Two Senators Issue Challenge to Antitrust Exemption

WASHINGTON —  Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), vowing that Congress will not sit by idly through a second strike-shortened season, said Friday that he will introduce a bill on Jan. 4 to repeal baseball’s antitrust exemption.

“The major league owners ought not to suppose that Congress will allow another baseball season to be ruined without taking legislative action,” Moynihan said Friday, just hours after owners had imposed a salary cap on players.

Moynihan will introduce the National Pastime Protection Act, making it one of the first items of business for the 104th Congress.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), new chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that he, too, is likely to pursue the matter.

“I’d prefer not to have the Congress enter into it, but the antitrust exemption is an anomaly,” Hatch said. “Some people think that if we just leave things alone, the owners will break the players’ union. We can’t let that happen. We can’t allow the owners to impose their own set of work conditions while hiding behind the exemption.”