Seventh-Inning Stretch · Bush Leagues
The Catcher Who Jumped Back
Weegham v. Killefer (1914)
Charge: Breach of contract / injunction - rival-league club seeks to stop a catcher from returning to his old big-league team (suit against the catcher)Court: U.S. District Court for the Western District of MichiganDocket: Bush Leagues
Can a club that knowingly signed a player away from another team get a court order forcing him to play for it?
The facts
In January 1914 a catcher under contract with a Philadelphia big-league club signed with a Chicago club in a new rival league for more money. Days later his old club offered him even more, and he went back. The Chicago club asked a federal court in Michigan to bar him from playing for anyone else. His old contract let his club end it on ten days' notice while binding him through a reserve clause. The Chicago club knew of that contract when it recruited him, and he returned its advance.
You have the facts the court had. Guilty or not guilty? Call it in the game with your friends, then see what the court actually decided. Wrong call, you drink.
Citation: Weegham v. Killefer, 215 F. 168 (W.D. Mich. 1914), aff'd, 215 F. 289 (6th Cir. 1914)
Read more at michbar.org. The source reveals the outcome.