reserve clause

noun

: a clause formerly placed in a professional athlete's contract that reserved for the club the exclusive right automatically to renew the contract and that bound the athlete to the club until retirement or until the athlete was traded or released

Examples of reserve clause in a Sentence

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The 1975 case involved Dodgers pitcher Andy Messersmith and prompted arbitrator Peter Seitz to strike down the reserve clause, the restrictive contract language that had kept players under perpetual team control for nearly 100 years. Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2024 Hired by union executive director Marvin Miller as general counsel in 1967, Moss argued the 1975 case involving pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally that led to arbitrator Peter Seitz striking down the reserve clause. CBS News, 23 Sep. 2024 His courtroom struggle to fight the Major League Baseball reserve clause, although resulting in failure, helped establish free agency. New York Times, 30 May 2024 The reserve clause was sharply curtailed during union negotiations in the years following the court’s decision, eventually leading to professional baseball’s modern free-agency system. Matt Ford, The New Republic, 21 Sep. 2023 See all Example Sentences for reserve clause 

Word History

First Known Use

1890, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of reserve clause was in 1890

Dictionary Entries Near reserve clause

Cite this Entry

“Reserve clause.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reserve%20clause. Accessed 3 Dec. 2024.

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