An Empirical Analysis of the Infield Fly Rule

The published version is in the Journal of Legal Metrics. The paper discusses the results of a four-year study of every infield fly call (and should-have-been call) from 2010-2013. I am going to repeat the study for the 2014 and 2015 seasons and I am hoping to turn the entire infield fly project into a book. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Announcement: New online sports law course

Nationally recognized sports lawyer Glenn Wong will launch the new Mark H. McCormack Online Graduate Sport Management Certificate program this coming Fall semester. Professor Wong’s 3-credit “Sport Law” course will be the first in a 15-credit certificate program that enables working professionals to access the highly regarded McCormack Sport Management curriculum and faculty in a convenient, 100% online format.

In addition to authoring one of the leading Sport Law textbooks, Wong has previously served as an MLB Salary Arbitrator and as Interim Athletic Director at UMass. Students can take courses without being in the certificate program if they would like them for professional development.  Students interested in the certificate can take up to 2 courses towards the certificate before applying to the full program.

To enroll in Prof. Wong's Sports and the Law course click here.

For more information on the McCormack Sports Management Graduate Certificate program at UMass go here.

[Editor's Note: Prof. Wong is a longtime mentor and friend. Anyone interested in the field of "sports law" would benefit tremendously from his insight and experience. Additionally, any potential access to his colleagues including, but not limited to, Department Head & Prof. Lisa P. Masteralexis, should also be a huge draw for potential students.]

The Irony of the MLBPA's Recent Grievance Against the Houston Astros

On Thursday, news reports emerged that the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) has filed a grievance against the Houston Astros over the team's failure to sign several recent draft picks, including the first overall selection Brady Aiken (pictured).  Nick Faleris has provided a great recap of the breakdown in negotiations between Aiken and the Astros over at Baseball Prospectus, but in short Houston had allegedly reached a $6.5 million deal with Aiken, only to pull it off the table due to concerns with Aiken's elbow that were identified during his pre-contract-signing physical exam (Aiken disputes the diagnosis).  Instead, the team opted to offer Aiken the minimum amount allowed under the collective bargaining agreement, or about $3.5 million, to sign.  Even after Houston eventually raised its offer to $5 million, Aiken refused to sign for less than the original agreed upon amount, and as a result the signing deadline for draftees passed last week without the two sides reaching an agreement.

Due to the intricacies involved in the new MLB draft system, however, by failing to sign Aiken the Astros were also unable to honor the agreement they had reached in principle with fifth round selection Jacob Nix.  Basically, MLB's CBA caps the amount that teams can spend on draft picks, and conditions some of that money on the team signing its top picks.  It just so happens, however, that Nix's agent, Casey Close, also represented Aiken, raising questions about whether the Astros were attempting to manipulate the situation to force one of Close's clients (Aiken) to sign at a reduced rate so the agent's other client (Nix) could sign as well.

The fact that the MLBPA has opted to pursue a grievance over the Astros' failure to sign Aiken and Nix is somewhat ironic given that the union has never shown much interest in representing minor league baseball players.  Indeed, the MLBPA has historically focused its energy exclusively on serving the interests of major league players, sometimes at the expense of minor leaguers (including, for example, the union's agreement discussed above to cap draft pick signing bonuses in the most recent CBA).  The resulting lack of union representation for minor leaguers is a significant factor motivating the recent Senne class action lawsuit filed against MLB, which alleges that MLB teams have failed to pay their minor league players in accordance with the Fair Labor Standard Act's minimum wage and maximum hour provisions (for more on the Senne lawsuit, check out Sports Law Blog's prior coverage of the case available here and here). 

All of this makes the union's decision to pursue a grievance on behalf of Aiken and Nix somewhat surprising.  Under the terms of MLB's most recent CBA, teams are prohibited from signing recent draftees to major league contracts.  Consequently, even if they had signed with the Astros, neither Aiken nor Nix would have immediately joined the MLBPA's membership.  Instead, they would have had to wait until they were promoted to the major leagues (or assigned to a major league team's 40-man roster) in order to join the union.  Admittedly, the draft rules at issue in the Aiken/Nix grievance were agreed to as part of MLB's most recent CBA, giving the union some interest in the matter.  But the fact that the two draftees would not have immediately joined the union even if they had signed does raise questions about why the MLBPA has elected to become involved in the matter.

Donald Sterling loses

The NBA is poised to approve the sale of the Clippers to Steve Ballmer following a probate court effectively ruling for Shelly Sterling.  My take for Sports Illustrated.

New Chapter in Donald Sterling Saga: he sues NBA, Adam Silver and Shelly Sterling

There have been several significant developments in the Donald Sterling legal saga over the last 48 hours, including a new lawsuit and threat from Doc Rivers that he'll quit as Clippers coach if Donald Sterling sicks around.  Here is my legal analysis of those issues for Sports Illustrated.

California knows how to tax pro athletes

Robert Raiola and I, in a new piece for SI.com, look at how California tax law plays a key role in raising revenue from athletes for the state.

Distractions and misdirections on Chris Kluwe

Two thoughts on the Vikings' report about the release of punter Chris Kluwe and anti-gay comments by the team's special teams coach. The coach, Mike Priefer, was suspended for three games (reduced to two if he attends sensitivity training); the report describes him as a good man who made a mistake and said a bad thing. The report insists that Kluwe was released because of performance and contract, not because of his gay-rights/marriage equality activism.

1) The report concludes that the Vikings were not concerned with the content of Kluwe's advocacy, but with the fact of his advocacy and the "distraction" it was creating. While it perhaps gets the team out from liability for retaliation, the notion that players are doing something wrong--something that justifies cutting them--by being politically engaged is a pretty reprehensible stance for the team to take. The NFL (and all professional sports leagues) makes a big deal of how all the charitable work players do--in fact, much of this work is required of the players. The league supposedly wants its players to be engaged. But it is beyond hypocritical and paternalistic to punish a player for having enough of an engaged mind to pick his own causes. And someone needs to excise the word "distraction" from teams' vocabulary. Most people in most walks of life can do their jobs just fine even while taking some time to think, speak, and write on political issues. We need to get past the idea that professional athletes are different.

2) The report mentions Kluwe (and others) making raunchy jokes about Jerry Sandusky; Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio (acting as shill for the Vikings and the NFL)  highlighted this in a series of tweets, repeating what he was told by anonymous league sources. Of course, none of this matters if/when Kluwe sues the Vikings, since none of it would be admissible under evidence rules. And that is for the better. While the rules of evidence are often criticized for leaving out important information and giving fact-finders less than the whole story, they also serve to remove stuff that is meant as little more than misdirection. It should be obvious that there is a world of difference between admittedly tasteless jokes targeting the wrongdoer (not at his victims) and at the school that harbored the wrongdoer, and an explicit call to kill all members of a class of people based on hatred of members of that class. But clearly it is not that obvious, as Florio (who does not seem like the smartest guy anyway) has demonstrated. So the rules help us keep our focus.