Koufax & Drysdale versus the Los Angeles Dodgers, Part III
Within 24 hours of the Los Angles Dodgers telling Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale they were through negotiating and wishing the two pitchers well in their new acting careers, a deal was reached bringing both pitchers back into the fold.
Drysdale and Koufax did not get the three year deals they sought. They ended up getting about $220,000 ($115,000 for Koufax and $105,000 for Drysdale) for one year only. *
Dodger President Walter O’Malley discussed the role of the two players negotiating together as one (he called it the “entry thing”), the role of an agent, and how the negotiation progressed:
I can only say it is somewhat like a poker game where players are entitled to change their minds and draw another card.
Sandy and Don came in as an entry and wanted to split the pot. They wanted a long-term contract and a no-cut (in salary) contract. This was difficult for us to meet.
I made it clear the other day that money never was the problem. The deterents were this entry business and three-year contracts, important not only to the Dodgers, but to baseball generally.
The entry could have led to practices we could not tolerate in baseball. What happened in the past is relatively unimportant. I am pleased to report that the boys changed their minds, negotiated as individuals and will report to the club in Phoenix on Friday.
For more detailed reading about the negotiation visit
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1079835/index.htm
In the above article Buzzi Bavasi claims the “gimmick”, Drysdale and Koufax negotiating together, worked, but that if it was any player other than Koufax it wouldn't have.
Talent alone- Koufax representing talent at it's highest level- never got it done for players. It required a sports law remedy to achieve real gains in money and standing vis-à-vis the owners. That threshold remedy being, of course, the 1970's legal challenges to the reserve clause, which opened the (Curt) floodgates.
*A 'Sports Illustrated' article quotes a different figure for the contracts for Drysdale and Koufax
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