Yeah, but they'd still get involved. I dislike Soros, but this is asinine.

I'm a conservative Republican and i don't like Soros, but Rep. Davis needs to keep his nose out of baseball's business. It's not up to Congress to decide who should or shouldn't own a team - if Soros wants to put his money into the Nationals, and he'll keep baseball in Washington, let him do it!

i would ALSO like to see congress get its slimy hands out of baseball and deal with all the REAL problems this country has

re: the antitrust exemption

as a matter of baseball history, the antitrust exemption grew out of litigation by the Federal League vs. the NL and AL eg Organized Baseball. In the district court Judge Kennesaw Landis the Federal Judge dismissed the motion for injunction and ruled for Organized Baseball and against the Federal League. He was rewarded with the Commissioner's Post in 1920 when baseball needed a Czar and also needed someone with influence in the federal judiciary.

Thus in 1922 or 23 the Supreme Court came up with its argument and decisision that baseball was not interstate commerce was unique and therefore was exempt from the antitrust laws of the day, all of course orchestrated by Judge Landis, now Commissioner, who had written the lower Court opinion. Under current ethics laws, he would have been disqualified from participating in the case and would have been Chinese Walled off, but at the time he was allowed to both rule on the case and then later join the Defendant's side.

It's not likely to be overturned by this Court mainly because Pres. Bush was a former baseball owner and therefore is likely to be sympathetic to the current ownership group. He would probably communicate those views to the Supreme Court as a whole and also likely have his Solicitor General file a friend of the court brief.

arthur john kyriazis

ps this is all known baseball history. other interesting topics related, the players league (1890) and the curt flood suit (1970).