The 1950's saw attendance drop for most all MLB teams. As a result, club revenues dropped significantly. Some blamed television on the decline in attendance, as there were Saturday and Sunday games of the week. The American League was harder hit by low attendance figures as fans turned away from the game due to the Yankees continuing dominance with little chance for success for other AL teams.

In the 1950's, the average baseball player earned less than the average American worker, with "well paid" players making just slightly more than physicians made at that time. Players often took offseason jobs or made additional earnings by advertising, endorsing products, or autograph signing. There were no outside arbitration processes, and individual salary information was not made available to the team members, or to the public.

A key issue for the players was the pension fund. Players had little desire for a players union, as they believed that the status quo was adequate, however one area they were not satisfied with was the retired players' pension fund.

Owners had been skimming the pension fund to cover other club expenses, and when the time to begin payout to retired players neared, they attempted to reduce the amount of money the teams in the World Series would receive in order to replace what had been used. In 1950, the Yankees and Phillies threatened a walkout on the World Series when they discovered their individual shares were going to be reduced, however the Series went on as planned.

1954 marked the beginning of the first Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) with Bob Feller as the first elected president. The MLBPA came into existence because the players were not happy with the current pension plan and sought improvement. The owners made slight modifications so that 60% of TV revenue from the World Series and All Star Game, and 60% of the All Star Game gate receipts would supply the funds for the players' pensions. A renewed television contract with Gillette contributed $3.25 million to the pension fund. This gave monthly payments to retired players as follows: $88/month to players with five years experience, $175/month for ten years experience, $225/month for fifteen years experience, and $275/month for players who had twenty years of major league service. Additionally, the owners agreed to raise the league minimum salary to $6,000 per year, though the players had asked for $7,200.

J. Norman Lewis served as a part-time legal advisor to the players. During his tenure he was prevented on more than one occasion from presenting the players' wishes to the owners. He was paid $30,000 initially out of the commissioner's central fund, and $15,000 annually after the first year. While it was a generous concession on the owners' part to pay him from the central fund, this was working against what he was fighting for, as the money was taken from money in the pension fund. Lewis was fired in 1959, as the owners advised the players it would be in their best interest to have him dismissed. Lewis was helpful to the MLBPA in negotiating the league minimum and the increase in payment to the pension fund. He was replaced by Judge Robert C. Cannon.

Issues between the minor leagues and the major leagues still existed. In 1952, MLB teams owned 195 of 364 minor league teams. By 1956, AL teams controlled 289 players, and NL teams controlled 391 players in the minor leagues. As long as the minor leagues could continue to produce talent for MLB, MLB tried to only supply the minors with just enough money to cover costs, in order to control their own budgets.

The main issues lied with the Pacific Coast League (PCL) who demanded more money from MLB. This prompted MLB to promise the PCL they could move four teams to MLB status if they could guarantee certain attendance numbers and provide stadiums with 25,000 seats or more. This enraged the PCL which found those demands to be ludicrous, and in turn they attempted to block MLB from optioning players to their teams.

Because of decreases in attendance and revenue, by 1957 only 38 minor league teams still existed. Five MLB teams had moved from their previous homes - the Boston Braves to Milwaukee, Philadelphia Athletics to Kansas City, Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles, New York Giants to San Francisco, and the St Louis Browns to Baltimore.

Finally, the reserve clause was again challenged in 1953. George Toolson, a minor league player for the Newark Bears, a New York Yankees affiliate, took the Yankees to court. He stated that he spent years in the Yankees minor league system and that the reserve clause prevented him from being able to join another team and have a better shot at making the majors, as the Yankees MLB club was saturated with talent. The case first went to district court, and then finally to the U.S. Supreme Court where the reserve clause was upheld. In summation, the Supreme Court stated that even though the precedent set was now obsolete, baseball had been exempt from antitrust laws for over thirty years so it was best to let it be.