The Great Holdout of 1966

As 1966 began, teams were getting ready for spring training and GM’s and players were finalizing contracts. 1966, no long term deals, most contracts were based on the prior year’s performance.

The Dodgers, fresh off of their World Series win over the Twins in seven games, were no different. Their two ace pitchers, Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. Koufax, the 65 Cy Young winner, and the series MVP had posted a 26-8 season with a 2.04 ERA. He also struck out a major league record 382 batters.

Drysdale had rebounded from a 18-16 season in 64, to win 23 in 65. It was his second season with 20 or more wins. He pitched 308 innings and added 210 K’s to Koufax’s total. Of the four wins in the series, he got one, and Sandy won two with the other going to Claude Osteen.

To understand the holdout, one must also understand the way GM Buzzie Bavasi negotiated contracts. Players did not use agents back then, they met with the GM face to face. Bavasi was known for getting players to sign for less than they asked for.

One of his negotiating ploys was putting a FAKE contract for a star player on his desk in plain view while negotiating with another player. This contract would have a figure lower than what the player was asking for. Bavasi would excuse himself from the room for several minutes, giving the player time to see what the star was SUPPOSEDLY making.

Usually, the player would sign for a lower figure than what he was asking. That was the way Buzzie worked. And in those days, 5000 dollars was a lot of money.

Also needing to be understood is the different relationship Bavasi had with Koufax and Big D.  Drysdale and Bavasi had an unusually close relationship. And before Koufax came into his own, Big D was the undisputed Ace of the team. Being California born, he was more or less promoted as the face of the team.

Koufax was also treated differently by Walter Alston. The reason for that was because he was signed as a bonus baby with no experience, and had to be kept on the roster for two years. This delayed his development since he never spent a day in the minors.

And the Dodgers themselves were not innocent in all of this. When Koufax became the star, they still would attempt to create a rift between them. Despite that, Big D and Sandy became close friends. Close enough that they often stayed in each other’s homes, Big D with Sandy in Brooklyn, and the other way when they went to LA.

Another part of the story is the negotiations between Koufax and the team before the 1964 season. Koufax, coming off of a Cy Young and MVP season, and winning two games in the World Series and winning the series MVP, wanted a raise to 75,000 from the 35 he made in 63.

The Dodgers at the time had a strict policy of negotiating directly with the players. It was the time of the reserve clause where players were tied to the team for as long as the team wanted them.

Koufax felt he deserved a raise of at least double what he had made. He asked for $5,000 more than that. After all, he was a team player and he was a good person to boot.

As the negotiations proceeded, Koufax wanted an attendance clause in his deal. That would give him a percentage of the gate, after all, he was the team’s biggest draw, sort of like Fernando was in 81. You could expect close to 10,000 more fans when Sandy pitched.

Bavasi argued that Sandy had not led the league in innings pitched, so he did not merit that size of a raise. This infuriated Koufax, who had led the league in most pitching stats despite his arm hurting so much.

After holding out for several days and days of intense negotiations, Koufax settled for $70,000 just before the team left for spring training.

Soon after he signed, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner published a story by Bob Hunter saying that Koufax had threatened to quit unless he got $90,000 dollars.

Sandy was really pissed that the story had painted him as greedy, he responded with an article in the Times by Frank Finch, saying that he never asked for $90,000. He also said,” I have been hurt by people I thought were my friends.” What was more disturbing were the antisemitic tropes directed at Koufax, one of the few Jewish players in the majors at the time.

Needless to say, the relationship between Sandy and the team was soured. Sandy believed someone from the front office had leaked the story. In the first week of spring training, still angered and embarrassed by the way he had been treated, he approached Shirley Povich of the Washington Post, Milton Gross of the New York Post, and Joe Reichler of the Associated post to tell them his side of the story.

Due to Sandy’s normal quiet demeanor, this caused a media frenzy. Eventually Walter O’Malley and Bavasi talked Koufax down to letting the issue go. Even though he did, his relationship with the front office was never the same.

Jump ahead to January 1966. As per normal. Sandy entered into negotiations on his contract for the coming season. Again he was coming off of a World Series win, and another Cy Young. year.

After meeting with Bavasi who turned down his salary request by saying Drysdale, who won 23 that year, was asking for less. Sandy went to dinner with Don and his wife Ginger. Still irritated that Bavasi had used his own teammate against him, Drysdale responded that Bavasi had done the same thing with him.

The two compared notes on their negotiations and realized that the Dodgers GM was playing one pitcher against the other. Ginger, who once had been an actress and a model and a member of the Screen Actors Guild, suggested that the pair negotiate together so they could get what they wanted.

So in January, they informed the Dodgers that they were holding out together. In another unusual move for the time, they were represented by entertainment lawyer J William Hayes, Koufax’s business manager.

Also unusual was their asking for $1 million dollars, to be divided between the two of them over the next three years. About 167,000 apiece. They told Bavasi they would negotiate their contracts and one unit through their agent. The Dodgers refused to talk to Hayes, saying it was against their policy.

As the holdout continued, the pair held firm and did not report when spring training started in February. Instead they signed to appear in the movie, “Warning Shot” starring David Janssen in case the hold out went into the season.

Koufax also signed a book deal to publish his autobiography, “Koufax” with writer Ed Linn which according to Linn, the usually private Koufax only agreed to do as a safety net.

The Dodgers started a public relations campaign against the players. The result of which was public opinion was on the side of the owners and the baseball establishment.

Koufax was discouraged by the treatment he and Drysdale got from a large segment of the fan base during the holdout.

He was astonished that so many American citizens really believed they did not have the moral right to quit instead of working for a salary they felt, rightly or wrongly. to be less than they deserved. Just take what they want to give you, suit up and do 25 laps.

Not wanting to add fuel to the fire, the two, unlike the front office, steered clear of the press. They kept a low profile and made no statements to the press during the holdout.

According to Drysdale, teammates, like Johnny Podres, called occasionally and tell them to put aside their differences and come to spring training. They suspected that they were put up to that by Bavasi.

At one point O’Malley threatened to trade them when it was suggested they might talk to other teams. When the holdout began, O’Malley explained his reluctance to deal with a third party. ” I admire the boys’ strategy, and we can’t do without them even for a little while, we are lacking too much. But we cannot give into them. there are too many agents hanging around Hollywood looking for clients.”

In the meantime, Hayes found a state law which made it illegal to extend personal service contracts in California beyond 7 years. It stemmed from a case, De Havilland vs Warner Bros Pictures.

Hayes began to prepare a lawsuit against the Dodgers and challenge the reserve clause. He later said that if the two had challenged the clause and been successful, they would have been the ” Abraham Lincoln’s of baseball.

O’Malley got wind of Hayes’ findings, he was tipped off by Mervyn LeRoy, and the team’s stance against the players softened.

Actor and former baseball player, Chuck Connors, set up a meeting between Bavasi and the players. Koufax gave Big D the go-ahead to negotiate for both of them, “If you’re happy, I’m happy. At the end of a 32 day holdout, Koufax signed for 125,000 and Drysdale, 110,000. Koufax was the highest paid player in baseball in 1966.

The team had them sign at a press conference at Dodger Stadium stating they had been signed separately and not represented by an agent. Jokingly Koufax said, “I am glad I did not have to act in that movie!”

Drysdale was relieved as he had a wife and children and could not afford to hold out for a long time. The holdout affected Drysdale adversely as he went 13-16 with a 3.42 ERA, by far his worst at Dodger Stadium, Koufax on the other hand won his third unanimous Cy Young Award and led the league in most pitching categories

They won the pennant, but were swept by the Orioles in the World Series. Drysdale lost two games and Koufax one when his defense and offense totally deserted him.

The animosity created by Bavasi and his negotiating tactics would eventually backfire on the team. By November, Koufax, on the advice of Robert Kerlan, the Dodgers team doctor, had decided to retire. Kerlan had actually advised Sandy to retire after the 65 season, warning him that continuing to pitch with his arthritic left arm, might eventually cost him the use of the arm.

Bavasi asked Koufax to delay the announcement until Walter O’Malley returned from Japan. This was also the Japan trip that Wills left, infuriating O’Malley enough to order Bavasi to trade him. They also wanted the time to trade for another pitcher.

Sandy refused and announced his retirement due to the issues with his arm as the main reason. Notably, no Dodger front office personnel were present at the press conference.

In May of 1967, Bavasi, in a Sports Illustrated article, brushed the holdout as nothing more than a publicity stunt. He then downplayed the pain in which Koufax had pitched his last several seasons. ” Sandy never suffered agonizing pain when he pitched and he never said he did either.” He then criticized the way he retired.

The legacy of the holdout is that it was the first time players had stood up for themselves against the reserve clause. Marvin Miller used the holdout as an argument for collective bargaining. He was soon elected as the first executive director of the MLBPA.

In 1968, when the MLBPA was negotiating their first collective bargaining agreement, the owners, citing the Koufax-Drysdale holdout, wanted protection against players teaming up to hold out. The union agreed with the condition that the owners would not do the same.

The language which was signed off on was later used to cite the owners themselves for collusion when they depressed salaries in the 1980’s.

Miller later said that the holdout was the first key event which would eventually lead to free agency. Koufax said that it started as a very small union, just him and Big D.

On a personal note, it is my firm belief that Bavasi did not negotiate in good faith. O’Malley was notoriously tight fisted, but he built one of the best organizations in baseball.

But Bavasi playing players against each other, well, that is pretty low. And the personal attacks and PR campaign against two of the best who ever toed the rubber for the Dodgers, that was just bad form.

I believe it is one of the reasons that Sandy stayed away from the team for many years. He came back when they retired his jersey, but I think by that time, Bavasi had moved on to the Padres. I do not think Sandy would have liked him being there.