Garrett Broshuis is not the first to try to unionize minor leagues

George Earl Toolson / Yesnetwork.com

Former minor leaguer turned lawyer Garrett Broshuis is currently fighting for the unionization of Minor League Baseball; however minor leaguers have fought for better pay since as early as the 1920s.

Broshius is leading a lawsuit against Major League Baseball calling for a minor league baseball players union. Minor leaguers average substantially less than minimum wage for the amount of time they dedicate to their work. A minor league player starts with an average salary of $1,100 per month, but they put in about 60 hours of work per week, equating to a salary of less than the $7.25 federal minimum wage. Both Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball are protected under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, which means minor leaguers do not have to be paid the legal minimum wage.

The Supreme Court of the United States decided that Major League Baseball was exempt from the Sherman Anti-Trust Act from the case of Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs et. al. The case was argued on April 19, 1922 and decided on May 29 of the same year. Justice Holmes delivered the opinion of the court.

“The business is giving exhibitions of baseball, which are purely state affairs.” he said “It is true that, in order to attain for these exhibitions the great popularity that they have achieved, competitions must be arranged between clubs from different cities and states. But the fact that, in order to give the exhibitions, the Leagues must induce free persons to cross state lines and must arrange and pay for their doing so is not enough to change the character of the business.”

An example of minor leaguers fighting against MLB's exemption from the Anti-Trust Act is the Boise Baseball Club of 1975. The club managed farm teams for the Oakland A’s in the Northwestern area of the United States. Boise went out of business in 1976 due to the A’s interference with sales of player development contracts. After Boise's demise from managing Oakland's farm teams, Boise took court action and blamed Major League Baseball for Oakland cutting them off. They fought to abolish MLB’s exemption from the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, but the court refused to re examine the 1922 case that allowed MLB to be exempt from the act and gave no reason to why they refused this notion.

Many players have tried to fight against Major League Baseball’s unfair treatment of minor league players, perhaps most notably George Earl Toolson. Toolson was a member of the New York Yankees Triple A Farm Club Newark Bears. In 1953, Toolson sued the New York Yankees to challenge the reserve clause, which prevented Toolson from being traded and getting a chance to pitch in the the major leagues. The court decided in favor of the Yankees, which kept baseball excluded from the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

Although Broshuis is not the first to try and represent the minor leaguers, he may have the greatest chance to succeed. He now has 43 former minor leaguers supporting his suit and is in a strong position to complete this David versus Goliath case against Major League Baseball.

Written by: Harry Smith and Michael Stern

Garrett Broshuis, former minor league pitcher turned lawyer sues MLB

Out of all the minor leagues in professional sports, minor league baseball players suffer from arguably the worst living conditions. Their salaries are well below poverty level, which results in poor housing conditions and also leads to large amounts of debt. A former minor leaguer turned lawyer, Garrett Broshuis has experienced these conditions first-hand and has decided to try to improve minor leaguers’ salaries and working conditions by filing a lawsuit against the MLB for violation of Fair Labor Standards Act. Broshuis became a lawyer to defend minor league players after his baseball career ended.

Their wages are relatively minuscule when compared to their MLB counterparts. The average salary of a minor leaguer is $1,100 a month for a three-month season, which is well below the federal poverty level. In comparison, the minimum salary of a major leaguer is $500,000 per season.

“While big league salaries have risen by more than 2,000 percent since 1976, minor league salaries have increased by just 75 percent during that time,” Ted Berg said in a 2014 USA Today article. “When taking into account inflation, minor leaguers actually earn less than they did in 1976.”

With such minimal wages, minor league players can't afford sufficient housing.

“Some players shared tiny apartments with each other,” recalled Dirk Hayhurst in a 2014 Bleacher report article.

The shelter they had was not always the safest either; stories of structural damage and mold were common.

“I slept on an air mattress on the living room floor of a two-bedroom Portland apartment because I had the least service time of the three players who were living there,” Broshuis said in the Bleacher report article. “One of us slept on a sleeping bag on the floor.”

Garrett Broshuis / Korein Tillery 

Broshuis was a standout baseball player at the University of Missouri, earning a nomination for the 2004 Student-Athlete of the Year. He finished his 2004 season with a perfect 11-0 record. The San Francisco Giants selected Broshuis in the fifth round of the 2004 MLB draft playing six years in the minor leagues. He finished second in wins for the AA Eastern League in 2008.

Broshuis represents dozens of former minor league players in a wage and hour lawsuit challenging the salaries of minor leaguers. In March 2013, he filed a lawsuit against MLB claiming that they were in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act for continuously paying minor leaguers less than minimum wage and not paying them for overtime. Broshuis explained his decision to become a lawyer recently in an interview with the HSMSE Sports Journalism class.

“I thought I was going to be a major in physiology.” Broshuis said. “I figured out I didn't want to sit in a lab all day.”

By filing the lawsuit, he hopes to raise awareness for the poor conditions of minor league players.

“A minor league union would be terrific," Broshuis said, "at the least they need to pay for spring training. Salaries for amnesties need to be increased as well.”


Written by: Junior Flores and Muhammad Abid Hasan