Toy Bear Maker Sues Major League Baseball

A Corona company that manufactures plush bears and figurines as sports collectibles filed suit against major league baseball Tuesday, charging violation of federal antitrust laws.

Salvino Inc. developed a plush bear called Salvino’s Bamm Beanos and received orders from a host of teams, according the suit in Los Angeles federal court.

Harold L. Jackson, an attorney for Salvino, said the company received approval from the Baseball Players Assn. to put the names of individual players on the bears, but was denied consent by a cartel established by the baseball club owners to license use of team names and logos.

Although the U.S. Supreme Court has specifically exempted major league baseball from antitrust laws, the suit argues that this ruling applies to playing ball, but not to selling toy bears.

Salvino said it had received orders for the 2000 season from the Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox and was about to sign the Cleveland Indians and Arizona Diamondbacks when the owners’ cartel, New York-based Major League Properties Inc., intervened.

The company now stands to lose millions of dollars, according to the suit. Officials at Major League Baseball Properties could not be reached for comment late Tuesday.