Fair Ball: A Living Wage for Minor League Baseball

What Does It Profit Podcast

In this episode, Dr. Dawn wraps up Season 3 by sliding into home plate. She takes us on a journey inside professional baseball. We hear the incredible story of how an inspiring group of athletes, allied with social justice advocates, finally took a stand to demand that the work of minor league baseball players was worth a living wage.

Remarkably, and without much fanfare outside the world of baseball, a collective bargaining agreement was reached between the minor leaguers and Major League Baseball this Spring. As a service to those who have not heard the story, we bring you three of the key players that made it all happen.

We meet Garrett Broshuis, the San Francisco minor league pitcher who later went on to become the leading trial lawyer guiding the campaign for justice for the players. We then are introduced the legendary activist Bill Fletcher, Jr. who could sniff out injustice with his eyes closed.

As the story progresses, we also meet Harry Marino. Harry is a former minor leaguer who went on to later become not only a high-powered attorney but also the Executive Director of the organizing campaign set up by Bill. Where did Harry go after that-- to the Major League Baseball Players Association to become the Assistant General Counsel responsible for leading the bargaining unit set up for the minor leaguers.

There a many stories in this story, and we urge you to read more. We think a few of the best stories about all of this can be found in the Nation and the Athletic. Our hats go off to those amazing journalists. We also want to applaud the bravery of Tony Clark of the Major League Baseball Players Association who stepped up when the time was right. Respect. What a beautiful story of solidarity.

This episode marks the end of Season 3. If you have been listening, this season was all about “place” and the idea that you can make change right where you are.

Next up, WDIP Summer School. We will be releasing mini-episodes throughout the summer introducing some of the ideas behind the stories we tell. Stay tuned for Season 4 coming this Fall where we will explore the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in the worlds of work and wealth.

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What Does It Profit is powered by the Solidary Economy Workshop at Georgetown University. Our host and executive producer is Dr. Dawn Carpenter. Our senior producer is Jordan Gass-Poore’, and our engineer and sound designer is Mark Bush. Music for WDIP was composed by Nick Pennington.

Season 3 researchers and assistant producers are Sofia Chen, Hannah Woodford, Andy Feng, and JasperAI. Our intern is Abby Trepacz. Special thanks on this episode goes to guest researcher Jim Humphreys who knows more about baseball than anyone on the WDIP production team.