Bonus rule
Thebonus rulewas a rule instituted byMajor League Baseballin1947to prevent teams from assigning certain players tofarm teams.The rule stipulated that when a major league team signed a player to acontractwith asigning bonusin excess of $4,000, the team was required to keep that player on their 25-manactive rosterfor two full seasons. Any team that failed to comply with the rule lost the rights to that player's contract, and the player was then exposed to thewaiver wire.Once a player remained with the team for two full seasons, he could be assigned to a farm team without repercussions.[1]
The rule went through several variations. It was rescinded in 1958 but re-established in 1962, after Major League Baseballexpanded,with different and more relaxed stipulations than the original. It was finally abolished in1965,when theMajor League Baseball draftwas initiated.[1]
History of the rule
[edit]In the late 1930s and early 1940s, major league franchises found themselves bidding against one another for the services of young players. These engagements subsided when World War II broke out. When the war ended, the bidding wars resumed and resulted in skyrocketingsigning bonuses.To counter this, in 1947, Major League Baseball implemented the bonus rule. The rule's purpose was to prevent the wealthiest teams from signing all of the best players and from stashing those players in their farm systems. Additionally, the bonus market was weakened as a result of inhibited competition. In return, this limited labor costs.[1]
The legitimacy of the rule was challenged several times after it was initially implemented. In December1950,the rule was rescinded.[1]In1952,a committee chaired byBranch Rickeyrevived the rule. It was this iteration of the rule that stated a team had to place the players who met the bonus rule criteria on the major league roster immediately. Furthermore, the player had to remain on the roster for two years from the signing date.[1]
Although players were signed as a result of their potential, many of them were not able to succeed. In an extreme case, pitcherTom Qualterswas on the active roster of thePhiladelphia Philliesfor all of 1953 and 1954, but pitched only 1/3 of an inning in one game of the1953season, and did not get into a game at all in 1954. Qualters did not appear in his second major league game until1957,and never recorded a victory as a big league pitcher.[2]
TheNew York Yankeesworked out a deal with theKansas City Athleticsin which the Athletics signedClete Boyerto a contract. The Athletics used Boyer sparingly for the two years they had him. Then, just days after the first date at which the Athletics could send Boyer down to the minor leagues, they traded him to the Yankees as theplayer to be named laterfrom a trade the previous winter. This trade did not sit well with the owners of the otherAmerican Leagueteams. They claimed that the Yankees had used the Athletics to hold Boyer. However, the deal was allowed by the league.[3]
Incidents like the Clete Boyer trade showed how the bonus rule could be circumvented. Rumor also spread that teams were ignoring the rule andbribingplayers. In1958,both leagues voted to rescind the rule. In addition, they rescinded it retroactively. This eliminated the major league roster requirement for the players signed in 1957.[1]
After the league added four new teams (theAngels and Senators,followed by theColt.45s and Mets), the bonus rule was reintroduced in1962.The difference between the new version of the rule and the previous one was that a player had to spend just one full season on the roster instead of two seasons. The rule was rescinded permanently in June 1965, after the introduction of theMajor League Baseball draft.[1]
Bonus players
[edit]Players signed under the bonus rule were referred to as "bonus players"or"bonus babies".These players often wentstraight to the major leaguesand, due to bonus rule, were prevented from spending time and developing their talent in theminor leagues.As a result, the rule came under criticism because it often caused such a player to languish on a major league bench instead of gaining experience in the minors.[4]
Between the years1947and1957,under the original bonus rule, fifty seven bonus players were signed by MLB teams. Four of those players went on to haveHall of Famecareers:Al Kaline,Harmon Killebrew,Sandy Koufax,Roberto Clemente.[1]
Of the four, only Killebrew, a bonus baby for theWashington Senators,saw any minor league service time once his mandatory two-year period expired.[5]Clemente was signed as a bonus player by theBrooklyn Dodgerswho sent him to the minors to allow him to develop; however, he was subsequently drafted under theRule 5 draftby thePittsburgh Piratesafter one of their scouts took note his raw skills.[6]Kaline and Koufax, on the other hand, never played in the minor leagues.[7][8]
Other notable stars who signed under the original bonus rule wereDick Groat,Clete Boyer,Lindy McDaniel,andJohnny Antonelli.[1]
Under the 1962 rule, which had more relaxed requirements, notable bonus players included Hall of Fame pitcherCatfish Hunterand Hall of Fame managerTony La Russa.[1]Hunter did not see any minor league service but did pitch in theFlorida Instructional Leaguebefore his major league debut.[9]
List of bonus players
[edit]* | Inducted into theBaseball Hall of Fame |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^abcdefghijTreder, Steve (November 1, 2004)."Cash in the Cradle: The Bonus Babies".The Hardball Times.
- ^Zygner, Sam."Phillies Bonus Babies, 1953-57".Society for American Baseball Research.
- ^"Clete Boyer (SABR BioProject)".Society for American Baseball Research.
Because of the "Bonus Baby" rule of the time, Boyer was required to stay on the Athletics' roster for a minimum of two years... The Athletics tried to include Boyer in a trade to the Yankees on February 19, 1957. But Commissioner Ford Frick vetoed the trade, ruling that it would violate the two-year agreement. It is curious that a team such as the Athletics, who were short on talent, would try to rid themselves of a prospect in whom they had allegedly invested a large sum of cash, especially before his required two-year apprenticeship on the varsity was up. Regardless, the 13-player swap was legally consummated on June 4, 1957, with Boyer going to New York.
- ^"Bonus Rule".Society for American Baseball Research.
Writing 22 years later, Paul Hemphill, in an article appropriately titled "Whatever Happened to What's-His-Name?" focused on the adverse impact the rule had on the young players. He said: "Forced to sit in big league dugouts—gaining no experience, ostracized by jealous teammates, eventually the source of humor for fans and press—they waited while their potential, assuming they ever had any, stagnated and often disappeared."
- ^"Harmon Killebrew Minor League Statistics".Baseball-Reference.
- ^"Roberto Clemente Minor League Statistics".Baseball-Reference.
- ^"Al Kaline Career Statistics".Baseball-Reference.
- ^"Sandy Koufax Career Statistics".Baseball-Reference.
- ^"Catfish Hunter Winter League Statistics".Baseball-Reference.