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The empire strikes out: collusion in Baseball in the 1980s.
- Article from:
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The Baseball Research Journal
- Article date:
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January 1, 2007
- Author:
- Beitler, Steve
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Copyright informationCOPYRIGHT 2007 University of Nebraska Press. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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After a 1985 season in which he hit 29 home runs and drove in 97 runs, Detroit Tigers outfielder Kirk Gibson was the top position player of that winter's free-agent class. So when he accepted an invitation to go bird hunting with people from the Kansas City Royals, he believed the outing would be a fun start to a process that would yield contract offers better than Detroit's of $1.2 million per year for three years. (1)
While Gibson was tromping through the woods, his agent checked in with Royals general manager John Scheurholtz. What the agent heard stunned him. "Yes, Kirk Gibson is a fine ballplayer, but I really don't think we have any interest," Scheurholtz said. The ...