The data in this section came from a number of sources. There are multiple listings for many years. I suspect this variation is due to time of year (some are "opening day" and others are "end of season") and whether or not the various bonuses, incentives, and pension contributions are included in the totals. I've decided to list them by source, rather than jumbled together across sources for each year.
The files are all in MSExcel format. So, use your "Save Target As" command to save them to your hard disk.
House Hearings, 1951: 1929, 1933, 1939, 1943, 1946, 1950
House Hearings, 1958: 1952-56
Rich Hill: 1976
Doug Pappas:
USAToday Baseball Salary Database: 1988-2007
Baseball-Reference.com (Runs back to 1985): 1998-2006
Financial World and Forbes (Player Expenses): 1990-1996, 2000, 2002-2004
Sports Business Journal (Opening Day and End Of Season): 2000-2004
Miscellaneous: 2001-2002, 2004, 2006