel (5) (6) Mexican League Banned Player
Bobby Estalella (4) (5) (6) Mexican League Banned Player
Harry Feldman (3) (5) (6) Mexican League Banned Player
Moe Franklin (1) (5) (6) Mexican League Banned Player
Danny Gardella (3) (4) (5) (6) Mexican League Banned Player Mexican League Banned Player
Roland Gladu (5) (6)
Chile Gomez (4) (6) Mexican League Banned Player
George Hausmann (2) (3) (5) (6) Mexican League Banned Player Mexican League Banned Player
Red Hayworth (3) (5) Mexican League Banned Player
Chico Hernandez (4) (6) Mexican League Banned Player
Lou Klein (1) (3) (4) (5) (6) Mexican League Banned Player Mexican League Banned Player
Max Lanier (1) (3) (4) (5) (6) Mexican League Banned Player Mexican League Banned Player
Sal Maglie (3) (5) (6) Mexican League Banned Player Mexican League Banned Player
Fred Martin (1) (3) (4) (5) (6) Mexican League Banned Player Mexican League Banned Player
Rene Monteagudo (4) (5) (6)
Luis Olmo (3) (4) (5) (6) Mexican League Banned Player Mexican League Banned Player
Roberto Ortiz (4) (5) (6) Mexican League Banned Player
Mickey Owen (1) (4) (5) (6) Mexican League Banned Player
Nap Reyes (4) (5) (6) Mexican League Banned Player
Adrian Zabala (4) (5) (6) Mexican League Banned Player
Roy Zimmerman (3) (5) (6) Mexican League Banned Player
Mexican League Banned Players
Sources : (1) New York Times, 08/07/1946
Sources
: (2) New York Times, 01/22/1948
Sources
: (3) New York Times, 03/07/1949
Sources
: (4) New York Times, 06/06/1949
Sources
: (5) 1950 Reach Baseball Guide & Record Book
Sources
: (6) The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball [1999]
Sources
: (7) SportsLawNews.com [Mark Conrad, 1999]
Credits : Wayne McElreavy, Bill Hickman, Merritt Clifton.
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Three more future Hall of Fame players were offered contracts, but refused: Ted Williams (believed to be $300,000 for a three year deal), Stan Musial (believed to be $650,000 over five years) and Babe Ruth (believed to be a million dollars to assume the role as League President). [Phil Rizzuto was already mentioned at the top of the page in the quotes section]

Did you know that Rogers Hornsby did defect to the Mexican League — as a manager — and columnist Dave Egan wrote the following strong words in one of his news articles: "There would be fierce resentment, I feel sure, if Man o' War were put to work pulling a vegetable wagon though his declining years, and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals would take an immediate interest in the affair. But the baseball brethren will derive smug satisfaction from the fact that one of their immortals will play in the patched-roof circuit, and one of their idols will gather the dust of sleepy Mexican towns. He sinned against their narrow code, and as a sinner should he now get his come uppance."

When Gardella filed suit in Federal Court (7) he charged that Chandler, the New York Giants and the two Leagues engaged in antitrust violations by the suspension and by the continued enforcement of the reserve clause, which commits players to remain with their team for as long as they played the game. The lower court rejected the claim, citing the 1922 Supreme Court ruling creating the exemption, and the case was appealed. In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York concluded that the nature of the sport had changed and that antitrust law should apply. If it did and a trial were to take place, the actions of the Commissioner and the owners in banning Mexican League players would most likely be illegal. More importantly, the standard players' agreement which prohibited players from becoming free agents would also be illegal. That is what the owners feared and they decided instead to settle with Gardella who dropped the suit in return for the owners' promise that he could play for the St. Louis Cardinals, plus a cash settlement of $60,000 - half of that amount to went to Fred Johnson, his attorney. Gardella came to bat exactly one more time in a Major League uniform and flied out.