But now, 30 years later, the idea of a salary cap has stampeded back into public discourse. Its impetus: the free-wheeling, cash-flashing Los Angeles Dodgers and their seemingly bottomless pockets.

The Dodgers alone were assessed more than $103 million in taxes, meaning that they "outspent just in luxury tax the entire payrolls of the bottom six teams or 20% of the league," said Baseball Purist.