Ever pine for the days of yore, when contract deals were made with a handshake? Lifelong baseball man Buzzie Bavasi (father of current Mariners GM Bill) passed away a few weeks ago, and he left behind a long and storied legacy. Perhaps his most famous moment was dealing with one of the first instances of concerted collective bargaining in baseball: the Koufax/Drysdale holdout of 1966.

Back then, you see, the reserve clause was still in effect, meaning players were under team control more or less in perpetuity. (It wouldn’t be until 1975, with the watershed Seitz decision, that free agency would become a possibility.) Hall of Fame pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale had other ideas, however. They decided, just after the 1965 season, that they could have some actual leverage if they made a pact: either both of them were satisfied by the terms of the contract, or neither of them would sign. This leverage wasn’t just imaginary.

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Via Baseball Digest Daily comes a scouting report unearthed at the Library of Congress. In a heckuva find, Dave Rouleau dug up Branch Rickey’s original scouting report on Hall of Fame pitcher Don Drysdale. Some choice quotes:

Way above average fast ball. It is really good.
[…]
Intelligent face and manner, shows good breeding.
[…]
This will take considerable work but I am very sure that this particular chap will acquire an effective change on his fast ball.
[…]
And here is the secret for you, Bob. Rather than lose him, I would sign him to a Pittsburgh contract…

It’s too bad that Rickey would not get his wish, because it turned out Drysdale was every bit as good as Rickey suggested. In a cruel twist of fate, Drysdale ended up signing with Rickey’s former team, the Dodgers, spending just two full years in the farm system Rickey pioneered. Drysdale went on to team up with Sandy Koufax* to form a very intimidating 1-2 punch at the front of their rotation. The very fastball that Rickey praises (combined with his sidearm slot angle) is what made Drysdale so dominating as a starter. It’s also what prompted Orlando Cepeda to say, “The trick against Drysdale is to hit him before he hits you.”

The Library of Congress has the complete Branch Rickey Papers. Check out a full list of what they have here.

*Yes, I do exercise every opportunity I get to link to Sandy Koufax’s baseball-reference page. It’s like spreadsheet porn.